The importance of sleep cannot be overstated. Sleep serves a pivotal role in your emotional and physical well-being. Good relaxing sleep can impact your mood, promotes memory processing, repair and regenerates your body and impacts your mood dramatically.
The good news?
While seemingly impossible for many, there is a way you can set yourself up for success and get a sound and relaxing sleep each night.
How to Get the Best Sleep of Your Life
There are various ways you can set yourself up for sleeping success. For starters:
Exercise
Studies show that exercise can minimise symptoms of insomnia and help you achieve longer and more restorative sleep.
Incorporate exercise in your daily routine and you will be able to regulate your sleep better.
Even a 10-minute walk can do wonders!
No Eating Before Bedtime
Ideally, your last meal of the day should be 3 hours before sleeping.
Give this tip a try and you will not only sleep better, your stomach will feel better as well.
Come to think of it, it would be hard for the body to relax if it’s still busy digesting the food you ate at 9 p.m.
Get Some Vitamin D
Here’s something not many people know: at least 10 minutes of exposure to sunlight during the day can help you sleep soundly at night.
If you don’t get any sun during the day, it would be tough for your body to regulate sleep.
That said, make it a point to work on the deck, take your lunch outside, or sip some coffee on your patio.
Your body (and sleep) will thank you for it.
Get Your Lighting Right
Turn on your lamps an hour before bed to prepare your body for sleep.
Research shows that sleeping in a dark environment is ideal.
When you sleep with the light on, you can confuse your body into thinking it is still daytime.
A sleep mask can also help.
Keep Your Room Cool
It is recommended that your bedroom should be between 60-67 degrees.
Keeping your room cool can do wonders for your body and can help you sleep better.
Include White Noise
Even the noise from your electric fan can also serve as white noise.
NBA superstar LeBron James uses a white noise app to help him get some relaxing sleep so his body can recover after games.
There is no shortage of white or relaxing sounds you can listen to online.
You just have to look for one that will work best for you.
Get Screen Out or Off
Your bedroom should be for romance and sleep.
Reading your text messages, checking social media, or watching late night TV while in bed will only signal your body to stay awake.
It is recommended that screens are turned off at least 2 hours before you sleep.
This can help you avoid the temptation to browse for a few minutes (which can turn into hours!).
Read Before Sleeping
Since you will be turning your screens off, there is one great substitute you can do instead—reading!
Reading self-help and self-improvement books is ideal.
Journaling
Aside from sleeping, journaling is another great way you can wind down.
Not only that, it can also help you reflect and get worrying thoughts out of your head.
Fortunately, journaling does not have to take so much of your time.
There are 5-minutes journals you can use nowadays and they are designed to be targeted and specific.
Take 9 Deep Breaths
Want to calm your racing mind?
Take 9 deep breaths.
Often, by the time you get to 9, you have effectively calmed yourself down.
If you have had a long and stressful day, doing it twice can help.
Over to You
While often taken for granted, sleep can help you improve just about every aspect of your life. Without sleep, you will feel grouchy and will have less energy to achieve your desires. If you are having a hard time getting a relaxing sleep, work on it until you sort your sleep out. From there, taking on the world should be a whole lot easier!