How to Sleep Better And Wake up Refreshed
Do you know Sleep directly relates to the overall health in a person’s life? Your bedtime routine has much to help you start a day with freshness and energy. Insomnia is one of the reasons for many diseases, including lifestyle diseases. Getting better sleep at night indicates a person’s mental and physical health.
Sleep deficiency is a slow killer, which causes no harm initially. Lack of sufficient sleep gradually leads to heart disease, kidney problems, obesity, depression, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.
A person needs to sleep at least 6 to 7 hours daily, and believe it or not, it can be easy with a good bedtime routine and complicated with irregular habits.
Do you know that a few tips and tricks can help a person sleep better, which is the foundation of a healthy body? It can start with simple steps such as
1. Preparing a sleep schedule
2. Avoiding daytime naps
3. Maintaining a healthy diet
4. Engaging in physical activities
5. Getting rid of stress.
Creating a restful environment is also necessary to get better sleep, including setting up a comfortable room with proper temperature and shading.
Understanding Sleep
The science of human sleep is fascinating and well-synchronized. The circadian rhythm controls the time for activity, sleep, and time to eat. The human brain generates the hormone ‘Melatonin,’ which leads the body to sleep or awake.
The hormone is released slowly, at night, or when rest is required making the person sleepy. The stages of sleep have been classified into four patterns:
Stage 1: Lasts 1 to 5 minutes and transitions from the dozed-off stage to the state
Stage 2: Takes 10 to 60 minutes, and it slows down the activities of the brain and body.
Stage 3: Called the deep stage, which slows down the brain activities, and the body recuperates at this stage.
Stage 4: Paralyzes everything except the brain and eyes, and dreams will likely happen at this stage.
Establishing A Bedtime Routine
Have you ever been late to sleep? Have you overslept once in your life? You feel tired after such uncharacterized periods of sleep, and it will result in a lack of energy. This shows the need for a consistent bedtime routine.
The human body has an internal clock that hangs on your bedtime routine, and the same clock helps a person to distinguish day and night, alerts hunger and thirst, keeps the mind calm, and releases all the stress of a day.
- An ideal bedtime routine is theoretical, but we can create a healthy bedtime.
- Your gadgets eat your day, and this is something you need to get rid of before going to bed.
- Eating a light meal or having a warm bath at least an hour before bed can prepare you for a good sleep.
- Sticking to a regular bedtime is another simple but essential step for good sleep.
Plenty of relaxation techniques can be incorporated into a bedtime routine. Meditation and Yoga are great ways to relax the mind and reduce breathing and brain activities. Progressive music therapy is another helpful relaxation technique leading to a sound sleep.
Though not popular as the methods mentioned above, techniques such as colored noise, hypnosis, and brain wave music are proven to be efficient relaxation methods.
Creating A Sleep-Conducive Environment
Where you sleep is as important as how well you sleep. Some lucky people can sleep well amid noisy surroundings. But for an average person, a comfortable place is essential for an average person to get quality sleep.
People sleep better when in a sleep conducive environment, which helps them wake up with energy and enthusiasm.
First, an environment that is favorable for sleeping can easily be set up by optimizing the light and noise inside the room, along with maintaining a pacifying temperature and providing comfortable bedding.
Secondly, the bedroom should be dark enough to banish intense light and strong enough to filter out disturbing sounds. Natural methods or the latest air conditioners can help maintain the room temperature as the season demands.
At last, pillows, mattresses, and even bedspreads all play a role in how well you sleep. A high-quality mattress will provide your back, spine, and legs the support they need, while the right pillow will give your neck the support it needs, and a soft, skin-friendly bed cover will do the rest.
The quality of mattresses and pillows is the primary reason for a severe problem that we face today, consistent back and neck pain. A good bed is like an investment, and a comfortable pillow is like a reliable friend. Both can support us for a long time from troubles.
Managing Sleep Disorders
Getting comfortable sleep is a bit of luck, and at least 35% of the world's population suffers from sleep disorders, although many are temporary and manageable. Experiencing severe sleep disorders feel like living in hell, which consumes a person’s health. There are at least five types of sleeping disorders, such as
Insomnia
Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)
REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD)
Most of the abovementioned issues are severe sleep disorders requiring immediate medical assistance. Obstructive Sleep Apnea or snoring is another sleep disorder that needs urgent medical help, although people consider it funny.
Snoring does not require medical assistance unless it becomes louder or the person feels a morning headache or tired after a long sleep.
Lifestyle Changes to Promote Better Sleep
Obesity is another reason which leads to sleep disorders and lifestyle diseases. A proper diet and nutrition-enriched food can restore health and provide quality sleep.
Studies have shown that high-fat and high-protein foods can disturb a person's sleep since it takes more time to digest, whereas fiber-enriched food can promote digestion and sound sleep.
Stress and anxiety are other reasons that can keep a person awake for hours at night. It is difficult to avoid stress in our life, but we can reduce it to a level so that it doesn’t affect our sleep.
If you want to reduce stress, limit the use of alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine to an extent. If anything haunts your mind, write it in your journal; it will help reduce stress.
Feeling stress is not an isolated phenomenon; there are proven methods like music therapy, yoga, and meditation to handle stress.
Conclusion
Sleep is an invisible bridge between a healthy body and a healthy mind, which works only when we are sleeping. All the repair and recuperating processes take place during sleep; hence, it is essential to have a night of quality sleep.
A vehicle without proper maintenance is risky to drive, and nobody loves to use such a vehicle. A sleep-deprived body is exactly like a vehicle without appropriate maintenance and service, and such a vehicle may break down at any time.
