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24 effective ways for a good night sleep

HOW TO GET A GOOD NIGHT SLEEP
         (msn  health & fitness - Original)

Everyone has trouble sleeping now and then. If insomnia or night waking is a problem for you, read on for 20 tried and tested ways to ensure you get a good night's rest

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SET YOUR ALARM SAME TIME EACH DAY

Set your alarm for 7am. Don’t be tempted to lie in, even if you had a late night. Getting up at the same time each day (and going to bed at roughly the same time each night), helps programme your body to sleep better.

BAN SCREENS FROM THE BEDROOM

Artificial blue light from screens affects the body’s internal clock and acts as a stimulant. Switch off the TV and don’t use laptops, smartphone or tablet computers an hour before bed.

Have a milky drink

The calcium in milk helps your body to process tryptophan, an amino acid that manufactures sleep-triggering melatonin, while the routine of actually making the drink lets your brain know it’s time for sleep.

Workout early evening

Exercise (enough to get sweaty) helps relieve stress and releases feel-good chemicals. The best time to workout is 4pm-7pm. Any later and your body temperature and adrenaline levels will be too high. In order to feel sleepy, your body temperature needs to be dropping.

Hide your alarm clock

Knowing that you have to get up in a few hours will make you feel anxious, and less able to relax. Don’t watch the minutes go by - hide the alarm clock and you’re more likely to nod off.

Take a bath

Enjoy a long, hot soak in the tub an hour or so before bedtime. The warm water will help to relax you. Add lavender or lilac-scented bath oil to reduce stress and promote relaxation.

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Check the temperature

Your bedroom should be comfortably cool, around 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius). If you feel hot, switch to a lighter duvet or sleep with the window open. It it’s too cold, your body won’t be able to relax as it has to work hard to protect its core temperature.

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Block out the noise

If you have problems dropping off but tend to sleep well once you do, try wearing ear plugs. Research shows that unfamiliar sounds during the first and last two hours of sleep can suppress immune system function, even if you don’t wake up.

Change your mattress

It’s hard to enjoy a good night’s sleep on a mattress that’s too soft or too hard. Experts at The Sleep Council in the UK recommend buying a new mattress after seven years - which equates to more than 20,000 hours of use.

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Cut back on caffeine

Don’t drink tea or coffee after 2pm. Both are stimulants which interfere with the process of falling asleep. Six hours after your last cup of coffee, half the caffeine will still be in your system. Remember that cola and energy drinks contain caffeine too.

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Don’t drink alcohol

Alcohol makes it easier to fall asleep initially but results in poorer quality sleep. Studies suggest that having a drink before bed will cause you to wake up every 90 minutes or so throughout the night.

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Quit smoking

Research shows that smokers take longer to fall asleep and have more disrupted sleep once they do.

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Take Valerian

Before you resort to sleeping tablets, try a herbal remedy. Valerian is widely used for insomnia and most effective if taken over a few weeks.

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Supplements to try

Hop extract acts as a mild sedative and may help those with busy lives who find it hard to “switch off” at night. You might also like to try magnesium. Known as nature’s tranquillizer, it has a calming effect on the body and may help if you suffer from cramps at night.

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Learn to relax

If thoughts of the day make it hard to drop off, try listening to relaxing music, meditating or doing some gentle yoga before bed.

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Write down your worries

If you’re going through a difficult time or are busy at work, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Try writing down your worries or making a list of things you need to do. Once you’ve written the list, put it away. Keep going over things won’t help.

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Don't lie awake worrying

If you’ve been awake for a while it’s better to get up and do something rather than lie there worrying that you can’t sleep. Go to another room or read a book (nothing work related) until you feel sleepy again.

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Dim the lights

Bright light will wake you up. Dim the lights 30 minutes before bed and don’t switch on the main light (use a low-level night light) if you need to go the toilet during the night.

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Switch off

Try relaxing each body part in turn. Lie on your back, then tense and relax your toes, saying ‘goodnight’ to them, then your calves, legs and so on. Once you get to your head, visualise going into your ‘control room’ and flicking off switches to various parts of your body.

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Eat a banana

Bananas contain tryptophan which stimulates the production of melatonin and serotonin in the brain. They also contain magnesium, a natural muscle relaxant.

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Think in images, not words

While trying to fall asleep, think in images, not in words. It’s impossible to clear your mind of all thoughts. But it's somewhat easy to switch off the language center of the brain. What happens after that is a flow of images, starting with ones that make some sense to my current life, quickly followed by randomness, then sleep. It usually takes less than a minute.

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Take deep breathe

Worried about the next day early morning meeting with your client in office? Take a deep breath and relax. Not only will it prevent snoring, but it provides more oxygenation, so you can take those deep breaths that help to relax the body and eventually make you fall asleep faster 

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Eat breakfast within one hour of waking

Not only should your sleeping be on a regular schedule, but so should your eating. Breakfast resets your body clock, much like sunlight.

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Invest in a pair of noise-canceling headphones

Put on your own personal sleep soundtrack and block out everything else. They give the sensation that the sounds are being played right in your skull — making it easy to focus on the music and not your wayward thoughts.

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