“Sleep is the golden chain which ties our health and bodies together”-Thomas Dekker, 1602
Sleep plays an essential part in our daily routine. After a long day we all crave to jump into bed and have a good sleep, so that work on the next day could be started off with a relaxed mind and body. In fact, most of us target this quality sleep during the night to obtain proper rest, but have you ever thought, what we do during the whole day? This is because what we do during the day has a big impact on the quality of our sleep.
In this article, we are going to discuss the importance of quality sleep in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle and offer a guideline on how to achieve the kind of sleep we want you to focus on. You will never regret on the few minutes allocated to read their article as you, yourself, would enjoy the relaxation you experience following a good sleep. However this is possible only after putting into practice these tips.
According to the latest research, optimizing your sleep solely depends on three major things. They are Preparation (practicing good sleep habits), Environment (tweaking your surroundings for quality sleep) and timing (Ability to fall asleep when you feel, you need it).
Let’s start off from the beginning of the day.
Morning
Hitting the snooze button. Well, we advise you to put a full stop to this habit at least for some time in order to achieve a sound sleep. There is no doubt that most of us have this habit in general to hit the snooze button and adjust the alarm. Surprisingly this happens even without knowing because we have been doing it over a long period of time.
However, it’s time to say bye to your incredibly loud and irritating alarm clock and try something new which would make waking up easier and natural i.e. music or comfortable sounds.
Avoid drinking coffee immediately after waking up. According to the latest research, Caffeine shortens phases three and four of the sleep cycle where REM sleep and dreaming occur. Therefore, people have made it a habit to drink coffee or other caffeine containing beverages before sleep, fail in gaining the expected optimal sleep.
Don’t ever skip breakfast. Your diet can actually override your circadian clock and can help you overcome jet lag, a wonky work schedule, or a few nights of inconsistent sleep
Afternoon
Avoid a huge lunch, which will make you sleepy, and a nap that can disrupt your sleep cycle.
Have less carbs for lunch. This is the key to a healthy body while giving your mind the opportunity to achieve the optimal sleep.
Avoid afternoon naps (or limit it to 20 minutes) especially following a heavy lunch.
Cut back on carbs and proteins in the late afternoon and evening as you prepare to sleep, or else you’ll signal to your body that you plan to be awake for a while.
Evening/Night
Avoid saturated fats especially at night. Studies have shown that foods containing saturated fat, such as red meat, pork, lamb, and most dairy products, disrupt circadian rhythms, hence eating them near bedtime may prevent you from falling asleep.
Try to meditate before sleep. Try to visualize a dream you would love to have in reality or if you’ve woken up in the middle of the night, calm down, focus on sleeping and try to visualize where your dream left off.
Go to bed at the same time every night. This habit is one of the major factors, contributing towards quality sleep.
Keep a cool room. Temperature is a very important factor in helping your body as well as mind to relax during sleep.
While Sleeping
Try a weighted blanket which would make your sleep more comfortably and cozily; of course not in sweaty, hot nights.
Which side to sleep on. According to experts, sleeping on the left side is highly encouraged as it is known to relieve heartburn symptoms whereas it is also advised during pregnancy to improve blood circulation to the heart which favours mom and baby to maintain sound health.
Sleeping with light clothes. It helps in brown fat metabolism and favours in maintaining skin to skin contact, which has a positive impact on psychological comfort.
Try to follow this guideline from today itself so that you will become a person who experiences the benefits we have discussed firsthand.
