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Evidence-based tips to sleep better

When you wake up in the morning and your phone battery is only 30 per cent, you feel terrible, right? Here's how you can change that

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Are you someone who struggles to go to sleep easily? Do you lie tossing and turning? Do you wake up in the middle of the night? Do you wake up feeling tired and not energised? Maybe even fatigued and not refreshed?

When you wake up in the morning and your phone battery is only 30 per cent, you feel terrible, right? If you go to sleep and wake up only with 50-60 per cent of your own life battery charged, shouldn’t you feel even more terrible?

Evidence-based tips to sleep better

Maybe you have been sold magic sleep tea, or sleep juices, pills or even pillows. Don’t fall for this commercialisation and marketing. Understand the science behind sleep and regulate your life so that you are able to hack your sleeping patterns better.

Here are practical things you can do during the day so that you can get a good night’s sleep. It’s all about changing and structuring your lifestyle. Train your sleep hygiene. Behavioural modification should always be your first step before pharma or nutraceutical help.

#1. Exercise

Physical activity improves the quality of your sleep and extends its duration. Even if it’s just a brisk 10-minute walk, it will help you sleep better.

#2. Diet

Don’t eat too close to your bed time. This could stimulate your gastric juices and make you unconformable when you are going to bed. Avoid spicy food and overly citrusy food, it will hurt the quality of your sleep and you won’t wake up as well rested.

#3. Caffeine

Get your coffee fix before lunch. Caffeine has a half-life of six hours which means it could take almost 12 hours before it is fully eliminated from your system. Remember that caffeine is a diuretic so it will make you want to go to the toilet often.

#4. Room temperature

Make your room cool before you sleep. When you are aiming to sleep, your body naturally wants to lower its temperature. If your room is cooler, it will make it easier to fall asleep.

#5. Relaxation

After 15 minutes of tossing and turning, get out of bed and do something relaxing. Then go back to bed after 15 minutes. That does not mean you check out your Instagram.

#6. Bedding

Make sure your sheets are 100 per cent cotton. Cotton feels good to your skin and there’s breathability. Synthetic fibres retain more bacteria after washes and can even cause skin conditions.

#7. Lighting

• Embrace the darkness — dim your lights. When you have bright lights, it affects your melatonin hormone and that makes it difficult for you to fall and stay asleep.

• Decrease the blue light exposure you get towards the evening. All of that blue light hurts your melatonin hormone regulation — phones, computers or any screens.

Gadgets

Keep your mobile phone alerts off or switch off your WiFi, if you can. No one should be sending you a WhatsApp and waking you up in the middle of the night. You can always customise the settings with numbers you want to receive calls from in case of an emergency

It would also make sense to keep your phone and other gadgets in another room or far away from your bedside so you are not tempted to wake up and check them first thing in the morning. Also, train to get out of the habit of falling asleep to Netflix.

Simple neurological meditation

Here is a simple visualisation meditation from ancient yogic practices for you to sleep better.

Once you lay on your back, hands by your side, palms facing upwards, visualise your nervous system. Then visualise all your energy coming into your nervous system, and flowing from different limbs into your spine.

When you relax your nervous system, you relax your muscles and your entire body goes limp.

Yogic secret

We are all magnetic beings filled with iron and other metals in our blood stream. Yogis, Vaastu Shastra and Feng Shui recommend putting your head facing to the east or southeast preferably (if you live in the northern hemisphere). This way you will be aligned with the magnetic currents of our planet and it will help you sleep better.

Using all these tips you should be able to go to sleep easily, be fully rested and wake up with 100 per cent energy to have a dynamic day and do things that you want to do. I wish you great sleep.

wknd@khaleejtimes.com

Connect with Anjaan across social media @MeditateWithAnjaan

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