We all know that sleep is important. We have all had a night where we didn’t get good sleep and felt the repercussions the next day, or sometimes the next few days. Yet even knowing we need it, we don’t prioritize sleep. There are days we get busy and push off bedtime, there are nights when our minds won’t turn off. Sometimes you may have trouble falling asleep while others can get to sleep fine but your quality of rest is not as good as it should be. One night or two of this is an annoyance, but if it is regular it can become a real problem with long term repercussions.
There are things we can do and habits we can form that will help us get into a good sleeping pattern and benefit our overall health.
Go to bed at the same time every night. Our bodies thrive on routine. By taking the simple step of going to bed and getting up at the same time every day we can train our bodies to sleep better. Once you get used to the pattern, falling asleep and even getting up gets easier.- Don’t eat 2 hours before going to bed. While we’re sleeping our bodies keep working. When we eat close to the time we go to bed instead of getting productive rest our bodies have to work on digesting the food we had.
- Turn off computer, tablet, and phone screens. A couple hours before we go to sleep our bodies release a hormone, melatonin, that will make us drowsy and help us to fall asleep. Light, especially the blue light of computer screens, stops this hormone from being released. Any guesses how that affects the quality of our sleep?
- Nap. Even getting into good sleeping habits you may have a night when you don’t get enough. When this happens, instead of planning to stay in bed later the next day consider taking a short nap during the day. This way you can catch up on rest without throwing off your typical sleeping pattern.
If you can make these changes it will make a huge difference in the way you feel everyday, but if you still have trouble getting to sleep consider talking to someone to see what else can be done. In that case schedule your consultation today!
