| Better Sleep: Helpful Suggestions |
| By Darien Simon, M.S. |
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There are a number of things you can do to enhance your sleep. Authorities from the National Institutes of Health and Mayo Clinic, to mattress manufacturers agree that the following steps will help you to achieve a deep, restful sleep, if you apply them consistently and do not have any health factors that interfere with sleep.
Start yourself on the road to better sleep by: 1) Maintaining a healthy lifestyle including proper diet, regular aerobic exercise, and good sleeping habits, such as keeping a regular bedtime and pre-bedtime routine throughout the entire week. A regular schedule reinforces your natural sleep cycle and helps you fall asleep more easily, while exercise can increase the restfulness of your sleep, and a pre-bedtime routine helps cue your body and mind that sleep time is imminent. 2) Setting aside 8 - 9 hours each night for uninterrupted sleep in a place where the temperature, darkness, quiet, and bed itself are comfortable. Add extra blankets, thicker curtains, eye shades, white noise, whatever you require, to feel truly relaxed and comfortable and facilitate sleep. Keeping your bedroom and bed as comfortable and sleep-supporting as possible minimizes the immediate factors that can interfere with restful sleep. 3) Avoiding sleeping in the daytime, especially naps longer than an hour, or after 3 PM because they can make falling asleep at your regular time difficult, and thus disrupt your circadian rhythm. 4) Avoiding aerobic exercise within 2 - 3 hours of bedtime because it may interfere with relaxing enough to fall asleep shortly after you go to bed. 5) Avoiding large quantities of food and consumption of caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and other substances that can interfere with sleep especially within 4 to 6 hours before bedtime (8 hours for caffeine). 6) Relaxing before bedtime by listening to music or reading a good book, doing yoga or breath work, or meditating. Avoid stimulating activities such as television. Make whatever you do a routine to help cue your body to wind down and prepare to sleep. Unless you are reading, or doing something else that requires good light, try lowering the light level, too. This helps reinforce your circadian rhythm and gets your mind and body ready for a good night's sleep. Practicing some form of relaxation before bedtime can also help to dispel the effects of the daily stresses of life that can interfere with a good night's sleep. 7) Turning out the lights and going to bed when you feel tired. If you aren't asleep within 30 minutes, get up and do something quiet (like meditating), until you feel ready to sleep. Tossing and turning, or clock watching while trying to get to sleep are counterproductive—they actually interfere with getting to sleep by creating stress over your inability to fall asleep. When you can't follow these suggestions, or you need more help, Dream Boost's herbs and nutrients can help your body and mind relax and get set for a deep and restful sleep. |
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