6 Tips To Get Restful Sleep
Do you fall asleep the second your head hits the pillow? Do you sleep through the night without waking up? Do you wake up feeling like a million bucks?! If you’re like most Americans- The answer is no.
Did you also know over 9 MILLION Americans take some kind of sleeping pill! Read on to find out what you can start doing now to help you sleep deeper and better!
1. Have A Consistent Bedtime Routine
This is going to be a little more in depth than it sounds. – Wait. So going home, flopping on the couch, watching 4 hours of Netflix, eating dinner and falling asleep on the couch is a routine, right? Sure. But this is actually the opposite kind of routine that will be beneficial. A good bedtime routine is a series of events that help wind you down. For example- after eating and cleaning up after dinner, relax on the couch, maybe watch an episode of a show (yes, just one!) after that, wash your face, brush your teeth, stretch and head to bed at the same time every night. The consistency of the same activities will give your body a heads up that, “Hey, it’s almost time to sleep!”. Keep in mind, a routine has to be a consistent thing. Don’t expect a change over night, but eventually it will work!!
2. Get rid of all electronics from your bedroom
Time to move that TV out of the bedroom! Do you find yourself scrolling through Instagram or Facebook to “relax” while laying down in bed? There are a lot of reasons to leave the TV and phones out of the bedroom. The big reason to get rid of them is because when you fall asleep staring at a screen, your brain is subconsciously thinking that it’s still daylight. When that happens, your quality of sleep drops dramatically. Leave your cellphone charging in the living room. Get a traditional alarm clock (yes, they still make them )
3. Read a book in bed
According to the Washington Post Americans are reading less now compared to the last 15 years, and are watching more television. Reading in bed has a few perks- one of those being that it sets up a specific time in your day to read. Do you like reading biographies of notable figures, or more of a teen drama vampire/werewolf love story? There are a ton of interesting and entertaining books to read out there! Another great benefit is that your eyes get tired when reading. Tired eyes are sleep eyes 🙂 You’ll be right on your way to dreamland!
4. Don’t Eat So Late!
The recommendations here are based on research of how long it takes your body to empty the stomach and get a head start on digestion. Did you know it takes just about 3 hours for your stomach to empty after eating?? This means we should stop eating roughly 3 hours before bed. Another thing we want to be mindful of at night is what we are eating. Do we really need to have that ice cream with all of that sugar right before bed?? Or should we lean towards more of a nice warm chamomile tea? 🙂
Exercise
Your body REQUIRES exercise to keep it as healthy as possible. If you can exercise consistently, your sleep schedule will improve. The ideal time to workout is going to be earlier in the day. Exercise can look different for everyone. Some people love cycling, other love running marathons, CrossFit, kickboxing, Barre, Pilates etc. Every workout is not for every person! It’s imperative to find a type of workout that you look forward to doing and truly enjoy. It’ll be much easier to stick with it that way!
Go See Your Chiropractor!
We hear consistently how much better our patients sleep when after they start chiropractic care. This is one of my favorite things I hear from people since I know how much sleep can affect someones daily life. Chiropractic care is all about balancing out the nervous system. I could go into all of the nitty gritty details, but for now I will spare you the Anatomy and Physiology lesson. Basically what happens is people are always GO, GO, GO! We’re running around like crazy all day long and then lay our heads down to try to sleep. Our bodies are thinking, “What are they crazy? After all day of GO- now I’m supposed to rest on command? Yeah, right!” Chiropractic care helps decrease the constant cortisol (stress hormone) which in turn, allows your body to rest when it is supposed to. So I’ll say it again, go see your chiro! And if you don’t have one, find one 🙂 !
If you have any questions or want to hear about a specific topic, feel free to reach out to me at drkylee@strivechiropracticwi.com
As always, Be Well!
-Dr. K
