Improving Your Sleep
Marlene Gundlach - June 28, 2008
Steps to Improve Sleep
Sleep is critical to maintaining your health. Without relying on a prescription, there are steps you can take to improve your sleep. Ideally, you should establish a bedtime routine and stick to it, going to bed around the same time every night. However, this can be unrealistic given our hectic lifestyles. Also, if you are not tired or are feeling stressed, heading to bed may not be the best idea. If you hit the pillow when you are either not tired or too distracted to sleep, you will only toss and turn, making for a long night. Striving to get up at the same time each day may be a better tip. When you sleep in, your body’s sleep cycle is then thrown off making it harder to get up at your regular time on subsequent mornings.
Napping is also not suggested within eight hours of your set bedtime. If you think you need a nap or are anticipating a late night, make it a power nap and don’t sleep for longer than 30 minutes. After this, your body is into a deeper sleep making it harder to wake up. Longer naps may also cut into how long your body can rest at night. It is best to get to know your body and its sleep cycles and experiment to see if you can handle a longer nap in the afternoon without it affecting your nightly sleep habits.
Throughout the day, there are opportunities to help establish a better sleep pattern. Avoiding caffeine late in the day can help you fall asleep faster. Caffeine is a stimulant and can be found in coffee, soda, chocolate, and even some pain relievers. Alcohol is also known to disturb sleep, along with nicotine. Exercise can also help you fall asleep faster. As bedtime approaches, avoid eating or drinking. Eating late can cause heartburn as you lay down at night, and drinking too much late in the day can lead to repeated trips to the bathroom. Try and complete your exercising earlier in the day; exercising within 3 hours of bedtime may make it harder for some to fall asleep.
One-Stop Shopping for Stress Relief/Relaxation Products
Invest in a good mattress and pillow, and be sure they fit your comfort level. Be sure your bedroom is dark, cool, and quiet. Room darkening shades will help keep the early sunlight out. Make your bedtime routine relaxing. Take a warm bath or read a book. Try and avoid working on the computer or watching television immediately before bedtime. The brightness of the screens can lead our minds to thinking it is daylight, disrupting our internal sleep cycle.
Once you do go to bed, turn out the lights and the television. Watching television in bed is not suggested, keep your bed for sleeping. If you don’t fall asleep within 20 minutes, get up for awhile and do something else. Read for awhile or listen to some quiet music in low light. Tossing and turning in bed only adds stress to your night, making sleep even more difficult. You want to associate your bed with sleep, not stress.
Sleeping aids should only be a last resort. Talk with your doctor before taking any sleep aids, because they can interact with other medications you may be taking. If you do take a sleep aid, only use it for the time period suggested. Slowly decreasing the dosage can make it easier to stop taking it when the time comes. If the sleep aid tends to make you tired or dizzy the next day, report that to your doctor. That may suggest that you need a change in dosage or another prescription all together.
