If you wake up sleepy and grumpy, here are 10 tips to sleep well to wake up refreshed. Use these tips when you are tired but can’t sleep for an energized morning.
Being an insomniac, I know how precious sleep is. And I have searched for a host of things to do when you can’t sleep. If you are like me and find it difficult to slip into the dream world, here are tried and tested tips to help sleep. With these 10 home remedies for good sleep, you can get rid of mental and physical fatigue, and be productive throughout the day. Use these tonight to greet your refreshed self tomorrow morning.
10 Tips to Sleep Well
Truly, a good dose of slumber is incredibly important. You feel good as well as your body and brain function well. But with our super busy schedules and high-stress levels, we can’t enjoy this energizing doze overnight on daily basis. So, grab these ideas that explain how to fall asleep instantly.
1) Set the Sleeping Stage
Your bedroom is the stage where you doze off, so preparing it for a soothing sleep comes as a mandate and among the top 10 tips to help you sleep. Play soft music, spray fragrance, use soft bedspreads, and create a calm environment. Make your room dark enough to make you fall asleep comfortably but don’t make it completely dark.
By doing so, you will be transforming your bedroom into sleeping heaven. Such bedrooms are conducive to a peaceful sleep and you might fall asleep in 10 seconds! Make sure that your mattress and pillow are comfortable. Also, lower the room temperature to an extent that you are comfortable with it.
2) Cultivate a Bedtime Bath Routine
If you want to know how to sleep instantly, wash away the day’s fatigue with a refreshing bath for sleep hygiene. A relaxing bath before slipping in the bed addresses the problem. You can add essential oils such as lavender and rose that are calming and make your bedtime more soothing. Try herbal baths for more relaxation. If you go to bed with a clean and refreshed self, a good sleep follows.
Bathing about 90 minutes before bed, preferably with hot water helps you sleep faster and better. Hot water changes your body’s temperature. This helps you retire for the night with a lower temperature that tells the body that it’s time for bed. Bathing before sleeping is also one of the beauty sleep tips.
3) Watch Your Nourishment
Eat light at night but never sleep with an empty stomach. Food for good sleep is necessary. Make it a rule to eat three hours before sleeping. As good sleep and wellness go hand in hand, consume foods that induce and enhance sleep such as warm milk, banana, oatmeal, tuna, whole wheat bread, and soybeans.
Watch your diet not only at night but also during the day as it also affects your sleep. Don’t skip breakfast and gorge on a heavy but healthy one. Avoid junk and spicy foods, especially at night. And stay away from alcohol at all costs. It hinders your snooze. Consuming a healthy diet works wonders and is among the best sleep and weight loss tips.
4) ‘4-7-8’ to Sleep
Want to know a surefire way of how to get to sleep when you can’t? No, don’t even think of sleeping pills. Avoid these at all costs.
Instead, try this simple ‘4-7-8’ breathing method. It works wonders for sleep. I practice this method and trust me, it works! Learn how to do it –
Close your mouth and inhale through your nose to a count of four (4)
Hold your breath for a count of seven (7)
Exhale again through your mouth to a count of eight (8)
Thus, 4-7-8.
Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths. This is one of the easiest and best things to do to help you sleep. Try it tonight and thank me in the morning.
5) Combat Post-Dinner Drowsiness
It is normal to feel drowsy after dinner. If you feel like curling up on your cozy bed post-dinner, resist the temptation. Take up activities to help avoid somnolence. Listen to your favorite songs, prepare clothes for the next day, take a walk, or call a friend. Answering the sleepiness will only cause you to get up in the middle of the night and difficulty in sleeping again. So, resist sleeping after dinner and you will sleep well at night. Avoiding sleep after dinner is one of the prudent tips to sleep well.
6) Avoid Electronics during Bedtime
Do you use cell phone or laptop before sleeping? If yes, shun this habit now! While you look into the screens while in bed, radiation emitted increases the time necessary to reach deep sleep cycles, thereby decreases the total sleep time. And you wake up weary and wondering why I cannot sleep well. According to a study, people using backlit LED devices such as phones and laptops cause their melatonin (the sleep hormone) to be blocked by several hours. So, for a good night sleep, limit the use of laptops, phones, and television when you are going to sleep.
7) Sip on Green or Herbal Tea
Tea has been a proven solution to address insomnia for more than two thousand years. Green tea before bed and herbal tea both have sleep-inducing ingredients. Being caffeine-free, these teas help you relax, and sleep peacefully. Sip on teas infused with herbs to help sleep better. These are among the simplest home remedies for good sleep.
Drinking green tea, lavender tea, lemon balm tea, or chamomile tea, and passion flower tea an hour before bed is among the top tips to cure insomnia and bless you with a sound sleep pattern.
8) Workout Regularly
Exercise is known to provide amazing health benefits and improve your sleep quality. Scientific evidence suggests that exercise is impetus in improving sleep. But the sleep quality is determined by the intensity and the time of the day of the workout. Whether morning, noon, or evening; researchers suggest exercising a few hours before bedtime as an important one of the sleep tips and tricks.
Never ever workout just before bed as increased heart rate and tired muscles keep you awake for long. With regular exercise, you will realize that you are not only feeling good in the daytime but also sleeping well at night. So, include workouts in your everyday regimen for a restful sleep.
9) Gift Yourself an Hour before Sleep
Unwind and give yourself time to sleep. While men prefer completing office tasks at this time, women are busy with kids and household chores. National Sleep Foundation poll established that an hour before bed, 21% of women are busy with their office commitments, 36% surf the internet, 37% dedicate time to kids, 37% dedicate time to kids, and 60% complete household chores. Among the easy ways to fall asleep fast is to give yourself an hour before sleeping.
Your brain requires some time to adjust between daytime activity and sleep. This period of an hour is a buffer zone for your brain to accept that it’s night, and time to sleep.
10) Follow a Regular Sleep Routine
One of the superb methods to help you sleep is maintaining a regular schedule. Sleep and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Allow your body to get in sync with the natural sleep-wake plan that makes you feel more refreshed than sleeping at different times. Hop on to your bed only when you are sleepy.
According to Frisca L. Yan-Go, M.D., medical director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center, our brain is activated by sunlight. So, the body’s biological clock is synchronized by activating the brain at the same time every morning. Thus, religiously follow a regular sleep and wake-up routine.
Bonus Tip
Place Your Bed as per Vastu
According to the ancient Indian practice, Vastu Shastra, your bed should be placed in the correct direction for a peaceful sleep and a harmonious life. Vastu Shastra for bedroom sleeping direction recommends placing the bed’s headboard in south or west. Your legs should point north or east. The bed should be placed at the rooms’ center and away from the corner.
Bed position according to Vastu also suggests that it should not face the bathroom. But if it is unavoidable, the bathroom door should always be kept close. Also, the bed should not reflect in the mirror. If there is any, ensure to cover it when not in use.
You might be thinking, “I already knew many of these” but what you know is not important until and unless you actually put these tips into practice. As the day rolls to its climax, start preparing yourself to get the best sleep.
The above are the goof-proof tips to help you sleep better. Dedicate some time to light reading, a refreshing bath, a light and wholesome meal, meditation, and activity that excludes a backlit screen. With these sleep hygiene guidelines, you will certainly sleep peacefully and wake up refreshed.
Don’t leave this page just thinking about the approaches to sleep. Actually, implement these. Tonight. Good night, sleep well.
