In this fast paced day and age many people struggle with enjoying a peaceful sleep resulting in them losing out on the health benefits of having a good night’s sleep.
Did you know that quality sleep is more important than exercise and healthy eating combined when it comes to your health? Yes, quality sleep is that much important.
However, most people think that quality sleep is just having the recommended 8 hours. That’s not true. Quality sleep means to have at least 4 sleeping cycles.
That’s how mental and physical health will improve significantly. Emotional stability and cognitive functioning are at their best when the brain is given rest during the night.
So if you are struggling to achieve a good quality sleep, than this article is for you. We will share the 5 best ways people we know reported that helped them to sleep better.
The 5 Best Ways to Improve the Quality of Your Sleep:
The benefits of a good night’s sleep can be subtle, and often can be undervalued. However, these benefits compound over time and your health increases.
Sleep is when the being recharges and recovers. A poor night’s sleep may even interfere with hormone production, as well as increase the risk for certain diseases.
It can be hard when there are daily stressors weighing on the mind along with a long list of other reasons for why sleep doesn’t come easy.
However, at night having a decent night’s sleep getting a proper rest is the only priority that matters.
There are many reasons as to why sleep doesn’t come easily, yet there are 5 ways to make going to sleep easier.
1. Keeping in time with your internal clock.
The human body has its own natural internal clock known as the circadian rhythm.
The Circadian rhythm keeps the body on track regulating hormone production as needed keeping the mind awake until it is time for sleep.
Exposure to sunlight during the daytime hours helps keep the circadian rhythm in sync keeping energy levels high. At night our body naturally has lower energy that helps us sleep better.
However, additives, coffee, artificial light and screen time confuse our internal clock and our hormone production system. Do not drink coffee after 6pm and do not look at your computer or phone at least 1 hour before you go to sleep.
Sleep with the lights off, not near electricity sockets and at least 6 feet away from wifi routers. This will help you not interfere with your internal clock and hormone production.
2. Balancing your hormones.
During the night time hours there are two hormones critical for sleeping, melatonin and human growth hormone (HGH).
Melatonin is a natural hormone produced during the night time hours relaxing the brain when the circadian rhythm tells the body it is time for sleep.
As for HGH, more than 70% of it is produced when the body is sleep. This hormone regulates sleep, metabolism, and muscle strength. Without good quality sleep hormone production for these 2 hormones are compromised leading to the vicious cycle of poor quality sleep compromised hormone production at night, in turn leading to poor quality sleep.
To end this cycle melatonin supplements are effective in increasing melatonin to aid in sleeping.
For balancing human growth hormone you should consult with qualified specialist and you can do it through clinic official website.
3. Eat dinner before 8pm.
Eating late at night has been proven to negatively impact the quality of sleep, and interferes with the natural production of HGH and melatonin.
Depending on the type and size of the meal it could cause the body to prioritize digestion over sleep.
If consuming food or drink containing caffeine, sugar, or chocolate they can act as a stimulant keeping the mind and body active preventing sleep by inhibiting the production of melatonin.
That’s why you should keep your dinner before 6pm latest should be 8pm. Make eating earlier a habit.
And as a bonus you can try to do intermittent fasting, that’s when you fast for 16 to 20 hours every day. So you can eat your daily meals between 12pm to 8pm and you will not even feel that you have been fasting, however, you will feel the benefits.
4. Create a night time routine.
Routines serve as transition vehicles to another mental state and mood. People usually do routines in the mornings to get into a sharper mindset and tackle the daily tasks with a more positive mood.
It’s not uncommon for daytime stress, anger, and frustration to follow into the night time hours making sleep difficult.
Learning to ease the mind with a night time routine can reduce stress, thereby allowing sleep to come more easily.
Night time routines should be relaxing such as taking a warm bath, listening to soothing music, reading, and dimming the lights. The more overstimulated the mind is during the day can make it harder to unwind at night.
Having a calming night time routine can ease the mind into a smooth transition from active to relaxed allowing sleep to come more easily.
5. Exercise daily.
Even if it’s a quick 15 minute workout right after you wake up, physical activity is backed by science to improve sleep quality.
There has been a recent study that has found that exercise significantly reduces the amount of time it takes to fall asleep.
Study shows that physical activity has the potential to be more effective than medication.
The study has shown that regular exercise has the potential of reducing the chances of late night wakefulness by 30%, increase sleep time by 18%, and reduce the time to fall asleep by 55%.
That’s why making exercising a habit and something that comes naturally to you, not something you dread, is possibly the best thing you can do for yourself when we speak about creating daily habits.