Having Trouble Sleeping? You Might Have Bad Sleep Hygiene
Reviews - Sleep Aids
Many people, especially those who have trouble sleeping at night, may not know what bad sleep hygiene is. Basically, your sleep hygiene is a series of habits you practice on a nightly basis before turning in for bed. People with good sleep hygiene tend to fall asleep within 15 minutes of their head hitting the pillow, sleep through the night, and wake up feeling well rested the next morning. If this doesn't sound like you, then your sleep hygiene may need some improvement. Below, we will get into details about what bad habits you should be fixing if you want to improve the quality of your rest.
Basic Tenants of Poor Sleep Hygiene
Below are some basic mistakes that people make with their sleep hygiene. If you're guilty of committing two or more of the poor sleep hygiene habits below, it may be significantly interfering with your ability to get a good night's sleep.
- Late night light exposure. The worst offenders are blue light emitting electronic devices, such as tv screens, smartphones, and/or your computer monitor. This blue light tricks your body into releasing less melatonin, which is the sleep hormone that makes you feel tired and ready for bed. People with lower levels of melatonin are known to have sleep problems.
- Lack of exercise. Have you ever had a long, hard day of intense physical activity and/or mental exertion and fallen into a deep, restful slumber the moment you had a chance to get some shut-eye? When you expend energy, your body becomes more receptive to rest in order to restore and repair itself. But leading an energy-conserving lifestyle, especially one with little or no exercise, could leave you tossing and turning at night.
- Eating the wrong foods at the wrong time of day. But this isn't just limited to food. Drinking too much caffeine, especially outside of the morning hours, can have an all-day effect that keeps you up at night. Likewise, the later at night that you eat, especially if it's the wrong foods, could disturb your ability to sleep. Fatty foods, spicy foods, or large meals in general can create physical discomfort in the form of heartburn or stomach upset. Such conditions can make it almost impossible to get a good night's sleep.
- Creating a busy sleep space. If your bedroom is an all-in-one space for work, play, socializing, and doubles as a bedroom for your pets, all of these things can easily interfere with your sleep. Ideally, your bedroom should be used for sleep and amorous activities only. Try and move as many electronics out of your bedroom as possible, and see if you can get your pets to sleep somewhere else in your home.
- Taking the wrong kind of sleep aid. If you've tried everything to get to sleep and you're still struggling, it's not uncommon to take a sleep aid. But many people make the mistake of resorting to prescription medications or over-the-counter drugs before trying a natural sleep remedy. Prescription and OTC meds come with all sorts of dangerous side effects that should be avoided if you really want to improve your quality of sleep (as well as your overall well-being).
Turning Your Bad Sleep Hygiene Into Good Sleep Hygiene
Letting you know what you're doing wrong is only half the battle. We would be remiss to criticize your current sleep habits without telling you what you could be doing right. Even trying one or two of the suggestions below could significantly improve the quality of sleep you get each night.
- Get on a regular sleep schedule. This is probably the most difficult bit of advice to follow. Most people have incredibly busy lives and/or work odd hours. But if you have the luxury of choosing when you go to bed and wake up each day, you will begin to feel more well-rested.
- Turn down the temperature. Keeping your bedroom cooler at night lowers your body temperature, which tricks your body into feeling sleepy at night.
- Sleep meditation exercises. How often do you lie in bed at night, physically exhausted, but you can't sleep because your mind won't shut down? Nighttime anxiety is one of the most common problems for people who can't sleep. There are many different nighttime sleep meditation exercises you can practice, and most of them are free and easily available with a quick internet search.
- Tune in to your sleep cycle.
With any luck, knowing what you're doing wrong - and what you could be doing right - will help you start down a path towards better sleep. And while you're here, feel free to browse around the site for other natural remedies to your wellness woes.
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