Are you struggling to get to sleep night after night? For a year spent primarily at home, 2020 has offered more than its fair share of tossing and turning.
However, there is hope. You don’t have to see a doctor for a prescription — holistic remedies often work well without the addictive side effects of medication. Here are nine ways to get the rest you need and deserve.
1. Skip the Nightcap
When you were growing up, your folks might have enjoyed a drink at bedtime to aid in sleep. Unfortunately, science indicates that they probably did themselves more harm than good in doing so.
Alcohol has both stimulant and depressant properties, which makes it disruptive to your sleep cycle. Depending on your circadian rhythms, a nightcap may serve as more of a pick-me-up than a sleeping pill. If you have to sip a nighttime libation, stick with a cup of lavender and chamomile tea.
2. Watch What You Eat
Eating too close to bedtime proves problematic for several reasons. One, your body needs to produce digestive enzymes to break down what you consume. These stomach acids can back up in the esophagus, particularly when you lie down — plus, burping and burning are disruptive.
Additionally, eating revs up your metabolism, making you feel more awake. Carbohydrates in particular can stimulate you and keep you counting sheep. Plus, you tend to drink when you eat, making you have to run to the bathroom more frequently.
3. Get Some Exercise
If you’re a parent, you know that your kids protest naptime less when they feel tuckered. The same principle applies to adults. Getting moving during the day can result in less tossing and turning at night.
If you are time-crunched, you don’t have to fit in an hour-long gym session. Thirty minutes a day does the trick, and you can squeeze it in with 10-minute bursts on busy days.
4. Try Wind-Down Yoga
Yoga is a fabulous form of mind-body exercise, and unlike cardio or lifting weights, it won’t keep you up if you practice close to bedtime. Some poses may ease you into dreamland.
The best part about this idea is that you can get started with no investment but time. You can find tons of free videos on YouTube, many of which feature wind-down bedtime routines. When you relax in savasana, it’s off to dreamland.
5. Sip Some Tea
Some teas have fabulous soporific properties. Valerian is a great one to use, but you have to be consistent — it can take two to four weeks to build up in your body.
Chamomile and lavender, likewise, can induce sleep. Pasque flower also works for some. Experiment until you find a blend that works for you — it helps to get a teapot with an infuser for loose leaf tea. Top with warm milk and say good night.
6. Banish Electronics
When you add electronic light to your bedroom, you confuse your body’s natural rhythms, leading to nighttime restlessness. You might mentally realize it’s bedtime, but your body thinks it’s still daylight.
Establish a charging station in your kitchen and leave your devices there overnight. If you use your phone as an alarm, invest in a traditional clock model. You can find versions that lighten your room like the sunrise if you find getting up in the dark during the winter months challenging.
7. Invest in Ear and Eye Protection
Maybe your problem is noisy roommates. Perhaps you work the second or third-shift and have to block out the light from the sun.
In such instances, turn to black and white — a white noise machine and a set of blackout curtains. If you don’t like the way that drapes darken your entire bedroom, invest in a canopy. You’ll love the old-school feel of enclosing yourself in your bed, listening to soothing ocean waves instead of your roommate’s rom-com.
8. Try Melatonin
Melatonin is a sleep hormone, and some people swear by supplemental doses to get their Z’s. You can find it over-the-counter, with no prescription necessary.
Adults can safely take up to five milligrams before bedtime — children require much less. However, too much can disrupt your sleep cycle, so start with the lowest allowable dose and work up.
9. Listen to a Sleep Hypnosis Recording
Finally, a sleep hypnosis recording can ease you into dreamland and may improve your psychological health. You can find versions intended to do anything from helping you overcome trauma to breaking social media addiction.
When your brain is in a hypnagogic or hypnopompic state — the twilight zones between full wakefulness and sleep — it absorbs suggestions like a sponge. If hypnosis both lulls you into dreamland and helps you shed unwanted pounds, why knock it?Â
Get More Sleep Tonight with These 9 Tips
If you want to get more sleep, turn to these nine suggestions. You’ll find yourself snoring instead of counting sheep in no time.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
