Learn How To Fight Insomnia Effectively
Insomnia is always a warning sign. In fact, to start the day in the best way, it is essential to have enjoyed a restful sleep. Unfortunately, however, there are many people who suffer from insomnia, so fighting it is one of the priorities in their life.
However, the ways we try to fight insomnia are not always effective. If we haven’t slept a wink during the night, for example, we’ll probably try to catch up on lost sleep by taking a nap. However, habits like this can stimulate sleeplessness and give rise to a vicious cycle.
Our lifestyle habits are extremely important for the homeostasis and balance of every function of our body. It is important to take care of our health by doing everything in our hands. Acquiring correct habits to follow before going to sleep is part of these treatments. It is called “sleep hygiene” and it can help us sleep more and better.
Sure you’ll be used to being told that you need to sleep at least eight hours a day, but let’s be real: with the fast pace of life of our times, hardly anyone does. The workload to be done is always huge and we also want to enjoy our free time as much as possible. For this reason, we dedicate the hours off work to our hobbies, watching television… and we try to fall asleep at the same speed with which we move from daily activity to another. A quality sleep, however, needs time dedicated to its preparation!
Below we will provide you with some tips provided by experts to enjoy better quality sleep and learn how to fight insomnia.
1. Establish a time to go to sleep and wake up
To regulate sleep, it helps to establish a routine . Going to sleep and waking up at the same time always creates a habit that can facilitate sleep when the usual bedtime arrives. Also, if we didn’t sleep well one day, it is important to wake up at the stable time anyway. This will help us fall asleep the next evening.
2. Avoid alcohol consumption before bedtime
Although alcohol is a central nervous system depressant and causes drowsiness, it does not promote restorative sleep. Alcohol, in fact, makes our sleep of low quality, with continuous interruptions and less time in the REM phase. If we have consumed a lot of alcohol, in addition to a fragmented sleep, we could suffer from sweating and very vivid dreams.
3. Sleep in a dark room at a suitable temperature
In the bedroom there must be no lights that distract us or that can awaken our senses, such as the flashing sensor of an alarm. It is also counterproductive to have digital watches that will make us fall into the temptation to check the time when we can’t fall asleep.
The temperature is also very important: the bedroom must be a pleasant environment, which is neither too cold nor too hot.
4. Exercise every day, but not before bed
Sport is very beneficial for almost all aspects of our health. Exercising for 20 or 30 minutes a day allows us to discharge energy, and this can give us a feeling of tiredness that will help us to fall asleep at night. But it is good that there is a gap of at least three hours between the moment we finish playing sports and the moment we prepare for sleep. In fact, if we train too late, body activity will still be in place at bedtime and it will be more difficult for us to fall asleep.
5. Do not use electronic devices in bed
The bed is the place of rest. We must not use it as a place for idleness, so it is best to avoid using tablets and mobile phones or watching television in bed. While it may seem at first that reading news or watching TV helps you fall asleep, it may actually delay sleep. Paying attention to the screen can take us away from sleep, as well as lead our brain to no longer connect the bed with just rest.
6. Do not stay awake in bed for more than 30 minutes
There are nights when we just can’t fall asleep and just toss and turn in bed. Give yourself thirty minutes to try to sleep; if you can’t, get up and do some relaxing activities. It is important not to stay too long in bed without being able to fall asleep, because in this motion you will increase your frustration and promote insomnia.
7. Use relaxation techniques before bedtime
It is advisable to do some relaxation exercises before going to sleep. For example, breathing exercises, light stretching, listening to soothing music, or taking a warm bath. All of these activities relax us and help us put worries aside.
8. Avoid taking caffeine after six in the afternoon
Drinking coffee before bed doesn’t help sleep, but even taking it in the afternoon can have an effect on your body. Keep in mind that caffeine remains in our body for four to nine hours. And since it is a stimulant, it will directly interfere with sleep. Also remember that coffee is not the only stimulant: tea, chocolate or cola can also keep us awake.
9. Waking up to the sunlight
Some experts recommend waking up with sunlight. It can help us regulate our circadian rhythm and allows the body to activate itself with light; consequently, at night, when it is dark, the production of melatonin will be favored in a natural way. Melatonin is a neurormone produced by the pineal gland that regulates the sleep and wake cycle.
10. Don’t think about important matters while we are in bed
This advice is not easy to put into practice. When we have something on our mind that worries us, the time to go to sleep is always the one in which that problem reappears with the most force. Even if we try not to think about it, it doesn’t seem to want to leave us alone. For this reason, it is good to solve our problems before going to bed. Making a list of things to do the next day, for example, can help us forget about it once we go to bed.
11. Beware of naps
There is no need to eliminate the afternoon nap. There are people for whom it is really necessary to recover energy in the middle of the day. But it is important to be careful: the nap should never exceed 30 minutes and should not be used to compensate for the lack of sleep during the night. If we don’t usually sleep in the afternoon and decide to do it because we didn’t sleep the night before, this could prevent us from sleeping the following night.
It is not just about sleeping eight hours a day, then: these eight hours must be of quality. The goal of good sleep hygiene is to have more energy and feel good throughout the day. Adopting these habits every day is a great way to take care of our health and to fight insomnia in a simple and effective way.
