How did you sleep last night?
10 Steps to Help You Get a Great Night’s Sleep
I got a great night's sleep, but when I woke up I thought
about how powerful a good night's sleep is on your metabolism, and I wanted to
share with you some ideas on how to get a better night's sleep.
Now my idea of a good night's sleep is one in which you
sleep well and are completely refreshed and full of energy. During a good
night's sleep you rarely, ever, think about your troubles, you never think
about the news, and you usually fall asleep within 10 minutes of your head
hitting the pillow ( positive thoughts in your mind).
Also, an important factor in determining whether you get a
good night's sleep is if you have 'positive' or 'fun' dreams. Because if your
night is full of 'bad' or 'stressful' dreams then you're definitely going to
jump through the night and not get "restful" sleep.
Why is it so important to get a good night's sleep? Your
body and your mind break down and become exhausted from stress during the day.
While you are sleeping, your body and your mind repair
themselves and get refreshed again. But it's important to note here that
"restful" sleep is key. Tossing and turning all night or waking up
every few hours is not considered restful sleep. I recently read an article
that arrived at my research center detailing the facts about how snoring
affects your sleep and your health. People who snore disrupt their sleep an
average of 300 times each night - that's no longer a restful night's sleep! Now
think about it this way for a moment - if you've been stressed lately, or if
you've been sucking on the mattress, or if you haven't been able to sleep
properly for the past few weeks (or months), You haven't given your brain or
your body time to heal itself.
So you actually start each day a little less focused and
less metabolically healthy than the previous day.
Don't try to catch your sleep. People tell me all the time
that they know they don't get enough sleep during the week - but they
"catch up" on the weekends. Let me just put an end to that myth. That
doesn't work!!! Your body and your mind need a regular sleep pattern to repair
and rejuvenate – without it you're actually screwing yourself up instead of
re-energizing yourself.
So what is considered enough sleep?
In general, everyone should strive to get 8 hours of restful
sleep. Now if you eat a very healthy diet and exercise properly, and give
yourself some mental breaks during the day, and if you sleep like a baby and
wake up completely refreshed every day, you Might be the type of person who can
get away with less sleep - maybe 6 hours each night.
On the other hand, if you experience an extraordinary amount
of stress each day (mental or physical), you will need more than 8 hours. For
example, a marathon runner puts her body under a lot of stress every day—that
person only needs more than 8 hours because her body needs more repair time
than usual. The same is true for a person going through massive mental stress.
So what can you do to facilitate a better night's sleep for
you and those around you?
10 steps to help you get a good night's sleep:
1. Make a list of what you have to do the next day, write it
all down and if you think of doing something else, keep that paper and pen by
your bed. When you write things down, you are signaling to your brain that it
no longer needs to think about those tasks.
2. Don't watch television or listen to the radio (especially
the news) before retiring for the night - and definitely don't sleep with the
TV or radio on.
3. Read some inspirational or self-development material for
at least 30 minutes before bedtime. Your goal is to fill your mind with
inspirational thoughts before you go to sleep so that the last thoughts you
have before you go are uplifting thoughts – the opposite of the stressful
thoughts that most people think about when they fall asleep.
4. Make sure the room you're sleeping in is as dark as
possible - the body is made to sleep when it's dark - the darker the room, the
more likely you are to sleep deeply.
5. Keep the room as quiet as possible - Switch off all
electrical appliances and ask others in the house to remain as quiet as
possible.
6. Do not eat anything for at least 3 hours before sleeping.
When there is undigested food in the stomach, your body is forced to focus on
digesting that food instead of focusing on repairing your body and mind – that
is sleep! The body was designed to digest food best while on the go - not while
lying down.
7. Try to go to bed around 10:00 and wake up at around 6:00.
In Ayurvedic medicine, it is believed that there are chakras that are most
conducive to certain activities. Going to bed at 10:00 pm and waking up at 6:00
am seems to give the body the most profound rest, the most rejuvenation, and
the most energy a person has throughout the day.
8. Do not take medicines or vitamins/herbs that can help you
sleep (unless required by your doctor). Most of these artificial sleeping aids
do nothing more than deaden your senses – the goal of 'sleep' is to give your
body the time and means to heal itself and prepare for the day ahead. When you
drug yourself to sleep, every system in your body slows down, including all the
systems that are responsible for repairing you.
9. Make sure the room has a supply of fresh air. The air
inside the house is said to be some of the most toxic air around. When you
sleep, you are only able to breathe the air that surrounds you in your closed
bedroom. Try opening a window (if it's cold outside, crack the window open).
The fresh air that comes in while you sleep will help your body repair itself
because you'll have access to cleaner, more oxygen-rich air.
10. Do 60 minutes of light exercise a day. If you don't have
time to do 60 minutes in a row, break it up into 2 - 30 minute sessions, or 3 -
20 minute sessions, or 6 - 10 minute sessions --- just take the full 60
minutes. The best exercise when talking about general health and preparing your
body for a good night's sleep is walking.
I wish you the best sleep tonight and every night
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