There is a lot to discover and explore in making sure you get a good night’s sleep. That’s why we are offering a 1-hour workshop to unpack it all. But if we had to give you the top four tips you need to know to help you get a good night’s sleep – here is the top four list!
#1 Schedule
Going to sleep at the same time each night and waking up about the same time each morning is supportive to your mental and physical well-being. Set a sleep schedule including the time you plan to wind down and the time to turn off the lights and go to sleep.
Wind down time is giving yourself an hour or so to quiet your activities and begin the bedtime process. What is part of wind down time? Flossing and brushing your teeth. Gentle, calming activities like a bath, reading a book, journaling, soft music. Putting on your pajamas, dimming the lights.
#2 Movement
“We have solid evidence that exercise does, in fact, help you fall asleep more quickly and improves sleep quality,” says Charlene Gamaldo, M.D. , medical director of Johns Hopkins Center for Sleep at Howard County General Hospital.
While researchers don’t exactly know how movement helps improve sleep, there is solid evidence that exercise increase slow wave sleep. What is slow wave sleep (SWS)? This is the deep sleep, the stage of sleep when the body and brain are rejuvenating.
#3 Tech Free
Technology is very much a part of our lives. The computer, phone, tablet, television offer entertainment, information and connection. But the light of the screen and the movement on the screen in the evening is disruptive to the natural circadian rhythms that help us naturally fall asleep.
You know the tired feeling your body gets in the evening? When we introduce technology too close to bedtime, it tells the body to wake up again making it harder to fall asleep.
Step away from technology 2 hours before bed. If you are watching television on an actual television before bedtime, be six feet away from the screen.
#4 Release
Whether it is thinking about a wonderful experience you had during the day or a worry about a friend or situation, when our mind is focused on thinking or even in an over thinking mode, the busy-ness of the mind can disrupt how we fall asleep and staying asleep.
Let it out. Here are a few ways you can release your thoughts and switch the focus from the thought to a dreamy sleep.
Journal or prayer. Writing or saying aloud what is top of mind is a good way to take the thoughts from inside your mind and body and release them outward. At times, our thoughts need a place to go rather than circling around in our mind.
Whether after a releasing exercise like journaling or prayer or the desire to help refocus the mind away from thought, consider a mantra – repeating a peaceful word over in your mind. By focusing on the word, you are shifting your attention from the thoughts and stories to a simple word or phrase that with repetition can help invite a quieting feeling to the mind and body.
Breath. There are different tools to utilizing the breath to help you sleep. One exercise to try is counting your breath down from 5 to 1, and repeating.
Sleep is so important to our well-being. These four tips are only the tip of the iceberg of supportive things you can do to help your sleep. If you are tired of being tired or curious about sleep, register for Sound Sleep Workshop on Sunday, February 13th. Registrants receive a recording of the workshop. If you are busy watching the Super Bowl, you can catch up on Sound Sleep tools later in the week!
Photo Credit: Photo by Ayse A