The 7 best bedtime habits.
If you’re struggling with getting to sleep, you’re not alone. There are loads of
studies like one showing that nearly three quarters of us aren’t getting the
recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep at night. One recent study showed nearly
15% of Brits are trying to survive on under 5 hours, which is considered a
dangerously low amount of sleep.
To help you get the shut-eye you need, try prioritizing healthy bedtime habits,
which are all about calming your brain and body and carving space for sleep.
“Variability is the enemy of sleep,” Dr. Ravi S. Aysola, assistant clinical
professor of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at UCLA, says. A routine focused on solid sleep hygiene — practices to enable quality sleep —
can help your body and brain recognize rest time. “Our brains are constantly
going, and we’re not like a light switch,” Dr. Aysola says. “You need some time
to decompress to allow sleep to happen.”
These relaxing habits should help you feel calm and conk out faster.
Make time for mindfulness. Slow the spin in your brain with meditation – even five minutes can make a big difference. Apps like Headspace, Buddify and
Calm offer ranges of focused guided meditations in varying lengths.
Write it out.. Who hasn’t gone to bed exhausted, only to be kept up by nagging
thoughts of every imaginable outstanding task? Try keeping a notebook next
to your bed and writing down thoughts, reflections and To Do items before
hitting the sack. If something pops into your head during the night, write it
down, acknowledge that you’ve “actioned” it, and then try to leave it until the
next day. Sometimes just getting the thoughts out of your head helps calm a
sense of overwhelm and ease you to sleep.
Dim the lights. All kinds of light affect the body’s melatonin production, which
regulates your circadian rhythms (or internal 24-hour clock) and helps cue
your body to sleep. After sitting in an artificially lit room all evening, it can be
difficult for our bodies to pick up natural cues that it’s time for sleep. Create a
sort of "artificial sunset" but lowering the amount of light over the course of
the evening. In fact, the best thing you can do to increase melatonin
production naturally is get as much light as possible during the day, and then
keep your lights as dim as possible in the evening.
Down devices two hours before bed. The light exposure throws off your
body’s internal clock. “I really recommend large, close-range backlit LED screens like tablets, laptops, and computers, have a hard stop within two
hours before bed,” says Dr. Cathy Anne Goldstein, clinical associate professor
of sleep medicine at University of Michigan Medicine. Since your TV isn’t as
close, many sleep experts believe it doesn’t impact your sleep like hand-held
devices do, but it’s important to avoid watching TV in bed (which you want
your body to associate with sleep).
Eat a light snack. Experts recommend avoiding heavy meals, caffeine, or
sugar-laden snacks in the hours just before bed because indigestion is a
major sleep disruptor. But it doesn't help to go to bed hungry; an empty
stomach keeps you awake too. What to choose? A handful of nuts or nutty
granola with oat milk might help you sleep well, thanks to a hearty natural
dose of melatonin.
Do a warm wash. Not only is a warm bath or shower relaxing, but it also helps
you biologically prepare for sleep, according to Dr. Goldstein, and can be a
strong signal to your body that the day is done. Toward the end of the day,
your body temperature is naturally starting to drop, and taking a warm bath or
shower helps that temperature drop happen in a measured way. Just don’t
jump straight from a hot tub into bed before your body cools or your core
temperature might still be too high to help you sleep. Bonus points for using
an aromatherapy wash or candle: Lavender, ylang-ylang, and clary sage are
especially good for encouraging sleep.
Listen to a bedtime story. Apps like Headspace, Slumber, and Sleepiest have
bedtime stories (for adults!) that are specifically written to help inspire sleep.
To make real changes in your sleep routine – including your bedtime habits,
it's important to start small and build. Try taking one or two of these ideas and
getting consistent before trying more. Remember, your bedtime routine can be as simple or elaborate as you need it to be. Just make sure you keep it
relaxing. Happy dozing!