Tips for a Good Night Sleep

It is late at night and you can’t sleep. You toss and turn in bed. You watch the minutes and then hours pass by on the clock. You know you have things to do in the morning. Your body is tired. Your mind wants to sleep, but isn’t willing to help. What do you do?

For a lot of people, getting a good night’s sleep is a problem. But there are steps you can take to try and relax your body into a state that will allow sleep to take it over, besides reaching for a sleeping pill.

Here are some tips.

1. Try exercising for thirty minutes a day. Yes, you hear exercise will help everything, but in this case it can be true. Exercise relaxes the body and muscles. It also makes us tired. But try to do this at least six hours before your bedtime. When you exercise your body temperature rises (you hope). You want your body to have plenty of time to cool down before bedtime.

2. Go to bed every night at the same time. You should also get up around the same time every morning. This includes weekends and days off from work. Our bodies have eternal clocks. They run better when these eternal clocks work on schedule.

3. Reduce your stress. Stress can be the reason you are staying awake. It isn’t possible not to have some stress in your life. But you can try to reduce it. And definitely try not to focus on this stress before bedtime. Try to think happy, peaceful thoughts.

4. Keep your bedroom a cooler temperature than the rest of the house. It is a known fact that if you can snuggle under a blanket or even a sheet, you will sleep better. A hot bedroom is a stuffy bedroom, not a relaxing one.

5. Slow down on your liquid intake before bedtime (preferably about two hours before bedtime). If your bladder is full, you will wake up. Waking up in the middle of the night, may mean you won’t be able to go back to sleep.

6. Don’t snack on spicy, hot or high fat foods before bedtime. It can mess up your stomach causing ingestion and keep you awake. Try light snacks instead, like cereal and nonfat milk.

7. Watch your caffeine intake. Caffeine makes us hyper. This can keep us awake. If you must drink caffeine products try to drink them six hours before your bedtime.

8. Avoid alcohol before bedtime. A lot of people think that alcohol will help them sleep better. It is true it may make you go to sleep quicker, but generally it will cause you to wake up quicker and when you awake your mind is so alert you have a hard to impossible time falling back to sleep.

9. Avoid taking naps in the daytime. You may be tired and a nap may sound like a perfect pick you upper. But it can keep your body from realizing it is tired at bedtime.

10. Make your bedroom as dark as possible. Add darken curtains and blinds to your windows. Paint your walls a darker shade. You can even use darker carpet on your floors. A dark room promotes sleep and relaxation.

If none of these tips work, try warm milk. And if everything fails, talk to your doctor.

Sleep is important to our mental and physical health. It gives our bodies a chance to rest and regroup. It also gives our brains a chance to relax and dream.

Happy sleeping.