16 Mar Handy Tips to Improve your Sleep Hygiene
Getting a good night’s sleep is important for your overall health but it can seem like an insurmountable goal. A recent study published by the Journal of the American Heart Association found a link between increased cardiovascular risk and poor sleep. (newsroom.heart.org) In fact, sleep was recently added to the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 key recommendations to improve and maintain heart health.
We know we all feel better after a good night’s sleep: better sleep, better heart health and better health outcomes.
Let’s talk about easy ways to help improve your sleep:
- Routine – It might sound easy, but we all get caught up in work, kids, screen time and forget to stay to a routine. Setting a wind down period and a targeted window to get into bed and go to sleep will help your body’s internal CLOCK to become set to naturally fall asleep.(Why do we go through routines with our kids of baths, brushing teeth, story or two and lights off – but we jump into bed hoping we can go right to sleep! That doesn’t happen…we need a similar routine!)
- Screen time – Turn off your screen for at least 1 hr. before going to bed, that means Television screen too! The Brightness of the screen tells your eyes and body that it is 2:00pm in the afternoon ~~ Like on a sunny day!
- Exercise – Exercise regularly but not right before bed early evening but at least 3 hrs. buffer time.
- Snacking – Avoid late night snacking or a late dinner especially if it is a large quantity or high in carbohydrates/calories.
- Temperature – Turn down the heat or air. (68° or lower) Put on a fan if you like a bit of white noise.
- Hydration – Stay hydrated during the day (64 oz) is a good goal. Minimize any water or drinks right before bedtime unless it is just enough to take your meds for the night.
- Hot baths – A nice warm soak can make you sleepy. Adding some lavender is even better in helping with relaxation and initiating calm for sleep.
- Pillows and mattress – Get a comfortable mattress- whatever suits your body (everyone is different- Firm, Med., Soft) you decide. When was the last time you flipped your mattress or bought a new one?10 years? 15? 20? Oh My! Most of us sleep with a pillow that is too big and can cause US to block our airway, especially if we are using 2 behind our head! Pillows usually are just too big. Find a small size pillow that you can mold or scrunch to fit & support your head/ neck. Silky pillowcases are a nice way to treat yourself and help prevent “bed head hair” in the mornings. Nice crispy, clean sheets are always wonderful to climb into.
- Bedrooms – they are to used for sleeping and sex only. Do you have a TV in your bedroom?
- Alcohol- this should be used in moderation and earlier in the evening instead of close to bedtime. You might think it is helping you “get” to sleep but the quality of your sleep is more focused on metabolizing the alcohol instead of cycling through your sleep stages.