Your body needs rest and nights with uninterrupted sleep because no one enjoys feeling tired, and the symptoms that follow a bad night’s rest can ruin your day. Daytime naps never suffice for a healthy body, and sometimes finding time to nap is impossible. Healthy sleep is essential to keep the hormones functioning properly. The quantity and quality of a good night’s sleep have declined over time, leading to sleep problems and other disturbances. This article discusses some of the best techniques to sleep at night.
Contents
- 1 Expose Yourself to Sunlight
- 2 Blue Light Exposure Reduction
- 3 Consumption of Caffeine
- 4 Reducing Long Daytime Naps
- 5 Sleeping and Waking Routine
- 6 Stay Stress-Free
- 7 Say No to Alcohol
- 8 Melatonin Supplement
- 9 Your Bedroom Environment Matters
- 10 No More Eating Late in the Evening
- 11 Perform Regular Exercise
Expose Yourself to Sunlight
There’s a circadian rhythm in your body that keeps your sleep cycles in balance. Your hormones, body, and brain are affected by the sleep schedule. If you expose yourself to a sun lamp or even better sunlight during the day, your sleep quality will enhance. For those facing sleep problems such as insomnia, natural light intake is one of the best therapies. If you stay in an area where direct sunlight is not plausible, artificial bright light will fulfill the purpose and help make you feel sleepy at night.
Blue Light Exposure Reduction
It is good to have natural light exposure during the day time. However, if you stay in light at night, your sleep quality becomes poor. The circadian rhythm is tricked due to the blue light at night, and the brain thinks it’s still day. The hormone melatonin reduces, and you don’t feel sleepy. The blue light that smartphones and laptops emit is the most problematic. The National Sleep Foundation suggests blue light blocking therapy. Special glasses are designed that block blue light from entering the eyes. You can also install an app or software on your laptop and smartphone that blocks blue light. To help you sleep better tonight, try switching off the television and turning off all the bright lights in your room for at least an hour before bed.
Consumption of Caffeine
If you consume caffeine or similar drinks during the daytime, it is good to monitor the amount of caffeine you drink each day. However, if you start taking caffeine in the evening or an hour before bedtime, your sleep quality will begin to decline. The fact is that caffeine enhances your energy and focus on giving a better sports performance, and it does not let you sleep at night after its consumption. Since caffeine’s effect remains high for six to eight hours, you should not consume it after 4 pm. However, some people have a craving for coffee after that time, so they should opt for decaffeinated coffee instead.
Reducing Long Daytime Naps
Irregular and long naps during the daytime are not healthy for your body. If you sleep in the day, your internal clock will be tricked, and you may find it hard to feel sleepy at night. The problem that arises due to daytime naps is you start feeling more fatigued during the day, which hinders your regular functioning. It’s best to take a 20 minutes nap during the day to enhance the brain’s functioning. But sleeping for many hours can lead to sleep disorders. The sleep schedule, however, varies from person to person. So, if you can still have a good night’s sleep after a daytime nap, you may continue this way.
Sleeping and Waking Routine
There is a set loop of sunrise and sunset for the circadian rhythm of your body. Sleep quality is enhanced by sleeping and waking up at a fixed time every day. If it’s possible, try waking up naturally at the same time on all days of the week. Remember that, to get up early, you need to go to sleep on time.
Stay Stress-Free
The fight and flight hormones in your body can be triggered due to stress. These hormones do not let you sleep at night. Eventually, stress leads to sleep disorders like sleep apnea and insomnia. If you feel stressed, you can have a 20 minutes daytime nap to relax. Several relaxation techniques also help in enhancing sleep quality by eliminating stress. Anxiety and worry affect your sleep cycles and decline the health of your body. So, you should de-stress yourself an hour before bedtime.
Say No to Alcohol
Drinking at night negatively affects your sleep. Snoring, sleep apnea, and disrupted sleeping patterns are sometimes a result of alcohol consumption. Alcohol and liquor can disturb your body’s melatonin level, which directly affects your circadian rhythm.
Melatonin Supplement
It is the primary sleep hormone that makes you feel sleepy and lets your brain know it’s time to go to bed. Melatonin is a sleeping aid that also helps disencumber the problem of insomnia. You can go to sleep faster, and sleep quality will enhance. When you travel to a new place or adjust yourself to a different time zone, melatonin helps your circadian rhythm get out of day and night confusion. The National Sleep Foundation recommends taking melatonin with a proper prescription and in a limited quantity. It is one of the most straightforward tips on how to sleep through the night. It would be best to start with a lighter dose.
Your Bedroom Environment Matters
For a good night sleep, it is vital to have a conducive bedroom environment. Temperature, external lights, noise, and furniture arrangement are the factors that enhance or decline your sleep quality. Many research shows that external traffic noise close to bedtime leads to less sleep. Try to reduce the noise as far as possible and dim the lights (or, if needed, switch them off) if you can minimize glare, external noise, and artificial lights from devices like the blue light from smartphones and alarm clocks. Keep your bedroom relaxing, clean, quiet, and enjoyable to feel sleepy at night and have good health.
No More Eating Late in the Evening
The natural release of HGH and sleep quality is affected by late evening or night eating—also, the type and quality of your late-night meal or snack matter. A study shows that if you eat a high carbohydrate meal four hours before bed, problems like sleep apnea become more prevalent. However, you may choose a low carb diet because that too, can enhance your sleep quality.
Perform Regular Exercise
You can go for a brisk walk or jogging to help you sleep on time every day. Regular exercise and physical activity enhance the natural hormones responsible for sleep in your body, like melatonin. Women sometimes find it challenging to have a healthy rest at night after menopause. Regular exercise for more than three hours a week showed a considerable improvement in sleep quality. You can exercise close to bedtime to feel sleepy and have a deep, dreamless rest. However, some studies show that one should workout in the morning, but every person is different. Add more light exposure with regular exercise into your daily routine, along with some of the other suggestions above, to help make your circadian rhythm balanced once again.