Are you tired of being tired? Here are 10 ways to help you sleep better and wake up more refreshed...
10. Exercise During the Day - Both exercising and sleep are key components to a healthy lifestyle, so they go hand in hand. Engaging in 30 minutes of light to moderate exercise during the day can actually help you sleep better at night. It relieves stress, helps regulate your hormones and body cycles, and can get rid of that "jittery" feeling of extra energy at night. Just don't exercise within 1-2 hours before you want to sleep.
9. Use Calming Essential Oils - Engaging your senses can help you find rest. There are several natural scents that have been proven to help aid in restlessness and insomnia with their calming qualities. Try infusing lavender in your bedroom & let the aroma help you drift off to sleep. Other essential oils with relaxing qualities include: bergamot, cedarwood, sandalwood and roman chamomile.
8. Practice Meditation or Deep Breathing - With our busy lifestyles, sometimes the best thing for us is to slow down, take a step back and breathe. Focusing your thoughts while deep breathing helps eliminate anxiety, improves concentration, reduces overall stress & has many other positive benefits for your body, spirit & mind.
7. Create a Worry List or Gratitude Journal - One of the biggest things that keeps us up at night is thinking about what we have going on tomorrow, or thinking about what we didn't accomplish today. By making a list of things you have to-do, or worries on your plate, can help to remove the thoughts from you mind, so you can relax. Don't forget to write down things you are grateful for as well, to make sure you end your day on a positive note.
6. Take a Warm Bath - Let the water wash away the worries of your day. Relaxing in a warm bath or shower can help to relieve stress, aid in relieving sore muscle tension, and soothe a worrisome mind. Plus, nothing beats crawling into bed feeling fresh & clean as you let the comforter wrap around you.
5. Listen to Relaxing Music - It has been proven that music has the ability to ease stress and even reduce depressive thoughts. Listening to music can put you in a good mood and allow your thoughts to be focused on the tune.
4. Stretch or Do Some Light Yoga - To alleviate any tension carried in your muscles try to stretch before you sleep. Light static stretches will help to loosen your muscles and should help you feel more relaxed when you lay in bed. Practicing and holding basic yoga poses can also loosen & relax your body. Try child's pose, butterfly pose, forward bends, happy baby pose, lying or seated twists and savasana.
3. Get in a Nighttime Routine - Just like kids need a bedtime, as adults we should follow suit. Our body will learn to naturally relax and wind down at a set time if we allow ourselves to get in a routine. Even if it means watching one less episode on Netflix, try to schedule so you can get as close to 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
2. Turn off the Screens - Stop scrolling. Stop streaming. Stop emailing, researching, watching tv, and wasting hours on the internet. Give your eyes a break and allow yourself to wind down without the mindless screen time. Most of us would get at least 30 minutes more sleep if we would turn off the screens and close our eyes when we are actually tired. We encourage you to remove the screens, and keep your bedroom a sanctuary for only intimacy and sleep.
1. Quality Bedding - We may be a little biased, but we know the impact that bedding can have on your sleep. We've been helping people dream for over 30 years. We know that quality bedding truly makes all the difference. To decrease your tossing & turning at night, spend time choosing the right pillow and take note of thread counts. You may have to spend a little more money, but you also spend 1/3 of your life sleeping - so shouldn't it be in luxury? Ogallala has the quality bedding that can help you sleep well.
- Blair Cissell