Four Tips For Your Best Night’s Sleep

Sleep is just as important as nutrition, movement, and hydration.

When you sleep, your body undergoes a series of changes that enable the rest you need for your overall health. Sleep allows the brain and body to slow down and engage in processes of recovery, promoting better physical and mental performance the next day and long term.

When you don’t get enough quality sleep these fundamental processes are short-circuited and will affect your thinking, concentration, energy levels, and mood. As a result, getting the sleep you need is crucial. Adults need at least seven to nine hours and even more for children and teens.

While each person will differ in the exact amount of sleep needed for replenishment, eight hours being average, it is crucial to get a sufficient amount and adequate quality of sleep on a regular basis. Sleep heals the body, clears the mind, and restores the soul.

Now that you understand how vital sleep is for overall health and well-being, here are the four tips to improve your ability to rest, repair, and restore. 

Tip #1 Limit caffeine.

If you’re struggling to sleep, removing caffeine entirely from your diet may be the “hack” needed to allow your body to relax and settle into slumber. For others who enjoy caffeine without feeling jittery or “off”, simply limit caffeine to mornings or avoid anything caffeinated after 2 pm (including coffee, green and black tea, soda, and energy drinks).

Tip # 2 Avoid blue light at least 1 hour before bed.

Don’t shoot the messenger, but tip number two for improving sleep is to avoid all electronic screens at least 1 hour before bedtime (think TV, computer, tablet, and phone). Here’s why: blue-wavelength light stimulates sensors in your eyes to send signals to your brain’s internal clock which inhibits the production of melatonin. Essentially the blue light from your electronic screen is making your body think it’s wake time, not sleep time. Thus, avoiding all screens at least 1 hour before bedtime will help your body fall into a deeper sleep, faster.

Tip #3 Take magnesium before you hit the pillow. 

From a nutritional perspective, the mineral magnesium can help you both fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night. Most are deficient in magnesium and a lack of magnesium will cause you to wake up after a few hours and not be able to fall back asleep.

Meanwhile, low magnesium has been clearly correlated with insomnia, poor sleep quality, and even depression and anxiety. Magnesium helps both your body and your brain to relax, preparing you for a good night’s rest. There are different ways to get magnesium in. 

-Magnesium rich foods

-Magnesium drinks

-Magnesium spray or bath soak

-Magnesium supplements. 

Make sure and check the quality of these.

Tip #4 Set your bedroom up for sleep.

This category includes both quick fixes and longer-term investments. Quick fixes that will set your bedroom up for therapeutic sleep include making sure your bedroom is dark, cool, clean and clutter-free. Some also like to diffuse lavender essential oil (my favorite is doterra). Additionally, turning your cell phone on airplane mode, or removing your phone entirely from the bedroom, will protect your brain and body from EMFs that may hinder deep, therapeutic sleep.

Lastly, some longer-term investments include purchasing high-quality, non-toxic bedding like a mattress, pillows, sheets, blankets, and so on. For obvious reasons you should be comfortable for your nightly slumber, but also, avoiding the toxic off-gassing of chemicals in conventional bedding is incredibly important.  

Times of high stress require deep restorative sleep that provides our bodies with the opportunity to repair and rebuild. Support your physical and mental health by getting 8 hours of sleep or more per night. If you’re a parent who is unable to achieve 8 consecutive hours of sleep at the moment, nap or rest when you can, and be sure to nourish your body in other ways that feel good.