Sleep is essential for feeling well rested and maintaining good, overall health. Unfortunately, many people struggle to get enough of it.
Insomnia is a common issue, affecting approximately one in three adults worldwide. The demands of caring for small children wreak havoc on sleep schedules. Other factors, such as alcohol consumption, hustle culture, and electronics further disrupt sleep patterns.
The Bad News: Chronic sleep depravation has been linked to health problems ranging from heart disease to depression, and negatively effects nearly every system in the body.
The Good News: There are ways to improve both the quality and duration of sleep.
If you’re someone who has been burning the candle at both ends, continue reading to learn effective techniques for better sleep.
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Sleep Hygiene
While you can’t control what happens once your head hits the pillow, you can set yourself up for optimal rest with good “sleep hygiene”.
Today, I’m sharing sleep hygiene habits that have significantly improved the quality of my sleep, and showing you how to incorporate them into your own life.
I’ve never been a deep sleeper, or one of those people who can sleep anywhere, anytime. My relationship with sleep has always been volatile. I remember lying in bed for hours as a child, trying to drift off.
Becoming a mother didn’t help. Already a light sleeper, my senses went on high alert and I would wake at the slightest movement from my baby.
Eventually, my son started sleeping through the night, but I remained restless.
These days, my sleep is disrupted by hormones, stress and the nocturnal movements of my family. My nights sometimes feel like a battle to claim what little rest I can.
Through all of this struggle, I’ve learned a lot about good sleep hygiene and most of what i’ve learned boils down to one important thing : a bedtime routine.
Choosing a Bedtime…and Sticking To It
Creating a bedtime routine is one of the most effective things you can do to improve the quality of your sleep, and it all starts with choosing an actual bedtime.
Going to bed around the same time every night is beneficial for multiple reasons. Most obviously, when you go to bed on time…you get more sleep. If you know you have to get up at 6am, you probably want to climb in bed by 10pm.
Less obvious: going to bed at the same time every night makes falling asleep much easier.
My designated bedtime is 10:30pm. I might vary fifteen minutes earlier or later, but for the most part I am in bed at 10:30pm every night.
Because of this, my internal clock is programmed to get tired at that time and I rarely have trouble falling asleep anymore.
I reinforce the benefits of my bedtime with another important habit: I use my bed exclusively for sleep.
I used to hang out in my bed a lot. I loved to spend long, lazy afternoons watching tv or reading in bed. Eventually, I noticed that the more time I spent in my bed during the day, the harder it was to sleep at night.
It turns out, this is a widespread problem. Anyone seeking treatment for insomnia will be given the same advice: the only thing you should be doing in your bed is sleeping.
Using your bed solely for sleep, trains your brain to associate your bed with rest, making it easier fall and stay asleep.
Your Bedtime Routine
Now that you’ve chosen your bedtime, you’re ready to create your nightly, bedtime routine. This is the last hour (or two) of your day and it’s your time to unwind.
There’s a lot of room for individual preference here. It all depends on how you like to relax.
My bedtime routine consists of a (very) hot shower, a cup of herbal tea and a good book. I’ll often throw in an evening yoga practice and some gratitude journaling too.
I also put my phone away and hour before bedtime. No matter what.
If you take only one thing from this issue, I hope it’s this: your phone is enemy number one when it comes to sleep.
The role phones play in sleep deprivation has been well documented. Google it and take your pick of articles about it. They all agree, if you want to get a good night sleep, you gotta put the phone away.
Other Habits to Promote Sleep
Outside of my bedtime routine, I do a few other things throughout the day that ensure I’m ready for a restful night.
Limit caffeine intake.
I only drink two cups of coffee a day and I make sure the last one is before 12:30pm. No exceptions.
Exercise
Doubly effective if the exercise is outside. There’s just something about fresh air.
Stop eating three hours before bed.
Of all the sleep hygiene habits I’ve learned, this one was the most difficult to adopt. I’ve always been a nighttime snacker. It took a while, but I got used to it and it really does help! On rare occasions, I’ll have something light, up to two hours before bed - usually an apple.
Put It Into Practice
I threw a lot at you this week. Please don’t feel overwhelmed. My bedtime routine was developed, and refined, over the course of years.
Start simple: Implement one sleep hygiene habit and choose one relaxing, nightly ritual
Why not start with an evening yoga practice?
Evening Yoga Challenge | 15 Minutes of Bedtime Yoga for 30 DAYS! | Yoga With Kassandra
Consistency is one of the best tools for implementing a new routine. If you’re ready to start building your bedtime routine, but aren’t sure where to start, consider practicing along with this excellent offering from Yoga with Kassandra.
With 30 gentle, evening classes, all clocking in around 15 minutes, this evening yoga challenge will have you slumbering peacefully in no time.
Final Thoughts
Although your new bedtime routine should help you get better sleep, more often, it’s not a guarantee that you will sleep well every night. There will still be restless nights, sleep disturbances and early mornings to contend with. That’s just life.
Rest assured, there are things you can do to ease the discomfort of rough nights. We’ll be getting into it next week when we talk about Yoga Nidra! A practice that has improved my day to day life exponentially and completely changed my relationship to rest.
I am very excited to share it with all of you.