By Carla Oates
Recently, sleep has had a status upgrade. No longer is it something we skip when we get a better offer—sleep is the best thing on offer.
While we all know that deep, quality sleep is vital for optimal health and wellbeing—supporting our brain health and cognitive function, immune system and metabolic health—despite this knowledge, many of us find ourselves scrambling for shut-eye and wondering how to get better sleep.
With the stresses of modern life, screens and overcrowded social schedules leaving us wired, getting deeper sleep can seem like a dream. The good news is, there is rest and respite ahead—by implementing some simple tips for better sleep, you can transform your slumber and reap the rewards of deep, restorative slumber.
But First, The Effects Of Sleep Deprivation
Speak to any new parent and they’ll tell you first-hand how detrimental sleep deprivation can be. While all of us will experience some degree of sleep deficit or sleep deprivation at one point in our lives—it’s important to understand that a lack of sleep is not only tiring and frustrating, but it is also linked to a myriad of health issues including Alzheimer’s disease, blood pressure imbalances, heart disease, diabetes and increased risk of stroke. Poor sleep can also affect a number of key processes within the body and disrupt our gut flora. When we experience interrupted sleep (like when there is a newborn in the house), this drastically impacts our sleep cycles and our stages of sleep—including REM sleep (rapid eye movement), non-REM sleep (non-rapid eye movement)—not to mention the total hours of sleep we're able to get.
If you’re unsure whether you’re experiencing the effects of sleep deprivation, ask yourself how you feel when you wake up. Rested? Fatigued? Anxious? These simple signals could indicate that you’re in need of deeper sleep ASAP. They could also indicate signs of light sleep, impaired sleep patterns or a need for a larger amount of deep sleep.
How To Get Better Sleep
This is undoubtedly the million dollar question with whole industries dedicated to sleep aids, sleep supplements and advice on good sleep hygiene. But the key to managing your sleep and improving its quality is to ensure that you're first and foremost prioritising it! So many of us think we can get by with 'just a few hours'—but the reality is, total sleep is just as important as sleep quality and both need to be optimal for us to feel healthy, well and vital.
Tips For Better Sleep
Let's be honest, if you type this into Google you will be met with an overwhelming amount of advice, so to help you navigate the best tips for sleep, we've collated a few of our tried and tested favourites below...
Follow A Sleep Schedule
Science says that most adults need between eight and nine hours sleep each night and women need even more during menstruation. While it may seem silly to schedule your snooze time, the truth is, it’s all too easy to skip unless you carve out the time in your calendar. Confine catch-ups with friends to weekends and if you have a heavy week at work ahead, ensure you’re getting to bed early in preparation. If you do have a late night, skip your early morning workout the next day and rest. Remember, to ensure you're getting enough deep sleep on a regular basis, consistency is key. Consistency also plays an important role in maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm so create good sleep habits by trying to go to bed and waking up at the same time each day. This consolidation will help to encourage more deep sleep—more often.
Yoga For Better Sleep
Research shows that regular exercise may improve sleep quality and also help us to stay alert and reduce daytime sleepiness. It's important to note, however, that some people report having difficulty sleeping if they exercise too close to bedtime. This is why gentle exercise practices like yoga or a short walk after dinner can help you to unwind before bed. If you struggle with more serious sleep disorders like insomnia, practices like Yoga Nidra can also be extremely helpful—helping to calm the mind, ease anxiety and promote a good night's sleep by inducing deep relaxation.
Develop A Sleep Hygiene Routine
Perhaps more than anything else, developing a good sleep hygiene practice is the most important thing when trying to enhance your slumber. And the first step to good sleep hygiene is to create a sleep sanctuary. Put simply, your sleep environment is vital so keep your bedroom calm, quiet, dark and cool. Start by removing all sleep disruptors including televisions and electronic devices. And, invest in your sleep space—install shutters or blackout curtains and splurge on some beautiful bed linen, a quality mattress and decent pillows that’ll make you want to linger for longer. A ceiling or pedestal fan will help to boost airflow, as will adding an indoor plant to your bedroom. Lastly, try to find a warm reading light or install a dimmer switch to help trigger melatonin production. Remember, your bedroom should be for three things only—reading, sex and sleep. Oh, and naps, of course.
Quieten Your Mind
Before bed, it’s essential to switch gears inside your head from full speed to sleep mode. A guided meditation to calm your breathing rate and heart-rate, gentle yoga sequence, a warm bath to balance your body temperature, curling up with a book or deep breathing exercises can all be useful tools in the quest for deep sleep. Think of it this way: just as there are various phases of sleep, we should think of our evening wind down ritual in the same way, slowing preparing our body for rest by reducing stimulation and brain activity in the lead up to bedtime.
A Final Note
If you are already implementing good sleep habits and are still struggling to snooze, it’s worth chatting with your GP or integrative healthcare practitioner as there may be underlying health issues at play that are affecting your ability to get quality sleep. Likewise, if you experience twitches, sleepwalking, or issues like insomnia and sleep apnea, your doctor may suggest a sleep study to help get you back on track.
