How To Improve The Quality Of Your Sleep

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There’s nothing like a good night’s sleep to put you better spirits. However, 77% of Americans haven’t been sleeping well in recent months. If it isn’t the stress of the health pandemic disrupting your sleep, it could be the stress of the back to back Venus and Mercury Retrogrades we’ve been having.

Most Americans need 7 to 10 hours of sleep to perform at their best, meaning we spend one-third of our lives either sleeping or attempting to sleep. Yet, 27% of Americans use sleep supplements to help with sleep, and Americans will spend $52 billion on sleep aids and remedies in 2020 alone. What can we do to improve our quality of sleep?

View Sleep As a Self-Care Treatment

Sleep is a necessity, not something to be crammed into your day. The best tips for healthy sleep are to be consistent, reduce the amount of room lighting, and make it a comfortable experience. Doing so can reduce the amount of stress you have as your body cycles into sleep.

To be more specific, put yourself on a sleep schedule, even on the weekends. On top of that, create a calming bedtime routine like doing yoga before bed. Furthermore, avoid caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, and heavy meals before bed.

Additionally, get rid of any bright, distracting lights in the room. In fact, eliminate as much light as possible. Light decreases your melatonin, making it tougher for you to sleep. You should have high melatonin levels for sleep. You should also avoid screens for at least 1 hour before bed, so consider making your bedtime routine an hour’s length. Save the bright lights for the morning time. This way, you have something to help you feel alert and awake.

However, don’t stress yourself out trying to make yourself fall sleep. Although 7 to 10 hours is recommended, sometimes your body is not in sync with your mind, and you’re not completely ready for bed. If you can’t fall asleep, get out of bed, go into another room, do something relaxing (i.e. sing a song, do more yoga), then return to bed and try to sleep again.

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What To Do If You Still Can’t Sleep

If you still have trouble sleeping, first beware of your naps. If you take naps throughout the daytime, they may present challenges for when you want to sleep at night. Furthermore, watch your spicy food, nicotine, alcohol, and nicotine intake. You can also take action toward relieving any stress you carry into bed with you. High cortisol levels can give you bad dreams, making it difficult to fall back asleep after they’ve waken you up. High cortisol levels can also make it difficult to fall asleep to begin with.

Too much stress can cause sleep problems and fatigue, memory and focus issues, and poor immune function. In the case of a poor immune system, you would be more susceptible to contracting or spreading COVID-19. Interestingly with that, 70% of American adults think lack of sleep increases their susceptibility to COVID-19. It’s always best to see a doctor if your sleep problems are ongoing.

What Habits Help You Sleep Better?

To begin, avoid news about COVID-19. This can improve your sleep by 46% as it reduces the stress mass media puts into your life. Instead, spend your evenings reading a book. This can improve your sleep by 40%. Taking sleep supplements can boost your sleep by 26%, and practicing meditation or yoga can do the same by 21%. The power of sleep is not to be ignored – it makes us healthier. When’s the last time you had a memorable night’s rest?

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