Sleep Tips

Suggested sleep tips, routines, rituals, and natural sleep enhancer ideas.

1. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day and don’t change your timing even and especially on the weekends.
2. Take a warm (but not overly hot) bath. Consider adding a relaxing essential oil to the water.
3. Read a book of a low intellectual demand like a low-key novel or a mindless magazine.
4. Eat a calming food before you go to sleep: Bananas, milky drinks, and whole-meal crackers.
5. Drink a cup of warm herbal tea prior to bedtime. Find a single or combination tea that works for you. Starter suggestions: chamomile, dandelion leaves, passionflower, or lavender. Check to make sure the blends do not contain caffeine.
6. Caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol all disturb sleep and should be avoided at least 6 hours prior to sleep. Keep in mind that if caffeine is used anytime during the day, its stimulant effects will most likely still disturb sleep.
7. Exercise during the day facilitates deeper sleep, although it should be completed at least three hours prior to bedtime. Stretching just prior to bedtime assists sleep. Intimacy prior to sleep, if met with agreement, is conducive to sleep.
8. Try to eliminate daytime naps. If you do nap, do so before 3:00 PM and limit to 30 minutes.
9. Get the right pillow and sleep with as few blankets as possible.
10. Calm your mental activity by concluding your work, turning off the TV and/or computer, and solving the day’s problems at least one hour prior sleep.
11. Ideally, your room should be dark and free from distracting noises and flashing lights. Consider wearing a therapeutic eye mask.
12. If you don’t fall asleep in a reasonable time and find frustration mounting, get out of bed and do a boring task such as reading the refrigerator warrantee or browsing the dictionary. Keep the lights dimmed and don’t look at the clock!
13. One of the biggest challenges for many people who have difficulty sleeping is shutting off mind chatter. Use simple ways to reduce and release mind chatter in order to prepare your mind for sleep. Capture stray thoughts, concerns, or tasks via paper and pen, or with a digital recorder. This promotes your mind to relax as you exercise your personal control and sleep boundaries. Leave a notepad/pen next to your bed for possible persistent emerging thoughts.
14. Establish morning rituals. When you wake up, be awake. Open the blinds, turn on the lights, and/or go outside. Research has shown the amazing effects that 15 minutes of facing the sun has on mood and one’s circadian rhythm cycle regulation. Minimize your morning stress by getting up 15 to 30 minutes early. This sets you up for relaxed success and a sequential night’s sleep.