Yesterday I talked about sleep hygiene -that is ways in which you can wind down for sleep in the hour or so before you go to bed. Today I want to give you some more tips on ways you can improve your sleep hygiene so that you are more likely to be able to get to sleep quickly each night.
Don’t Go To Bed Straight After A Heavy Meal
Eating a heavy meal before bed can make you uncomfortable . It used to said that you shouldn’t eat cheese before bedtime. I am not sure why cheese was the villain here but let’s just take it a a representative of all calorie rich fatty foods. They are likely to cause disturbed sleep.
On the other hand don’t go to bed hungry as that can also disturb your sleep. Have a light snack such as a small sandwich or a couple of cookies with a glass of milk in the hour before sleep time.
Take A Hot Bath
There is more to having a bath than the comfort it gives. There is also a physiological reason why a hot bath is good for inducing sleep. The bath raises your body temperature by heating the periphery. As the periphery cools your core body temperature drops slightly and this is what is needed for sleep initiation.
Write Your Problems Down
You can’t easily fall asleep if you have problems on your mind. To stop them going round in your head write them down in a notebook. Write them as a ‘To Do’ list. Then close the notebook and tell yourself you will go back to these issues tomorrow. After all there is nothing more you can do about them today.
Don’t Try To Sleep If You Aren’t Sleepy
Don’t settle down to sleep if you don’t feel sleepy. You will feel sleepy soon enough especially if you follow some of the previous advice on relaxing before bed.
Sleeping Pills Are Not The Answer
Don’t take sleeping pills, they are not the answer to to a good night’s sleep. Sleeping pills disrupt the natural cycles of sleep which are an important part of the sleep process. You may think you slept well when you used sleeping pills but you didn’t. After a while they make you feel quite groggy and lethargic which goes to show they are not the answer.
This article was about setting up good sleep hygiene so that you sleep well ever night. Learn more about sleep and how to sleep well every night
