One of the most wonderful gifts God has given to man is sleep. Sleep is the time when the body can rest, repair broken tissues, and heal itself. While most people love this one-of-a-kind activity, not all people can get enough of it. You have probably experienced going to bed some nights and instead of falling fast asleep, you keep tossing and turning and find it hard to enter dreamland. You don’t have any kind of sleep disorder but there are just nights when you find it really hard to fall asleep. And when you do, you only get to sleep four to five hours a night. You’re not alone, because there are millions of people all over the world who are suffering from lack of sleep.
The problem with lack of sleep is that it drains your energy both mentally and physically. Most likely, you have experienced not being able to get enough sleep for three straight days and when you go to work during the day you feel like you’re floating from the ground. Lack of sleep simply takes away your focus and concentration, and if that goes on forever, you can be putting your body at risk for several kinds of diseases due to a poor immune system. The good thing is that there are several things you can do that will help you get the kind of sleep that you want every single night. It may require a change of lifestyle but it’s worth it since you’re doing it for your health’s sake.
Naturally, your mind and body follow a sleeping pattern that determines when you get sleepy and when you’re ready to wake up. This is also referred to as the “body clock”. There are several factors that can cause disturbance to the body clock, including your diet, your physical activities, and a lot more. In order to have a regular sleeping pattern, you need to start establishing one now. An example of a good sleeping pattern is to go to bed by 10PM and to wake up at 6AM. Try following this sleep schedule for two weeks, and eventually, your mind and body will adjust to the new sleep cycle.
Sometimes, it’s not enough that you simply decide to go to bed at a certain time. To help yourself adjust to the new sleeping pattern, make some preparations before going to bed at night. If you can’t condition your brain and body that it’s time to sleep already, chances are, you’ll really have a hard time dozing off. Some of the few things that can make sleep very difficult are watching television and using the computer an hour before going to bed. Such activities can stimulate the brain and make falling asleep difficult. To condition your mind and body for sleep, avoid stressful activities a few hours before bedtime.
Eating may not be an activity that can cause much stress but you have to watch how you eat at night because overeating can cause a major discomfort and may make sleeping a lot more difficult for you. If you want to sleep soundly at night and without any disturbance, go for a light dinner four hours before your bedtime. To keep you from waking up in the middle of the night to go the toilet, avoid drinking plenty of water a few minutes before bedtime. In the same manner, avoid drinking coffee in the afternoon especially if you have low tolerance to caffeine because caffeine is a known stimulant and drinking too much will keep you up until the wee hours of the morning.
An effective way to improve your sleeping pattern is to exercise. According to studies, performing light exercises in the morning or in the afternoon can help you sleep deeper, which means your sleep is going to be more refreshing and you’ll have lesser tendencies of waking up at night.
Finally, make sure that your room is conducive for sleeping and resting. Design your room so that it is a perfect place for relaxing. Install a dimmer so that you can easily adjust the light when you’re preparing to sleep. Make sure that your bed is big enough so that you’ll have room to stretch comfortably. If watching TV before going to bed is a habit that is distracting your sleep pattern, remove the television from your room. Don’t associate your room to anything that has to do with work and other stressful activities. As much as possible, reserve it only for sleeping and having intimacy with your partner.
