There are millions of Americans that struggle with sleep every night. Sleep experiences vary from person to person. Some people need up to nine hours of sleep to feel rested and others function well with as little as six hours. The amount of sleep a person needs depends on many things, including their age. In general, to feel and operate at your best during the day, you need to get a night’s rest. Here are five proven tips to consider in order to improve your sleep.
1. Sunlight
Get outside during the day. Exposing your body to light during the day helps regulate your circadian rhythm. What’s that? Your circadian rhythm is a natural process that happens internally, and sunlight first thing in the morning can keep it regulated. Sunlight helps because it lets your body know “right now is the time to be awake”. People who live in places like Norway or Alaska deal with an imbalance in this, because there are long periods of time with more darkness than light.
Circadian rhythm is definitely something to consider if you’re experiencing sleep issues. Our bodies are regulated to release melatonin at certain times and stop producing melatonin at other times. When our circadian rhythm is thrown off, our sleep can be impacted as well.
2. Reduce Blue Light At Night
Now that we talked about sunlight, lets talk about having too much light in our lives, specifically blue light. Most of us go to bed with our phone in our hand, or a tv on. If you spend hours in front of the computer at night, this is another problem. These electronics give off blue light that can disrupt that circadian rhythm we just spoke about. Too much blue light will block the transition in the natural rhythm of your body releasing melatonin.
Good news! There are blue light glasses that you can use to help block these. We all have them in my household, even our three-year-old! (Getting her to actually keep them on, is a whole different topic.) These are useful for those who use a computer screen all day long, to help block the abundance of blue light throughout the day, and to lessen the strain on the eyes. With more students using computers, especially into today’s remote learning era, is huge. My school age daughter wears hers while doing remote schoolwork, and I utilize mine while completing my daily computer tasks. As well as at night when I’m scrolling social media, I’m certain most moms can relate to the coveted “mommy wind down” time after their children are off to bed.
3. Weighted Blankets
Anxiety can cause disruptions in sleep, which I’m sure is no shock to anyone. One product you can obtain that has proven highly effective with improving the quality of sleep is a weighted blanket. Studies have confirmed that it helps with anxiety, one study indicated up to 60% of people say a weighted blanket has helped their anxiety and their sleep. However, if you have conditions like asthma it will be important to check with your doctor before buying a weighted blanket.
As a general rule, a weighted blanket should be at 5-10% of your body weight. Explore the market to find the right blanket for you, especially if you are choosing to use these for children. My daughters love their weighted blankets, and I’ve observed that it alleviates excessive tossing and turning. (Because OH MAN do they toss and turn, ha!)
4. Meditation
Meditation is such a powerful tool and is something that can be used for a variety of reasons. It is a great way to connect with yourself and quiet your inner mind. Personally, this is something I am consistently striving towards as I lean into my own meditation journey. My sister swears by it! And countless studies reveal that it is highly effective in helping individuals experience a better night’s sleep. There are many sleep and meditation apps that can help. It might be worth your while to try a few and see if they work for you.
5. Grounding
To be quite honest, when I first heard of grounding, I thought it sounded quirky. After looking into it, I realized it makes a great deal of sense as it pertains to sleep. For starters, our bodies are made up of cells that channel to the atom. Think back to your high school chemistry class, when you learned about atoms in relationship to negative and positive charges. Our body is full of these and so is the earth. So why does that matter?
Here is why: I am sure that you’ve possibly heard about or are somewhat familiar with free radicals. Free radicals are necessary in the body but when they are in surplus, they can harm the body. The earth is so powerful that taking off your shoes and standing on the ground can help your body allow negatively charged antioxidant electrons from the earth to neutralize positively charged free radicals.
One tip: you want to be on the actual earth, not concrete or in your home. Go outside and throw those shoes off and walk in the grass, dirt, sand or water, then take inventory of your sleep that evening. It just might prove to be what the hidden gem your sleep life has been waiting for.
There are so many ways to improve sleep and finding your own path can be frustrating. Do not give up, a good night’s rest is essential to all aspects of your life. Do not hesitate to consult with a physician if your sleep problems persist or worsen. In the meanwhile, remember to give your body grace and love; cheers to a good night’s sleep.
