How To Get A Good Night's Sleep
Enjoy a restful slumber and feel refreshed every morning
While sleep is a luxury for many, it is first and foremost an essential requirement for a healthy life. Do you often stay up late? How many hours do you sleep in a week? Not getting enough sleep and the quality of your slumber contribute to how you'll face the day ahead. Let us remind you how you can ensure you get the best sleep every day with the tips below:
1. Turn off all light sources—including the blinking light of your TV and your mobile phone—during bedtime.
Anything with light, even when your eyes are closed to actually see it, affects your sleep pattern and quality. It forces the body to wake up—such as LED lights, that blue light on your computer screen, that blinking light on your TV, the games you play and apps you check on your phone before you sleep—because again, it works on an ancient pattern when our ancestors have relied on the blue light of dawn as a signal of a new day and the time to rise. “Any light you have with a blue spectrum in it is going to destroy whatever melatonin—also known as the sleep hormone—is in your brain,” says Dr. Ted Achacoso, chief science officer of wellness institute BioBalance.
2. Always set your alarm according to sleep cycles.
The average sleep cycle is around 1.5 hours or 90 minutes, which means a 7.5-hour sleep is a pretty good amount with roughly 5 cycles. If your alarm clock wakes you up in between cycles, you get the feeling of being jerked awake like you were hit by a truck or you get the groggy, sleep-deprived feeling all day. The lesson is, if you have to set your alarm, count the minutes and set it for when a sleep cycle ends, whether its just two (3 hours) or three (4.5 hours) or four (6 hours) cycles.
3. You can make use of sunlight as your “alarm.”
On days when you can afford to not use an alarm clock, try letting some sunshine in your room in the morning by leaving the curtains slightly open. Human bodies are conditioned to wake up when exposed to sunlight. This way, you wake up a lot easier and less groggy.
4. The body’s performance when deprived of sleep and when drunk is the same.
A study has recently revealed that lack of sleep “produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to” alcohol intoxication. It was found that after 17 to 19 hours without sleep, the body’s alertness is similar to that of someone whose blood alcohol concentration is .05%, considered “impaired” in the U.S. legally drunk scale. Beyond 24 hours without sleep would be the equivalent of a .1% blood alcohol concentration. Simply put, do not not sleep and drive.
5. Remember that quality is as important as quantity.
This is the reason why waking up after a complete sleep cycle is very important. But know that ensuring you get quality sleep can also be achieved through wellness products or natural remedies that support the body for a good night’s sleep. Various essential oils, for instance, can help relax and soothe the mind in time for bed.
This story originally appeared on Townandcountry.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the Realliving.com.ph editors.
