6 Natural Sleep Aids for a Good Night’s Sleep
We live hectic lifestyles. We are always rushing from one task to the next without taking the time to rest. There are many sleepless nights experienced by most of us when we are working hard on something. This might be good for your career in the short run, but not getting enough good quality sleep for a prolonged period of time can lead to a ton of problems.
More than ⅓ of people in the entire world suffer from insomnia, while most get fewer than 6 hours of sleep. If you get adequate sleep, your stress levels will be lower and it will be much better for your heart health and memory. If you depend on untimely naps or caffeine in order to help you catch up with your sleep or keep energy in your body, it is not the right thing to do so. All of us need our beauty sleep for more reasons than just one.
Sleep helps you recharge your body and mind, helping you feel energetic in the morning. It also helps the body maintain homeostasis and keeps your immunity strong. Your brain will not be able to function properly without enough sleep. Here are a few tips and some home remedies in order to help you get better sleep at night.
Get your sleep routine to be consistent
You know that you might want to stay up late for a few nights, especially when you do not have work the next day. It would seem like it is doing no harm, but sleeping even till noon on Saturday morning can seriously disrupt your biological clock. Your circadian rhythm system changing can cause quite a few sleeping problems.
The next thing you know, you will wake up drowsy for work on Monday. It is best to keep your sleep cycle as consistent as you can so that your body naturally starts producing melatonin a few hours before you have to sleep at night. Going to bed at the same time on your days off and your holidays will help in establishing your sleep/wake clock and will improve your quality of sleep.
Try drinking saffron milk
There are a few shortcuts to help you sleep off instantly at night. One of the traditional ones is using saffron milk to help you sleep. This miraculous spice has many properties such as being an immunity booster, and even an aphrodisiac. You will just need a few strains of saffron in warm milk to help induce sleep. This is one of the most expensive spice in the market for a reason, it has many healing qualities. It can help heal your nervous system and is also known for improving your mental well-being. You can even add some sugar to help make the drink taste better.
Exercise your heart out
It is well known that exercise is good for both your body as well as your mind. It keeps your body fit, healthy, and active, while it keeps the mind sharp and happy. Researchers report how people who exercise for just 20 minutes a day have improved lung capacity, increased focus, and of course, better sleep. It is important to remember to work out in the day and not before bed since it can get you excited and disrupt your sleep/wake cycle.
It also reduces the level of cortisol in your body, meaning that you have less stress to deal with. This can also help decrease depressive symptoms and episodes. You can choose any form of exercise that you like, such as yoga, bodyweight training, weight lifting, running, or even cycling. Even dancing and sports are a form of movement in the end. This also helps tire out your body for a better night’s sleep every single night.
Quit smoking
We know that this might be hard to even think about, but you should consider quitting smoking if you want a better quality sleep at night. There are many types of research that have proven how smokers do not feel as well rested after sleeping as nonsmokers do every night. Nicotine also makes you stay awake and craving that cigarette after food or at the end of the night can ruin your chances of a good night’s sleep.
According to Johns Hopkins University, this can also be due to the nicotine withdrawal one may feel at night since the effect tends to wear off. This also aggravates sleep apnea and can hinder your quality of sleep at night.
Lower the temperature in your room
Did you know that once you fall asleep, your body temperature tends to change? This is exactly why you should remember that your body warms up when you get up and cools down once you sleep off. If you have a room that is too warm, you might have some trouble falling asleep. It is vital that you set your thermostat to a temperature that is cooler, somewhere around 60-65 degrees F.
You should also factor in your individual preferences and find the best temperature for you. You can also think of taking a warm bath before you go to sleep since this will help in speeding up the changes in your body’s temperature. This can even help improve sleep quality, according to some studies.
Practice mindfulness, yoga, and meditation
It is often hard for people who are stressed a lot to fall asleep easily at night. Meditation, mindfulness, and yoga are all very important tools that can help calm you down. They help you in seeing the present moment without any judgment or fear of what is about to happen. It helps you relax and focus on your own body and surroundings.
This is also known to improve focus, concentration, level of happiness, and quality of sleep as well. Meditation has also been found to increase melatonin levels in the body which is why is it common for someone to fall asleep while meditating in the beginning.
It is very important to get a good night’s sleep so that you are well rested for the next day. Use these points to help you fall asleep faster at night.
