We all know that getting a good night’s sleep is so important for our mind, body, and soul, we know that if we don’t sleep well that we wear it on our faces the next day and every other day thereafter. A good night’s sleep is just as important as regular exercise and a healthy diet.
That is all fine and well but the real question is how exactly do we get a good night’s sleep? It isn’t easy, sure, but it is easier than you might think. By following these 5 steps you’ll almost certainly wake up feeling refreshed and renewed.
#1. Listen To Relaxing Music
Ease your way into a good night’s sleep by listening to relaxing music. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, there is a valid reason for spas using meditative sounds to lull massage clients into a deeper sense of relaxation. Repetitive calming sounds like rain, waves, or even soothing violin music can do wonders for sending us off to Dreamland.
#2. Secure Your Environment
Feeling safe in your own home goes such a long way in helping you sleep well at night. By not worrying that every noise or small sound could be the sounds of a would-be intruder, you’ll give yourself the peace of mind you need to rest easy. Installing a smart home security system is the fastest way to allow technology to keep watch whilst you sleep soundly.
#3. Exercise During The Day
Physical activity causes the body to release endorphins; endorphins are wonderful little chemicals that are released by your brain as a reward for slogging it out in the gym (amongst other things).
The only tricky part is these endorphins can create brain activity that keeps some folks awake; the simple solution to this is to make sure you get your exercising done at least 2 to 3 hours before going to bed, especially if you do home workouts. By exercising later you will allow your brain time to wind down and relax.
#4. Deep Breathing
Deep breathing exercises are effective at making it easier for you to fall asleep; the reason for this is that by allowing yourself to breathe deeply you slow down your heart rate.
Once your heart rate slows down your body can no longer support the various functions in your body that enable anxiety attacks.
#5. Increase Light Exposure During The Day
You’re not a mushroom, you need light – and not just for the vitamin D. Getting enough exposure to bright light during the day helps your body to keep in time with your natural clock known as your circadian rhythm.
This natural clock affects your brain by letting it know when to release hormones which, in turn, affect both your mind and body. Natural sunlight during the day helps keep your natural rhythm functioning optimally and directly impacts the quality and duration of your sleep at night.
Tests done on people with insomnia showed that bright light exposure during the day reduced the time it took for the test subjects to fall asleep by over 80%. So take a walk outside during the day and easily boost your sleep quality at night.
As an additional tip, some supplements may also disrupt your sleep such as COQ10 for heart and policosanol medicines. Therefore, it’s better to take these during the day.
