Tips for Getting Better Sleep
TIPS FOR GETTING BETTER SLEEP
It is while we are sleeping that our bodies repair and rejuvenate themselves, and a lot of health problems could literally be healed overnight if we were sleeping well.
1. DON'T WAKE UP TO AN ALARM CLOCK
If you wake up to an alarm clock, you will wake up before you are fully rested and ready to wake up on your own. (Which means that you will start the day feeling tired and wishing that you could just stay in bed.) This is not a good way to start the day, and it is the way that a lot of people do.
Waking up before your body is fully rested can result in many problems (including slower reflexes and difficulty concentrating) which is why I believe that driving when you are sleep-deprived can be just as dangerous as driving when you are drunk. (Traffic accidents have even been shown to increase on "Daylight Saving Time" when everyone loses an hour of sleep.)
The very name "alarm clock" should tell you that it's insane to use one...
You are the most vulnerable when you are sleeping, and getting woken up while you are in the middle of a deep sleep by any kind of alarm (regardless of whether it's a "fire alarm", a "burglar alarm", or even an "alarm clock") can jolt and startle you, and can result in a "rude awakening" that will cause you to start the day feeling tense and irritable.
To give you an idea of just how unnatural and irritating it can be to wake up to an alarm clock, the man who invented the alarm clock ("Levi Hutchins") created it back in the year 1787. But his alarm clock would only go off at 4:00 AM because he couldn't figure out how to get it to go off at different times. And shortly after inventing his alarm clock that would go off every morning at 4:00 AM, he was murdered by his wife one day...
At 4:05 AM!
2. IF YOU SLEEP WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS SLEEPING PROBLEMS, GET THEM HELP
Sleeping in the same bed as someone who has sleeping problems will likely result in you having sleeping problems as well. So if you sleep with someone who does any of the following 10 things, please work on getting them help for their/your problem...
- Someone who snores.
- Someone who tosses and turns at night.
- Someone who frequently gets up to use the bathroom at night.
- Someone who has intense nightmares or sleepwalks.
- Someone who gets phone calls in the middle of the night.
- Someone who wakes up with an alarm clock.
- Someone who insists on having the TV on while sleeping.
- Someone who wants the room to be too cold or too hot for you.
By the way, if you and the person you share a bed with are thinking about having a baby, it is estimated that a baby will result in over 500 hours of lost sleep for each parent during the first year alone. So making sure that your baby will have an ideal environment for sleep is something that you should start thinking about long before the baby has arrived.
3. BECOME UNAVAILABLE WHEN YOU GO TO SLEEP
For some people, it would be virtually impossible (even at night) to go several hours in a row without someone trying to get ahold of them.
You may be convinced that you have to have a phone on you at all times (even while you are sleeping) because of all the "What Ifs" in life. ("What if there's a family emergency?", "What if there's a work emergency?", or "What if there's a world emergency?")
But please keep in mind that getting a good night's sleep requires you to be undisturbed and that few things will take a toll on your health faster than sleep deprivation will.
So please unplug and turn off whatever you have to at night, and make it clear to everyone who loves and cares about you that if they want to have you around for as long as possible, you need to sleep.
4. AVOID CAFFEINE AND OTHER STIMULANTS
This should be common sense, but I've met people who drink 12 cans of Pepsi a day and wonder why they have trouble falling asleep.
Caffeine is something that people will take to help them feel more awake during the day. And the problem with this is that it works so well that it can also cause them to feel more awake at night. (Which means that they will have trouble falling asleep, which means that they will feel tired when they wake up the next morning, which means that they will want caffeine again, which means that the cycle of addiction will continue.)
If you don't get enough sleep, drinking a cup of coffee will help you feel more awake. But so would seeing a big lion running towards you! This is because we all have energy reserves inside of us that are intended for emergency situations, and what caffeine and other stimulants do is tap into these reserves and allow them to be used for non-emergency purposes. (And doing this repeatedly taxes our bodies and can result in premature aging and even premature death!)
One of the best ways to improve your sleep and eliminate the need for stimulants is to take control of your work schedule.
