Your alarm goes off, you hit the snooze a few times before you drag yourself out of bed, foggy brained and tired. You wanted to go to bed early last night but somehow Netflix or Instagram or your loud neighbor seemed to get in the way. The only thing to get you through is lots and lots of coffee. Sound familiar? Chances are your sleep is not as great as it could be. Over a third of Americans are sleep deprived, and no amount of extra shot lattes is going to fix it. To help get a better night’s sleep and feel more rested throughout the day, try some of the following guidelines.
Make your bedroom screenless
We know. TV is crazy good right now and scrolling through Instagram feeds of gorgeous vacations and acai bowls helps you unwind. But the light from our devices – short wavelength blue light – disrupts our brain’s sleep signals. The light has a stimulating effect on your body, deactivating your body’s natural rhythm. To counteract the blue light effect, try Flux, an app that automatically changes the light settings on your devices, mimicking the sun depending on the time of day. In addition, try turning off your screens about an hour before bed for a week. TV and Insta will be there in the morning, we promise.
Engage in a nighttime ritual
In our busy lives, we often go from work to working out to dinner with friends to bed. This go-go-go pace leaves no time to let your body calm down. Build in a nighttime ritual before bed to ease yourself into sleep. This could be a beauty ritual, a bath, drinking an herbal tea or listening to soothing music. For an extra soothing effect, we love incorporating magnesium into our evening ritual – either through a bath soak or a body lotion.
Create a sleep sanctuary
Tossing and turning at night can sometimes be fixed through easy adjustments to your sleeping space. The ideal conditions for sleep are cool, dark, quite and clean. But sometimes those things are just not possible (hello, New York City!). Try to create those conditions as best you can with an eye mask to block out light, earplugs to cancel background noise and an air purifier to remove dust and pollution which may be effecting your breathing.
What are your tips for a great night sleep? Let us know in the comments below.
Kalaki Riot
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