“Sleep is the best meditation.” – Dalai Lama

Quick question…

When was the last time you woke up feeling refreshed, alert, and hopeful — ready to take on the day? Or fall asleep easily without worry or effort???

If your struggled to remember when, then you’re not alone.

 According to research, almost a third of us drag ourselves out of bed in the morning because we haven’t gotten enough good-quality sleep at night, which means we’re not feeling refreshed enough to start our day.

Although I know that there are a lot of factors that can interfere with a good night’s sleep — from work stress and family responsibilities to unexpected challenges, such as illnesses. It’s no surprise that quality sleep is sometimes impossible.

While you might not be able to control the factors that interfere with your sleep, you can adopt habits that encourage better sleep, which includes the following.

Embrace the Dark: Dim the light in the bedroom because an Exposure to a lot light affects the sleep hormone MELATONIN, making it difficult to fall asleep or stat asleep.

Decrease Blue light Exposure; Avoid Blue lights (from Phone, laptops etc) should be avoided toward evening, to avoid irregularities in the Melatonin hormone for sleep.

Cool down the room: When you are about to go to bed the body wants to lower its temperature, because the cooler the room, the easier to fall asleep.

Watch what you eat before bedtime: Items like Caffeine (coffee) should be taken 12hours before bedtime because it stays in the body for longer hours (6hours) also it is a Diuretic so if taken at night it would give rise to frequent urination. Nicotine, and alcohol deserve caution, too. The stimulating effects of nicotine and caffeine take hours to wear off and even though alcohol might make you feel sleepy, it also disrupts sleep later at night.

Sleep Schedule: Set aside not less than 7hours for sleep, go to bed and get up at the same time every day. Don’t make the difference between the hour you sleep during the weeknights and weekends to no more than one hour. Being consistent reinforces your body’s sleep-wake cycle.

Physical activities: 30minutes of exercise or any physical activities causes the brain to release a hormone called Endorphins which reduces stress, boost your mood, increases your sleep drive, or need for sleep. When you’ve exercised, your body wants to recover, and sleep is a good way of doing that. However, avoid being active too close to bedtime.

Limit daytime Naps: If you want to nap, limit yourself to up to 30 minutes and avoid doing it later in the day, if not it will affect your sleep at night.

Please note:

If you can’t fall asleep, get out of bed and do something relaxing (reading, shower, music) not on the phone or laptop and then go back to bed after 15mins. Tossing and turning only amps up your anxiety.

Good sleep is a foundation for good health and a happier frame of mind, it plays a key role in your health. One large review linked insufficient sleep to an increased risk of obesity by 89% in children and 55% in adults (129Trusted Source).

If you want optimal health and wellness, it’s good you make sleep a priority and indulge in the sleep habits mentioned.

Thanks for reading.

Dr Kbaba.