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Are you feeling wearing or unusually tired all the time? It might be because you are overworking, or you indulged in a straining activity out of the norm. Or maybe it may be because of your inability to get enough sleep.
According to the national sleep foundation, a normal human being should get at least 8 hours of sleep a day. Having trouble sleeping may be attributed to a lot of things, and one of them is having sleeping disorders. Common sleeping disorders include insomnia, sleep apnea, and parasomnias. To help you get a good night’s sleep, here are healthy sleeping tips;
- Keep a Regular Sleeping Schedule
If you are having difficulties falling asleep from time to time, you should start prioritizing your sleep over some other less important things you do during sleeping time. A normal human being’s body is accustomed to a rhythm; whatever you train your body and mind to do, it will do it. Therefore try as much a possible to set a hard and fast resting time and wake up time.
As you continue to stick to your regular schedule, your sleep problem will slowly become a thing of the past. However, your plan should ensure that you get as much sleep as possible. If you take afternoon naps, make sure it does not exceed 30 minutes. If it does, your whole sleep schedule will be ruined.
- Check What You Eat
When you are asleep, your stomach still works very hard to handle and digest the foods you just ate, making it work harder will cause a lot of problems like sleep deprivation. Therefore, you should ensure that you avoid eating certain foods at night. These foods are;
- Spicy foods-according to Charlene E. Gamaldo M.D., a Johns Hopkins sleep expert, spicy foods can cause heartburn. When you lie down, the acid reflux usually becomes worse. Altogether, this hampers you from getting the full 8 hours of sleep.
- Fatty foods- choosing to eat fatty foods or not makes a big difference in the quality of sleep you get. Fatty foods, even small amounts, take a long time for them to be broken down, posing a problem to your sleep.
- Alcohol and cigarettes.
You should also avoid eating large meals as it takes the stomach more time to digest large amounts of food as compared to smaller ones.
- Create a Good Sleeping Environment
For you to get a better night’s sleep, you may need to make the room and environment in which you are sleeping fabulous. Here are some of the ways to do so;
- Keep your bedroom dark. Where you have windows, make sure you have opaque curtains, so that little or no light at all enters the room once you have closed them.
- The temperature of the room should be cool but not cold.
- Ensure that there is no noise around your room when you are asleep. You can also use white noises like the one from fans to drown out any unwanted sounds.
- Invest in a comfortable mattress. If you do not know much about mattresses, the Sleepdelivered’s Nectar vs Leesa comparison is a great place to start. Also consider an air foam mattress, as they typically fit most sleeping styles.
- Use Sleep Medicine
Sleep medicine has been used for many years now. According to Johns Hopkins medicine, these medicines are commonly referred to as melatonin sleep aids. These pills are effective in helping you get enough sleep.
Before using these pills, you need to understand one thing about melatonin. Your body produces melatonin naturally, which puts you in a state of wakefulness in the evening. As you are in this state, sleep quickly takes you out. In instances when you have sleep disorders, melatonin sleep aids supplement the natural body to help in the production of melatonin.
In as much as this is effective, Luis F. Buenaver, Ph.D., C.B.S.M, from Johns Hopkins advises that you use these pills together with sleep-inducing signals. For instance, at night, try not to use your smartphone or tablet as this can neutralize melatonin’s effects. You can also turn off bright overhead lights. Luis Buenaver also advises that you use melatonin sleep aids wisely and safely.
- Adopt Relaxing Bedtime Rituals
Common sleep problems can be avoided by doing two or three things before you retire to bed. Some of these things are;
- Turn off technology- Studies have revealed that the use of technology at night adversely affects one’s sleeping patterns.
- Massage- take time to clear your skin and rub your muscles before going to bed. After this, you will feel relaxed, free, and you will sleep like a baby.
- Yoga- Yoga is an excellent form of routine to do before sleeping as it relaxes your body immensely. You can adopt the right poses, like the corpse pose and the child’s pose, that will leave you relaxed after completion. Yoga is also known to reduce high blood pressure for those suffering from the condition.
Conclusion
Getting a good night’s sleep is one of the best feelings one can have once they wake up in the morning. If you are having trouble sleeping, you can try taking sleep medication. These medicines foster the synthesis of melatonin, which helps in giving you a good night’s sleep. Proper sleep habits also play a vital role in ensuring if you get enough sleep. You can turn off your technology at night and rub your muscles to help yourself relax. You can even try one or two yoga positions. All of these things are essential in helping you get a good night’s rest.
