Sleep is one of the most important actions of your day... but not everyone seems to care about it. Do you want to improve your sleep? Do you want to start sleeping like a baby?
In this post, the importance of a good sleep, and some easy ways to improve your sleep and start sleeping like a baby!!
Why is it Important to Sleep?
Everyone sleeps; everyone needs to sleep.
Sleep is one of the prime and most essential physiological actions. Not only for humans, but for all living organisms known in Earth. Mammals, insects… and even microorganisms. They all show more active and passive day cycles.
You need to sleep to 1) store all information collected during the day, 2) let your body rest and recover, and to 3) actively dream and picture your most remarkable desires and thoughts.
Sleep is essential and important for your growth and development. Hence, you should prioritize to sleep 7-9h daily.
The Phases of Sleep
Your sleep is divided into two main phases: REM, and noREM.
Depending on the length and amplitude of the waved emitted by the brain, you can be in either of these phases.
The noREM Phase
The noREM phase is characterized by a deep, nonconscious sleep. The waves are longer and with a higher amplitude.
This is when the short-term information is gathered and selected into the long-term memory.
The REM Phase
The REM phase is the active phase of sleep. Here is when all dreams and active sleep machinery takes place.
This phase is characterized by shorter and faster waves, and no muscular movement. This will avoid any potential movement translated from the dream.
A sleep cycle takes around 90min to complete. As sleep proceeds, you spend less time in the deepest sleep phases, and the sleep cycle is shifted more towards the REM phase.
This slowly leads you to awakeness and a more active sleep.
Benefits of a Good Sleep
A good sleep is essential for your growth and development, but not everyone seems to care about it.
Sleep deprivation increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases (study), lowers your memory and learning capacity (study), and shortens your life (study).
In other words, sleep deprivation makes you live less, and worse.
Prioritizing a good sleep will bring you all benefits linked to it. These, after long years of research, are:
Benefits of a Good Sleep:
- Improves your mood
- Boosts your inmunity
- Think more clear and be more focus
- Stay in a healthy weight
- Lowers risk of serious health issues
- Improves your sports performance
- Stress and anxiety relief
How to Improve your Sleep
With 7-9h of sleep, you’ll start to feel all benefits linked to a good sleep. But sometimes the duration is not enough, and you may have issues concealing sleep or/and having a calm and long lasting sleep.
In the next 3min, easy tips to help you improve your sleep!
Create a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Setting fixed times for sleep is the best practise you can acquire to improve your sleep.
A structured sleep chedule results in a mroe regular sleep timing, and an improved alignment between sleep and the circadian rhtyhms (study)
In this study, not having a proper sleep schedule decreased the average sleep time per day (study)
Set your sleep schedule in accordance to your lifestyle, chronotype, and work schedule.
Create a Good Sleep Environment
Your body has very narrow optimal conditions for a good sleep.
Temperature, light exposure, sound… these can make you so comfortable during your sleep and increase the length and quality of such.
Close the blinders, avoid loud noises around, and set a temperature of 19-21 ºC.
If you can allow yourself, wake up without an alarm. This will synchronize your body with the circadian rhtyhms and your biological needs.
Avoid Blue Light Before Bedtime
Light has wave-like properties. Depending on the light, your eyes will recieve the light in a different manner.
Blue light, with wavelengths of 380-500nm, inhibits production of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
Blue light is present in electronic devices, LED lights, and other screen-like devices. An exposure to this light before bedtime can shift your sleep cycle a few hours ahead.
Don’t use any electronic devices 1-2h before bedtime. Use warmer light colours for your house, or use special glasses to block blue light!
Use Bed For Sleeping
Besides sleeping and f*cking, you shouldn’t use bed for anything else.
Your brain knows of time and space. If you use your bed to watch movies, eat, play videogames… your brain won’t know when it’s time to sleep.
Associate bed with sleep. That will tell your brain it’s time to sleep when you lay down in bed.
Practice Exercise During the Day
Exercise improves your sleep, and sleep improves exercise.
Twenty-nine studies concluded that exercise improved sleep quality and duration (study).
Exercise elevates your core body temperature and the blood flow. This change in temperature may help you conceal a better and long lasting sleep.
Intense exercise before going to bed can, however, negatively impact sleep (source)
Meditate Before Going to Bed
Meditation may help you sleep better (study)(study)
Considered a relaxation technique, meditation can enhance your inner peace and synchronize your brain with your natural sleep cycles.
Pre-bedtime is important to conceal a good and long-lasting sleep. Meditation is an option to do on your pre-bedtime.
Conclusion
Sleep is an important and essential action for your growth and development. You need to sleep to survive and evolve.
In this post, we’ve seen easy ways to improve sleep. Put them in practice, and you’ll start noticing big changes in your life!!
