Tips & Tricks for Better Sleep
We spend about a third of our lives sleeping. Great sleep leads to increased energy, mental clarity, positive mood, a working metabolism, and the list goes on. Depression, stress, worry, trauma can all impact our quality of sleep. Sleep is brought up by clients often in my sessions: sleeping too much or sleeping too little. Having difficulties falling asleep and staying asleep can be incredibly frustrating! Especially when you know sleep would help with some of the symptoms you may be experiencing. Let’s talk through some tangible ways you can improve your sleep quality starting tonight!
One of the biggest pieces is consistency in when you go to sleep and when you wake up. I know this is not always possible with work schedules, children, and insomnia. Keeping a consistent sleep schedule signals to your body and mind to transition into a restful state. Eventually the time alone will be a queue to your body that it’s time for bed and falling asleep will overtime become less difficult.
This isn’t news to anyone, but limiting screen time will drastically improve your quality of sleep. The blue light sends signals to the mind that it’s daytime and keeps your mind and body alert. If you need to have the tv on to fall asleep, there are great options for sound machines or apps to give you the sound without the light.
Reducing caffeine and alcohol before bed is life changing when it comes to sleep. Personally, I have a firm no caffeine after 3:00 pm rule for myself (sometimes this is so difficult because I LOVE COFFEE!). I’m with you, but if you’re struggling to find adequate rest, no sip will be worth your sleep. Alcohol is a tricky one too. Initially the effects of alcohol can lead to drowsiness and sleepiness but try not to be fooled! Alcohol may help you fall asleep quickly, but it will not be quality or deep sleep. Click here for a research article reviewing the effects of alcohol on sleep.
We’ve talked through some tips of what not to do. See a list below of what you can add to your sleep routine to increase your quality of sleep:
Setting up a relaxing environment: closing blinds, turning down lights, lowering temperatures, cozy blankets, comfortable pillow, and your preferred blankets.
Forming a sleep routine! Routines, similar to going to bed at consistent times, trigger to your mind and body that it is time for bed! Here is an example of my sleep routine: brush teeth, wash face, drink peppermint or chamomile tea, review schedule for the morning, set alarm, read a few pages of a book I do not have to think about or learn from, and use a noise machine or sleep app such as Insight Timer to play a story or read an article I can fall asleep to. This works for me almost every night and has been a game changer for me to fall asleep quickly and stay asleep.
Journaling before bed can be a great tool as well to get a racing mind to quiet down. Getting your thoughts on paper allows the mind to free up space and relax.
Breathing exercises such as square breathing and progressive muscle relaxation are my go-tos when the above strategies aren’t cutting it.
At the end of the day, you get to explore what works best for you! There are many factors that determine if we get a good night’s rest and some of these are out of our control. I hope these tips and tricks come in hand for you or inspire you to try something new to increase your quality of sleep. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like support in your sleep journey.
As always, healing starts here, wherever you are!