In our busy lives with the stresses and strains of running a house, work, commuting, family issues and demands, money worries, shopping, health, and welfare, getting a good night’s sleep can be very difficult.
It can get so bad that some people sadly suffer from Insomnia. They just cannot get enough sleep and it carries on into a cycle of not sleeping and panicking and getting stressed about sleeping, which can result in having to see a GP. Then possibly a medication is prescribed but we can try and stop it happening, starting today.
This article hopefully will help with some ideas to avoid that.
Sleep is for Wimps, right?
Nope… sleep is so important to allow us a clear mind, to function in the day, to support us in keeping a positive mindset, to help us manifest and create success in our life.
A lack of sleep, from the more serious state of not sleeping called insomnia, to just taking a few hours to nod off, can lead to all sorts of mental and physical issues. We don’t want that happening to anyone. The bottom line is our body needs to sleep.
Why Does Think Your Happy Want To Help?
In terms of Think Your Happy and all that we are doing here, we have to think of your mind as the magic muscle, which enables us to reprogramme our life for success.
If we don’t get enough sleep, that muscle won’t work properly.
So many people turn to drugs and medicine to sleep, but we do not necessarily need that, we can do it naturally.
So many people complain that they don’t sleep well enough, they wake up too early, wake up during the night tossing and turning, but there are some simple things we can do to get our body ready for good night’s sleep.
It just needs some small tweaks to our life and behaviour. And a few simple techniques to regain that control over our sleep.
So Keep reading…
I’m going to explain my 7 top tips for keeping that brain muscle working well, by getting a good night’s sleep.
And here they are;
1. Breathe well;
Whilst lying in bed, gently place your hands just below your ribcage on your diaphragm. And breathe in and out slowly. Just mentally ‘watching’ your hands go up and down as you breathe in and out.
As you do this allow your breathing and the movement to get slower and slower as you relax. Imagine your body sinking into the mattress and getting heavier and heavier.
Imagine your muscles relaxing whilst you breathe in and out, can really help get your body ready for a beautiful sleep.
2. Avoid electromagnetic gadgets before going to sleep;
You may not realise it but tablets, smartphones, computers laptops, TVs, emit a blue light that stops a chemical being formed in our body called melatonin, it actually stops it from being produced in our body. We need this to sleep.
The blue light from our electric gadgets tricks our body to think that it is still daytime.
So it isn’t ready for bed.
The best thing is to avoid electronic gadgets before sleep.
Or if you really have to… at the very least, have the gadgets go to a night time mode (where the blue light is replaced by the softer yellow light), which does not impede the melatonin being produced in the body.
There you go that’s easy, and it is quite a big one. You might find that sorts it out for you. But just in case, keep reading a bit further.
3. Do something relaxing before going to sleep;
Our mind and body need to get ready for sleep. See it as the next part of your day. You wouldn’t go out to work without getting dressed, would you? Then it is the same, we need to prepare for sleep. It will really help.
Do not watch a violent action film, or have an argument or anything that overstimulates your mind and excitement. This releases all the exciting chemicals in our bodies and that doesn’t help the sleep stuff.
Choose a calming book or some relaxing music.
Massage yourself with calming essential oils like lavender before you get into bed (better still, get someone else to do it), or have a warm bath or shower.
Meditate quietly if you want and let your mind unwind. To declutter your mind, write down a list of things for tomorrow and let them go. You don’t need them in your mind for sleep.
4. Regular exercise during the day really helps;
Have you ever worked all day in the garden or had a really long hike and then felt so tired you crawl into bed and then… oh you sleep so, so well?
Well, exercise is the key here. Coupled with some good lashings of fresh air. Getting that fantastic oxygen pumping through your body and energizing you, also relaxes you deeply and this energy seeps into every muscle of your body.
Beautiful. Even just talking about it makes you feel so, so nice.
Taking a short walk, or Yoga, using a rowing machine or some aerobic exercising during the day produces endorphins that lower blood pressure and lower blood pressure equals less stress and more calm.
If you are calm, then you sleep much better.
5. Reduce the caffeine intake before bed;
Yes, this one is common sense. But still, people do it, and then complain that they cannot sleep.
It is best not to drink caffeine drinks a good few hours, before going to bed.
Caffeine is a stimulant and will not help you sleep.
We’re not just talking about coffee, but also a cup of tea and soft drinks too.
What can you drink instead?
Go for more calming drinks such as camomile, peppermint or lemongrass teas, that that will help calm your body and relax you. And they can taste delicious too. If you dislike the taste then pop a spoonful of honey, maple syrup, or fruit syrup into flavour it to your taste.
6. Wrap up a nice and cozy;
Think back to when you were a child, if someone tucked you in at night didn’t you sleep much better?
But of course, you did.
Having a soft and welcoming bed environment, with nice sheets, duvet, pillow, will help you feel soft and calm in the bed.
I often cannot sleep if my feet are cold, so I tuck the duvet under my feet. I also have that duvet over my ears and tucked in around my side. I feel secure and I soon drop off to sleep every time.
A decent pillow helps, I personally prefer a harder one, but try a few out. Pillows make or break a sleep. Go for a really good one, pay out a few extra pennies to make sure, if you have to. See the pillow as an investment in your sleep, in You.
You cannot skimp on good sleep.
7. Aromatherapy is a nice idea.
Something I’ve always done (and my partner thinks I’m a bit mad), is spray my pillow with essential oils.
I make a small spray bottle up with some lavender, lemongrass, geranium, sandalwood, rose, anything calming, and relaxing. Go for the real essential oils, not the synthetic stuff. You can use an atomizer if you wish.
Stay clear of rosemary, tea tree, ginger, eucalyptus as these can be stimulating and reduce the calmness, you may want to feel.
Spray it on your pillow, PJ’s if you wear them, bed covers. It envelopes you in the most blissful sleep scents and sends you right off into the land of nod.
Conclusion:
Well, there you go Jeff’s top seven, easy peasey tips, for relaxing and getting all calm and relaxed, before getting a better night’s sleep.
Looking after that magic brain muscle of ours, to keep it healthy and working in tip-top condition makes sense to our life and our happiness. We can then start the next day all fresh and breezy. We can deal with the world.
Be ready to think our own Happy and success, and be successful in our lives.
Go forth and be Awesome folks, we all can.
Maybe you have other ideas about habits we can adopt for sleep success, and feel happier? Please leave your suggestions below, we would love to hear them.
If you want to read more of my musings and articles have a look here on my blog on the Think Your Happy website.
If you want the key to unlocking those 3 fantastic success focussed meditations you can get them here. (click)
So, what else can you do to change your life around?
What are you changing in your mind to create change within for success in your life?
Leave your comment below and let me know.
The Think community would love to hear your thoughts.
Take back control.
Create Your Own Success.
Jeff James.
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