Proven Ways to Get More Rest
Going to bed feeling “wide awake” is a common issue that many people struggle with, and one that isn’t easy to solve. There are multiple factors involved in your quest to fall asleep quickly and stay in a state of rest throughout the night.
There’s one thing we can all agree on, though – it’s an awful predicament.
Lucky you, there are ways we can combat this feeling and get to bed feeling relatively tired before we even lie down.
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I’ll show you several ways you can get to bed feeling just a bit more ready to accept an awesome night’s sleep:
Engage in a calm or soothing habit
Hobbies is a word that has become increasingly rare in today’s generation. I’m beginning to think people are forgetting the definition of the word. Put together, most of us spend well over an hour a day on social media, valuable time that could be used towards a hobby.
No, watching movies, hanging with friends, or going to the gym doesn’t count. Instead, look to pick up some actual hobbies, and more specifically, soothing ones.
What exactly does soothing mean? Generally, it’s anything that allows you to relax while doing it. That means it doesn’t cause stress and doesn’t force you to be hyper-aware or exert any kind of physical activity. Things such as knitting, painting, and reading (ring a bell?) all work well.
Do a little research on potential hobbies you could pick up that help you relax.
Allowing your brain to focus on the task at hand and “disconnect” from real world problems, even temporarily, can help reset and lower your anxiety and stress, all factors that affect your sleep.
Pick up meditation
Even though the most convenient (and thus easiest) time to meditate is in the morning, you’ll soon find out that this science-backed activity can benefit you more than 16 hours later as you’re trying to fall asleep.
If you need some convincing to start, here’s what meditation can do for you health wise:
- Reduce stress
- Reduce anxiety
- Increase immune health
- Increase focus
- Shrinks the brain’s amygdala (the part that deals with fear and emotion)
Meditation can also offer the following overall benefits:
- Increase self-awareness
- Induce relaxation
- Increase happiness
- Increase self-acceptance
And the list goes on and on. Confused where to start?
Spend five minutes sitting still in the morning before you begin your day, and even do the same at night before bed.
Put the phone and laptop away at least an hour before bed
I’ll start with the no-brainer but the one that people continually struggle with the most.
Yes, we know we need to shed ourselves of those things called “technology”; you know, the phones, the laptops, the computers, the TVs, the tablets, the phablets (a phone the size of a tablet), and the list goes on and on and on. We’re connected to them all day, and if we had the choice, we’d be connected to them all night.
We’re hooked; consumer electronics barely leave our fingertips, and they have the pleasure of being our eyes’ object of affection for most of the day. Sometimes, I wonder what our phones or computer would say to us if it knew how much we stare at them.
I’m glad they don’t talk. Well, I take that back since some already do on command. I’m just glad they don’t give us their unwarranted opinions.
The least you can do is give each other a little space when the sun goes down. A little time away from each other never hurt anybody. Not a lot of time, just a few hours.
The easiest way is to have the charger in another room (the room that you don’t spend evenings in) and when it’s time to wind down for the evening, plug it in and walk away. And then eventually go to bed, blissfully knowing your email or social media will be just fine.
Try the whole I’ll give you a couple hours space; it works for relationships too.
Eat a healthy diet, and stay satiated at night
Eating healthy goes beyond just feeling good, it actually helps you sleep much better too.
There is a myth that eating before bed is a bad thing; in fact, the opposite could hold true. Eating the right foods at night can help stave off those all too familiar hunger pangs, and give your body the right fuel it needs to rebuild itself while you sleep.
The trick, of course, is eating the right foods – anything super salty, fatty, or sugary won’t do you very much good. You’ll just end up feeling uncomfortable, which affects your ability to fall asleep. And most importantly, don’t go to bed hungry – listen to your body.
Throughout the day, make sure you feed it the right things too – a bad diet is a huge step backwards in a lot of areas, including your sleep cycles. A healthy, nutritious, balanced diet ensures your body is working optimally.
The last trick is to avoid eating right before bed; as in don’t graze your way through the fridge and then throw yourself under your covers and turn out the lights. Give it a little bit of time, preferably at least an hour before bed. But if you last ate six hours ago…give yourself some fuel.
Get involved in exercise
Exercise has also proven itself extremely beneficial, and with probably thousands of studies done (don’t quote me on that but I’d argue it’s possible) that show its true benefits, you would be hard pressed to ignore it in today’s modern age.
All in, exercise can help with the following:
- Control your weight
- Control your hormones
- Reduce your risk for diseases (such as heart disease) and cancers
- Improve your mental mood
- Strengthen your bones and muscles
- Improve your sexual health
Regular exercise also helps improve your sleep, by allowing you to enter a deeper sleep sooner, and for longer.
Deep sleep, known as REM, is our most restorative sleep we can achieve. The more time you spend in deep sleep, the more you can boost your immune system, improve cardiovascular health, and control stress/anxiety.
Not to mention, physical exercise takes effort in the form of expended energy. The more energy you expend, the more tired you get eventually. By expending all this energy, you’ll feel tired sooner in the evenings, allowing you to fall asleep much faster.
Where to start? Get moving! Join a local gym for some intro classes, do some simple bodyweight workouts at home. Again, Google is your best friend here. The options are overwhelmingly unlimited.
