6 Tips To Get A Good Night’s Sleep

Early to bed and early to rise is what everyone of us must have learnt in childhood itself and we all know that getting a good 7-8 hours sleep is imperative to our good mental and physical health but even after hitting the bed at the right time everyday many of us are unable to sleep well!!

Turning on sides, thinking about hundreds of things and sleeplessness makes us feel  irritable the next morning. You feel fatigued in morning, have a heavy head, sometimes even migraine, have swollen eyes sometimes and are not enough fresh and active as you should have been.

Insomnia or sleeplessness has become one of the major concerns for many people even when they are in their 30s. Blame it on our lifestyle or the stress levels we face, it is there. Many people are even forced to take sleeping pills for this.

Recently, when I and my husband were facing this issue, I tried and researched out how to rectify some mistakes we were doing and how to develop a good sleeping routine.

1. The first and the foremost is to stick to a regular sleep schedule. Sleeping and getting up around the same time, except a little cheating on weekends will help set your body clock for this.

2. It is very important to ensure that you eat and drink right before going to bed. Eating your dinner 2 hours before hitting the bed will give your digestive system time to digest the food and not create problems like acidity, indigestion and bloating which can hinder sleep. Avoiding late night eating and not taking alcohol and caffeine rich drinks like tea or coffee at night also helps.

3. It is seen that sometimes when a person wants to sleep and take rest, excessive physical tiredness or pain in the body or ill health comes in the way of your sleep. Dealing with this by taking a warm shower with your favorite aromatic oils at night, dipping feet in hot water and taking care of any pain or discomfort in the body is necessary for getting a good sleep.

4. Our sleeping environment also affects our sleep in a big way. Temperature, lighting and noise should be controlled to make the bedroom environment comfortable. This not only induces sleep but also reduces stress.

5. Most of the people are in a habit of watching TV till late and then sleep. Some are busy on their laptops or mobiles too. Research says that electronic screen’s emit a blue light which disrupts production of melatonin in the body and hinders sleep. Turning off all screen’s at least 1 hour before sleeping is recommended. Choosing another activity like reading a good book or listening to soft music can work wonders on both your mood and sleep.

6. Last but not the least, it is mostly the thoughts and problems which keep us stressed during the day, that also don’t allow us to sleep at night too.Talking about your worries to someone close, writing your thoughts on a paper and telling yourself that you will deal with it the next day, going for a walk in fresh air before coming back to sleep, spending some quality time with kids and even listening to a story from someone helps induce sleep.

Some elders also suggest that avoiding a nap in the afternoon and taking a cup of hot milk with honey acts as a sleep inducer but should be done at least an hour before sleeping. Some people also don’t use an alarm clock and keep worrying about getting up. So setting an alarm and not worrying about getting up also helps. Also if you have lost even a hour, not worrying about how much less time is left to get up helps. Instead making the most of what remains can help.

So, these are some tips and tricks which I have started following for a better sleep routine and health. Hope these are helpful.

Happy living!

Also read: Study Says Women Need More Sleep Than Men But Do They Actually Get It?

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