Three Habits for Good Sleep
Sleep is extremely important for health, well being and performance. A good night’s sleep leads to a brain that is quick, alert, able to learn and solve problems. Deep NREM3 and dream filled REM sleep are crucial for the formation of declarative and procedural memories respectively. Good sleep allows the body to heal itself, repair small injuries and re-build its immune system. Insomnia - the inability to fall and/or stay asleep - is very common. Insomnia is caused by stress and many other factors related to daily life.
Lack of quality sleep can severely affect your health and mental and physical performance. Here are three good habits you can follow to break insomnia and help you fall asleep faster and sleep deeper and better. Stimulate your senses, Organize your schedule and thoughts, Exercise and Ease, SOE.
1. Stimulate Your Senses
Your senses are your brain’s connection to the outside world. Some sensory stimuli prevent and disturb sleep, others promote and enhance it. Arrange your bedroom such that sleep promoting stimuli are present while those preventing sleep are excluded. Doing this properly can go a very long way in busting insomnia and get you high quality sleep every night.
You sense of balance and orientation is located in the vestibular system in your inner ear. Scientific studies in sleep labs have shown that gentle side to side rocking of your bed stimulates the vestibular system in just the right way. This leads to less time taken to fall asleep and more time spent in the most recuperative deep NREM 3 sleep stage. There is a reason that babies love being rocked to sleep and that most adults sleep very well in a gently rocking train, car or boat.
Your visual sense is best stimulated for sleep with darkness. Bright light on the other hand promotes wakefulness and should be avoided, especially coming from screens of mobile devices. This light is biased toward the blue spectrum and upsets your internal 24 hour circadian clock. Pro-Tip: Brush your teeth right after dinner, rather than doing it just before going to bed. You won’t have to stand in a brightly lit bathroom just before going to sleep. Brushing right after dinner is better for your teeth too.
Many noises make it difficult or even impossible to fall asleep. On the other hand, total quiet and some types of white noise stimulate your auditory sense to promote sleep. Most people for example sleep well when exposed to the sound of rain or ocean waves.
Pleasant smells, like from Lavender oil, available in many supermarkets, stimulate your olfactory sense and promote sleep.
2. Organize Your Schedule and Thoughts
Have a set schedule. As much as possible go to bed at the same time each day with the goal to wake up (on your own) at the same time too. Most adults require 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. It is a myth, it is not true, that older people require less sleep. It is true however that teenagers need more sleep, 9 hours on average. Younger children need even more.
Have a notebook or a voice recorder (even if it’s on your smart phone) next to your bed. As the day winds down, the brain has the habit to start having good ideas, remember and worry about things that didn’t get done during the day. Note them down, so that your brain can relax rather than having to work trying to remember everything, keeping you awake.
3. Exercise and Ease
Exercise keeps your body and mind healthy, allowing them to perform better. This includes sleep performance. Don’t forget to ease off too! An intense workout should be no closer than 3 hours before bed time. Lighter exercise such as a 20 min walk, can be done until right before you go to bed.
Healthy food keeps your body and mind healthy. Have your last meal no closer than 3 hours before bed time. Reduce fluid intake closer to bed to avoid a full bladder forcing you out of bed in the middle of the night. Caffeine is a stimulant that stays in your blood stream for a number of hours, so avoid coffee and other caffeinated beverages after lunch. Nicotine too is a stimulant that, like caffeine, lingers in your blood stream for hours after inhalation/ingestion. Alcohol is a sedative. In moderation it can help with falling asleep, but at the same time it also interferes with beneficial sleep processes like memory consolidation.