Sunday 5 August 2012

Tips to a good night's sleep!

Hello!

Being a woman is stressful at the best of times, but if you aren’t getting enough sleep or are getting a rubbish nights sleep quite often then it definitely isn’t going to help matters! SO, wre here to help you ..

1. Try not to eat too much before bed. Aim to have your evening meal at least 2 hours before you plan on going to sleep for the night, and try to avoid fatty and spicy foods too. Also, if spicy and fatty foods often cause you heartburn, then this could make your difficulty sleeping a lot worse, so steer clear.

2. Try not to drink too much before bed. Obviously we all like a hot chocolate before bed or a coffee after our evening meal but caffeinated drinks severely decrease the quality of sleep and also the amount of time it takes you to fall asleep because it takes hours to eliminate the chemical stimulant in your body. Drinks like Horlicks are perfect before bed because they are low in caffeine, or even decaf coffee, so you can still have your coffee and still have your sleep too.

3. Get enough exercise. As well as making you look and feel good, exercise obviously will differ how tired you are at night. If you are struggling to sleep, a short burst of high intensity exercise usually makes me feel tired. If this makes it harder for you to sleep, then try 25 minutes to 45 minutes of moderate exercise during the day.

4. Make your bedroom as comfy and relaxing as possible. A cool, dark and quiet environment is ideal for a perfect nights sleep. Now, everyone has different ways of relaxing so you’d have to tailor this to your personal preferences. But here’s a few examples of things you can do:
    • Get a small fan pointing towards your bed so it constantly blows cool air onto you, or alternatively set it to rotate around the room if a constant fan would annoy you.
    • Blackout curtains are really good for blocking any outside light; be it sunlight if you work nights, or streetlight glare if you live on a busy street. These are cheap to get and are available from large stores like B&Q or any curtain/blind retailers.
    • Make sure your matress and pillows are comfortable enough for you. Don’t settle for a pillow thats too hard or lumpy, as this can put strain on your neck and leave you feeling fed up and cranky in the morning.
    • Make sure your duvet isn’t too thick for the time of year. Try and purchase a double layered matress (if you don’t already have one). These are like 2 thin duvets connected together by poppers at each corner, allowing you to have either 2 layers in the colder periods of the year, and then you can remove them for the hotter periods of the year.
5. Obviously napping in the daytime will steal hours from your sleep at night. If you need to catch up on sleep in the day then try not to exceed half an hours sleep in the afternoon. If you work nights then try and get blackout curtains as sunlight can adjust your body clock and alternate sleeping patterns. If you sleep at night and work in the mornings but struggle waking up feeling fresh then try and leave your curtains a little bit open, the morning daylight may help to naturally wake you up (but set an alarm as well, you wouldn’t want to be late for work!)


6. People have different opinions on sleep remedies such as pillow mists and sleep balms. Spraying a few mists of pillow mist onto your pillow about half an hour before you go to sleep can often help you relax and then if you get into a pattern of spraying mist onto your pillow every night, your body will associate that smell with sleeping and will make falling asleep easier

 

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