Are you recently waking up the next morning feeling rough, tired and demotivated?
If yes, then you're not alone. Many of us may be feeling the same during self-isolation. As our body clock begin to adjust to life at home. Our bodies are beginning to change it's cycle which can cause us having insomnia. Insomnia is known as having 'sleepless nights' or having little amount of sleep during the night. On average we should be intaking 9 hours of sleep to help our mind, body and brain function for the next day. Our sleep cycle goes though three patterns which are: Light sleep, Deep sleep and REM.
Light sleep is the most important stage as it helps promote our mental and physical restoration. Normally light sleep takes place between the hours of 12:00-03:00am.
Deep sleep is known to help our physical recovery and aspects of memory and learning. Without deep sleep we won't be feeling refreshed the next morning. For example, do you wake up the next morning and question 'what day it is'? Then, this means you didn't get enough deep sleep during your hours of rest.
REM is shown to be very important during our sleep cycle stages as it helps us with our memory and mood. During the REM stage our brains begins to restore all the information we took during the day. Which links to our mood & how we feel. Waking up feeling happy, motivated and ready to the start the day shows you had a good couple of hours in the REM cycle stage. This will help you feel more refreshed and active during the day.
Not having enough time in the REM cycle can lead to mental health issues, anxiety, depression, low-mood & stress. All of these can affect the way we work, think and function during the day an become the biggest cause to us developing mental health issues. This is why it's vital to have a good amount of sleep everyday.
To help avoid having sleepless nights and developing a habit of becoming known as a 'dormant'. I wanted to share some top tips to help you overcome these negative habits and have a blissful sleep:
1. Routine: Having & sticking to a routine is the most simplest and key ingredient to having a better night sleep. Our bodies are made to work on pilot mode which means our sleep cycle is the same. Our brain functions at it's best during routines as we use our 10,000 neutrons to help us process our performance to a task. Without setting yourself a routine can cause your sleep cycle to go into overdrive which can cause an affect to our body and brain the next day. For example, have you ever stayed up till 3:00am fighting yourself in wanting to go sleep? Well that's because your body has told your brain you aren't ready for bed just yet so your brain begins to 'reactivate' to help you stay awake.
Having a simple routine 1 hour before bed will make a huge difference to your sleep and REM cycle. As well as psychologically helping your brain and body begin to get ready for bed.
2. Meditation: Many of you have heard about meditation or either tried and tested but it didn't work. Well that's because you may be doing it wrong!
After your meditation session. If you're coming out feeling confused, lost or trying to figure out what happened in the last 20 mins of your life. Then avoid doing that method again. Meditation should make you feel like you're on cloud 9 or sitting at the beach hearing the waves go by. So when should you do Mediation?
The best time to feel synced with your body is 1 hour before bed. Put on calm music, lay down front facing the ceiling, do a star fish body position, close your eyes and begin to focus your mind on one thing only. This will only work if you begin to switch off your left hemisphere and go away from the outside world.
3. Sleeping Environment: Your sleeping environment makes up 95% of how you sleep. During your sleep your body is sending a signal to your brain informing you that it's time to sleep. Having an environment which makes your mind and body feel calm, secure, comfortable and happy will help you go into a peaceful sleep.
Tips: Room Temperature- Studies have suggested to sleep in cool temperature room setting. Opening the window during the night will help the room temperature. So, when you wake up, you're feeling refreshed and calm instead of feeling congested or hot.
Tips: Lights- All of us like to watch our favourite TV show/movie before bed which can cause major issues to our sleep as the radiation from the screen causes us to use extra brain power to help us focus and concentrate. To avoid this, dim the screen setting on your devise to a low brightness and watch your TV/movie in the dark. This will set your body to knowing it's time for bed and you just may drift into a peaceful sleep.
Tips: The Bed- Sleeping in a comfortable bed is really important as this will help you wake up feeling energetic and happy. I found out sleeping with more than one pillow in your bed can help with you neck alignment and sleeping with a pillow between your legs can help your back posture. Many of us suffer from back posture and the main cause to this is our sleeping positions. So consider sleeping with extra pillows to help you find the right position.
4. Reading: Reading is a great way to doze into a peaceful sleep. Reading before bed can help your light sleep cycle and help you feel calm before you close your eyes.
5. Puzzles/Brain Training: Doing a puzzle or a brain tease before bed will help your brain 'tire out' and allow you to sleep. The feeling of completing a puzzle or brain tease before bed will uplift your mood and endorphins allowing you to go sleep feeling happy and accomplished which will help your REM cycle and give you that extra boost when you wake up the next morning.
I hope these tips will help you get a better night sleep.
Likes and comments are always welcome.
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