Going to bed does not have to trouble you. However, you must find a rhythm that helps you enjoy your sleep as much as you enjoy being up in the day. Here are six of the most useful tips to help boost your sleep routine:
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Avoid Stimulants
Stimulants are drinks like alcohol, coffee, or any other caffeinated beverages that can keep the body awake for longer than usual. If you are a lover of coffee, tea, or chocolate, you may need to cut down on the amount you take in a day. Usually, these stimulants interfere with sleep, which means you may not enjoy quality sleep for up to 8 hours. If you have to take these drinks, then make sure you take them 5 or more hours before bedtime. This gives your body ample time to readjust and resume normalcy.
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Replace Your Mattress
An old mattress can stand in the way of a good night’s sleep. Over the years, your mattress gives a little more. This means that with time, you will have to deal with sagging in the middle, mainly if you bought a soft mattress. This will improperly align your spinal column as you sleep. It is the kind of strain that holds you back from enjoying sleep.
Besides, dust mites love to hide in mattresses. While even new mattresses are home to dust mites, an old one has lots of them. This can become a huge problem if you are overly sensitive or allergic to the dust mites. Notice that over time, it is also possible for harmful bacteria and fungi to grow on your mattress, due to moisture, sweat, heat, among other things. For this reason, consider the best mattress for combination sleepers as a replacement for your old mattress.
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Work Yourself Up
Going to bed when you are feeling tired is the best thing you can do for your sleep. The brain associates fatigue with the need for sleep and rest. Therefore, if you can do something to get your body worked up, then do it. For one, indulge in active physical activities like exercising. You can decide to join the gym as a way to stretch out your ligaments and get tired. Besides, you can also consider jogging every day to keep fit while getting yourself worked up.
Further, indulge in mental stimulation to ensure that your brain is also exhausted. Active engagement of the mind also necessitates sleep. Sometimes, when you have been mentally engaged too much, you may feel tired even without necessarily tiring your body.
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Establish a Pre-Sleep Routine
A Pre-sleep routine has everything to do with what you do every night before you go to sleep. Ideally, you want to refrain from all intense activities that will get your body all worked up. For example, exercising right before bed will not work. The reason is that intense physical activity stimulates your body, instead of encouraging rest. However, you can resolve for slight body movements and stretches to ease up your body before sleep. Some other things you can do for your pre-sleep routine include watching a movie, reading a book, or listening to slow music. Where possible, be sure you are watching a movie and listening to music away from your bed.
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Use Light to Your Advantage
Natural light can guide your sleeping patterns. If you are intentional with sleeping, then you should be able to go to sleep when it is dark and wake up when the sun is up. Ideally, rise when the sun rises, so you can set when it does.
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Reduce Nap Time
Last in this list is nap time. Napping is an amazing way to catch up with lost sleep but is undermines your sleeping routine. If you want a healthy sleeping lifestyle, avoid taking naps in the daytime. This way, by the time it is night, your body is exhausted that you cannot wait to sleep.
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