If you have a job where you have to work random hours (like 1:00 PM - 9:00 PM one day, then 3:00 AM - 11:00 AM the next day) or you work at night and have to sleep during the day, or you work so much overtime that there simply isn't enough hours left for you to get the hours of sleep that your body truly needs, then please either quit your job or change your "availability" as soon as possible.
I've met people with unhealthy work schedules who drink so many "energy drinks" that it is literally their main source of calories for the day, and no amount of money is worth the toll that living that way will have on your long-term health.
Please respect yourself enough to say "No" to any unhealthy work schedule that is making it impossible for you to have a healthy sleep schedule.
Also try to avoid other forms of stimulation (like TV screens, computer screens, and phone screens) shortly before you go to sleep. And ideally, spend the last hour or so before you go to sleep engaging in more calming activities (like reading, writing, and meditating) that will help you wind down, relax, and want to go to sleep.
5. STOP EATING AT LEAST A FEW HOURS BEFORE BED
Get into the habit of giving your body at least a few hours to digest your last meal before you go to sleep. This way, your body will be able to focus on healing while you sleep instead of digestion.
When I go to sleep at night, I don't feel "hungry", but my stomach does feel "empty", and I have learned to love the feeling of going to bed on an empty stomach.
It can take time to get used to this, but it can also save you time because the better you sleep, the less sleep you actually need.
6. MAKE YOUR BEDROOM MORE SLEEP-FRIENDLY
The environment that you sleep in will have a major effect on the quality of your sleep, and below are some tips for making your bedroom more "sleep-friendly"...
"Darkness"
"Melatonin" is a hormone that helps us fall asleep, and darkness triggers the release of this hormone, while light suppresses it.
Our bodies are naturally designed to fall asleep when the sun goes down at night and everything gets dark, and to wake back up when the sun rises in the morning and lights everything back up.
Our skin is sensitive enough to light that even small amounts of light (like from a phone screen) during the night can confuse our bodies into thinking that the sun is starting to rise and that it's time to wake up.
So try to make your bedroom so dark at night that if you hold your hand in front of your face you won't be able to see it.
"Temperature"
If your bedroom is too hot or too cold, it can be a lot harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. (Which will result in less sleep and less healing.)
The best temperature for sleep is believed to be around 68 degrees Fahrenheit / 20 degrees Centigrade, so aim to keep your bedroom around that temperature at night if you want to have the best sleep possible.
"Sound"
Even if you are a "deep sleeper" and loud noises don't wake you up, you will still be hearing them subconsciously while you are sleeping, and this can result in psychological stress that can hinder your ability to get a good night's sleep.
If you can't sleep in silence, your next best option would be to either sleep with music on that is designed to help you sleep, or to sleep with a fan turned on "HIGH". (Which will not only cover up a lot of other noises but will produce a rhythmic "white noise" that can actually help you fall asleep.)
"Air"
A lot of people don't sleep well at night because they don't breathe well at night.
The best way to improve the air quality of your bedroom is to open your bedroom window whenever possible to let fresh air in, and to use an "air purifier" whenever you can't open a window due to weather, light, noise, etc.
If you read the reviews of any good quality air purifiers, you will notice that there are a lot of people saying that their sleep improved as soon as they started using one. So if you decide to invest in an air purifier, look for one with those kinds of reviews.
7. FALL ASLEEP HAPPY
When you lay down to go to sleep, spend the 10 minutes or so that it takes you to drift off to sleep giving thanks for all of the good things that you got to experience and accomplish that day. And then spend the first 10 minutes or so when you wake up the next morning giving thanks for all of the good things that you are looking forward to that day.
When doing this, you can address the one that you are thanking as "God", "Universe", or even your own name. (Whatever you believe is the creative force in your life.)
I would also encourage you not to ask for anything while doing this, but to simply count your many blessings and express gratitude for all that you already have.
If you are going to say a prayer, make it "Thank You".
- Rumi
How you start your day tends to set the mood for the rest of your day, so if you go to sleep feeling good, and you get a good night's sleep, then how could you not start your day feeling good???
And if you start having more of an "attitude of gratitude" during your "waking life", you may find that you start attracting a lot more things into your life to be grateful for, because just like us, the universe is more likely to give gifts to those who it knows will appreciate them.
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