The quality of our sleep is directly related to the quality of our life. Getting sound sleep is crucial in leading a healthy life, and it ensures a higher quotient of everyday happiness. As per Dalai Lama, sleep is the best kind of meditation as sleep plays a vital role in the healing and detoxification of our body. Sleep is magical if it is deep and sound.
Disturbed sleep for a prolonged duration can reduce our focus as well as our working efficiency. Not just that, it also slows down the healing, natural recovery and makes us feel restless and anxious.
Hence it becomes of paramount importance to ensure a routine sound sleep and here are some ways to ensure the same.
Try to form a routine
Humans had been practicing ‘Early to bed and early to rise’ since ancient times, as starting our day with the sun helps us in syncing up with nature and it becomes easier to sleep with the moon. Though in Modern times, you might have a job that requires a different routine altogether, but as long as we can manage to stick to a routine it shall not be a problem. Decide on the bedtime, the wake-up time and try to stick to these times. Once a routine is formed our body and brain naturally follow the pattern and you will find it really easy to sleep and get up at the scheduled time.
No intense workout in the evening hours
Post sunset it is time for us to relax and rest. An intense exercise routine in the evening hours can lead to insomnia & other sleep-related issues. Doing heavy exercise leaves us feeling more aware, active, and energetic which makes it difficult for our brain to shut down and relax at bedtime, so it’s best to avoid heavy physical workouts during evening hours if you are having a lack of quality sleep. You shall make room for light physical activities such as walks. Meditation, yoga, and pranayamas.
Stop eating your dinner late
Having late dinners can cause bloating, discomfort in the abdomen, uneasiness in the body, and digestive issues. In the long run, it can cause obesity, fatty liver, high cholesterol etc. All these will add to our sleeping woes, so we should eat something light for dinner and should eat our final meal of the day within 2-3 hours of sunset (never after 9 PM), and also our digestive fire isn’t optimum for too long post sunset.
Avoid caffeine for at least 4 hours before your bed-time
The Ideal way is to switch off any caffeine intake 10 hours before your planned bedtime, but if you are a caffeine lover and can’t really get done much without a shot of tea/coffee, try to exercise the minimum 4 hours avoidance rule. So if you plan to sleep at 10 PM, do not take any tea/coffee after 12 PM or the bare minimum after 6 PM.
Limit your screentime
We all know how bad these screen radiations are for our eyes, but we just can’t overpower the urge to scroll endlessly, leading to the wastage of crucial sleeping hours. We must avoid using any gadget at least 1 hour before bedtime, it helps us in relaxing our minds and sending a signal to the brain to shut down for good sleep.
Drink herbal tea or warm milk at your bedtime
Taking a glass of lukewarm milk at your bedtime makes it easier for you to fall asleep sooner as it soothes your mind and helps in relaxing. One can take Turmeric milk, kesar milk, or herbal teas like Chamomile tea, rose tea etc.
Massage your feet
Messaging your feet and getting a body massage before your bedtime will feel like bliss. It instantly provides warmth, relaxes our nerves, and sends our brain into a shut-down mode which makes it really easy for us adults to sleep like a baby.
Related Research/News :
A Systematic Review Assessing the Use of Prior Sleep Duration to Detect Driving Impairment
Machine learning estimation of human body time using metabolomic profiling
Getting Good Sleep Could Add Years to Your Life : Research by American College of Cardiology
sleep like a baby!
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