Whenever you have trouble sleeping, you probably blame it on your hectic lifestyle and with good reason. You may go to sleep but your body won’t be resting especially when your mind is full of troubling issues. The words sleep and rest are not synonyms when it comes bedtime. Sleep is generally seen as that total time in hours spent in bed. Rest is what you get when you “go to sleep” and let your body revitalize itself.
There are two kinds of sleep: REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM. When a person is going through REM sleep, it means they are dreaming. During REM, the brain is very active and the person’s eyes will flutter quickly. This stage will help reinvigorate the body’s mental purposes. When people are in non-REM sleep, their psyche is quiet. In this sleep, the person is in a deep state of rest and the body’s immune system (along with other processes) are being restored to “full health”.
You may not realize it but what you do every day can hinder your chances of getting a restful night’s sleep. Studies were done on how electronics affected a person’s sleep. The results were that televisions, video games, computers, etc. interfered with how well a person slept. Electronics keep your brain active so it’s vitally important to set aside some quiet time to unwind before you go to sleep.
Be mindful of what you drink and eat before bed. Any drinks or foods that are caffeinated must be avoided. This means you’ll need to avoid sports drinks, coffee, soda and chocolate. If you enjoy tea before bed, read labels to ensure that it is not caffeinated. If you find that it is, consider switching to decaffeinated.
If you’re not an active person, you may suffer for it when you try to rest. It’s important to put together a workout plan that you will follow through since exercising helps to develop better sleep patterns along with boosting your quality of life. Not sure how to go about this? Then hire an exercise trainer to work with you. By understanding their experience, you can keep yourself from doing the incorrect exercises.
One great idea is to take inventory of your bedroom. What is it’s purpose? Is your bedroom a media room? The bedroom should not be used for reading, watching television or using computers. Keep it an area designated for low stress and rest.
If you sit in the bed reading or watching television, your body recognizes the bed as no more than a sofa. By keeping these activities out of the bedroom, you will be training yourself to go into the bedroom in order to rest. Repurpose your bedroom if necessary. It may be a difficult task, but it does work.
It’s important to identify how much stress you’re under since this is a culprit in the lack of sleep a person gets. Stress can eventually lead you to depression, which will also interfere with your ability to get a good sleep. Determine what makes your mind run wild and find ways to slow it down.
There are other things that a person can do besides reorganizing their bedroom. They can repeat the same things every evening before heading to bed. This means giving themselves a 30-minute window to wind down. This allows the brain to understand the person is getting ready for bed and is calling it a day.
This can be reading (not in the bed) and sitting down with a cup of herbal decaffeinated tea. Peppermint tea works great. Try using candle light instead of lamps. One of my favorites is drinking herbal tea and listening to the radio or some good conversation by candle light. The scent of lavender has also bee shown to have a relaxing effect.
As with everything, change is challenging. To improve your sleep you need to change your patterns. It can be difficult be it is achievable. Customize your own wind-down ritual and have a good night’s sleep tonight!
Author: Dr. Robert Simmons is a charlotte chiropractor using applied kinesiology technique. We regularly hold free charlotte chiropractic nutrition lectures and workshops.