The end of the day arrives and your body feels exhausted, you lie in bed and you only want one thing: a good night’s rest. But sometimes it is not so easy to fall asleep and there is nothing you can do. The minutes pass, you start tossing and turning and although you notice the fatigue in every part of your body, you can’t sleep.
Has it ever happened to you? Or do you often wake up in the middle of the night with a racing mind?
Do you usually lie in bed while you read the news and catch up on Instagram and Facebook on your mobile? Then you may have already realized that it is more difficult for you to fall asleep after spending a while with your mobile. The reason? The bright light from the screen .
Televisions, computers and telephones… all these screens emit a bright light. This makes our body think that it is still daylight and interrupts the circadian rhythm. So it’s no surprise that this light from screens causes sleep disturbances.
If you have not been able to sleep well, or not enough, it is normal that the first thing you do when you get up in the morning is to have a coffee. But if you drink too much coffee during the day, you may have trouble sleeping later and be unable to fall asleep. This can lead to insomnia.
To sleep better, it is advisable not to drink coffee or any caffeinated drink after a certain time (after 2:00 p.m., for example). Obviously, this depends on each person, but keep in mind that caffeine stays in the body for 6-8 hours . Long enough, huh?
Have you ever done really hard weight training or intense running and then couldn’t sleep? Exercising before going to bed can cause problems sleeping.
The Alaska Sleep Clinic points out the importance of relaxing after training. As in the previous cases, each person is different, but experts recommend finishing workouts between two and three hours before going to bed . This gives your body time to regulate body temperature, adrenaline levels, and heart rate.
Surely we have all done it: we are lazy to cook and we ask that they bring us food at home. It ends up being more than you wanted, but you manage to finish it and even have dessert. It doesn’t take long to regret it: eating a lot before going to sleep impairs the quality of your sleep.
If you want a quick fix, you can drink a cup of decaffeinated tea (mint, anise, fennel or ginger, for example) or take a short walk to help you digest. Next time try to choose a lighter dinner option.
A glass of wine at night can help you fall asleep, but if you drink too much alcohol at night, you may find it difficult to sleep. How did you sleep the last time you had a few drinks? Did you wake up often and did not rest?
Alcohol disrupts REM (rapid eye movement sleep) phase. We spend 25% of our rest time in this phase, so it plays a crucial role in the body’s recovery process. That is why experts recommend not drinking alcohol for 2-3 hours before going to sleep.
Do you like your room to be warm? When it’s cold outside, it’s very tempting to turn on the heat. But sleeping in a bedroom where it is too hot can cause sleep disturbances or insomnia.
A room with a cool temperature helps us fall asleep earlier. The National Sleep Foundation recommends a temperature of 15º – 20ºC.
Hi my name’s Jessica Anderson, blogger, gardener, mom and wife. Discover my world and the love and passion I have for life. Find out what I have discovered and maybe it might just help enrich your life somehow.
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