It’s no secret that getting a good night’s rest is absolutely essential for joyous health. If you happen to be one of millions of North Americans who are sleep deprived, then trying out one or more of these suggestions may be your ticket to dreamland.
Video not found
1. Dim the lights 1-1.5 hours before bed and avoid artificial light from your mobile device, computer and television.
2. Drink high quality relaxing chamomile tea. Other calming herbs include lemongrass, valerian root and hibiscus.
3. Avoid stimulants past 12 noon: dark chocolate, coffee, energy drinks and any caffeinated beverage.
4. Have SEX! Orgasm promotes feel good hormonal release which helps you chill out.
5. Avoid watching violent movies. Violence can stimulate cortisol, your stress hormone and prevent you from getting a good night’s shut eye.
6 thoughts on “5 Tips to Help You Sleep Better”
Hi Joy!
I love these tips. I am really bad for working late on my laptop and you are so right because the nights that I do this, I have a lot of trouble getting to sleep.
Great post, I just wanted to add a bit as I suffered from very severe insomnia from puberty until I was almost 25.
I tried tons of different things and even spent time with a sleep therapist who tried to help. All the various doctors would prescribe various amounts of Melatonin which would sometimes help for a while but if I didn’t continue to up the dose my body would quickly become resistent to it’s effects. I eventually gave up on it.
Anyway, on to the solution. 🙂 I spent the better part of 5 years learning about nutrition, healthy eating and had experimented with pretty much every option there was but I was still eating a fair amount of meat. Healthy meats, yes, but still meat.
I decided to try out being vegan, not really because of sleep but just as something “new” to see how my body responded. Within a week of giving up meat I was sleeping better than I had in 15 years. By the end of the month I was having a good night sleep almost every night.
I’ve been vegan ever since.
Other things I have found that helped somewhat over the years:
1. Reserve your bed for sleeping. Let your body associate the bed with rest. Have a comfy chair or couch where you rea, play games or watch tv. Teach your system that bed means rest. The exception being sex as your body naturally will want to rest after an orgasm.
2. Avoid light sources during the night. If you have to get up to go pee, avoid turning on a light and no matter how much you are tossing and turning do not look at a digital clock. Light stimulates the eye and tells your body to wake up.
3. Exercise regularly! Because of how sedimentary our lifestyles have become we often go to bed with an exhausted mind but an energised body. Regular exercise ensures that both your mind and body are in need of rest.
Thank you so much for this information. I have lot of trouble for sleep. I will remember your tips.
Thanks for the tips Joy. I like the tips even though I’m typing this in bed on my ipad ;-).
My pleasure! Time for bed now 🙂
[…] week I posted a video on “5 Ways to Get a Good Night’s Sleep” because a YouTube viewer had asked me for some tips. Since this is such an important topic, […]