How to improve your quality of sleep permanently

Sleep is one of those things that you must get enough of or you risk infringing on other aspects of your life. For those who have incredibly busy and hectic lifestyles, stopping in the midst of them and being able to decompress enough to even get to sleep, let alone to stay asleep, can be challenging.

The quality of sleep that you get profoundly impacts your mood, mental health, physical ability and overall quality of life. If you’ve had issues with sleeping soundly and well in the past, you’ve likely tried a plethora of ideas to help you sleep. Maybe some worked for a period. But quality of sleep: both getting to sleep, staying asleep and sleeping soundly can be difficult to truly obtain, especially in any lasting way.

Here are some essential tips that will improve your quality of sleep permanently.

Sleep environment

Your bed and surrounding areas should be fashioned and cultivated for the best type of sleep you can think of. Everything needs to be as comfortable as possible. The room needs to be dark. In the event you have bright windows, opt for blackout curtains that will help foster the necessary environment for your optimum snoozing. Make sure the temperature in the room is cold enough. Many people, especially those who are prone to stress, can find themselves waking up in the middle of the night because they are too warm. A cool room promotes a cooler body temperature. Ensure that your neck is adequately supported throughout the night with ergonomic sleeping aids. It’s crucial you set yourself up to be as comfortable as possible in your bed when it’s time to get some much-needed shut-eye.

Keep electronics out

In our current day and age, it can be incredibly difficult to do this. Especially when so many are attached to their devices, and this society lives in a perpetual 24-hour news cycle. Being able to unplug and detach from phones, laptops, and tablets entirely can seem almost impossible at times. But the bottom line is, these things just aren’t conducive to sleep. In so many different ways it interrupts sleep and activates the parts of your brain that are triggered by constant alerts, bright lights, and more information. Put your electronic devices inside of a drawer if you can’t bear to have them out of the room. This helps to shield you from any light that may illuminate from them in the middle of the night.

Breath exercises

Using this in conjunction with meditation is what will improve your ability to fall asleep quickly and to stay asleep. Many individuals struggle with getting to sleep for a few hours and then waking up and being unable to go back to sleep. Try the 4-7-8 breathing trick that helps to relax your body and calm your mind. Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds, hold that breathe for 7 seconds, exhale through your mouth for 8 seconds. Do this slowing and develop a rhythm, clear your mind of all the things you contemplate and worry about. Those things cannot be immediately dealt with while you’re trying to go to sleep nor should they be. They will still be there for you to address and tackle once you get some good uninterrupted sleep. This technique will allow your body and brain to relax enough that you’ll fall asleep quickly.

Quit the caffeine

This is a tough one for so many people because caffeine fuels them, even more so when they haven’t been getting good consistent sleep for months, or even years. But caffeine can mess up your sleep patterns and in alot of ways, it’s not very good for you. Some people think they’re even immune to caffeine because they’ve consumed so much of it over the years. Caffeine profoundly affects your nervous system. A compromised nervous system can cause you to have adrenal fatigue, anxiety, poor stress management and lack of clarity. Quitting caffeine can be especially tricky because headaches are a common withdrawal symptom. When you have so much caffeine working its way through your body, it’s virtually impossible to sleep well. Even if you manage to fall asleep, you’ll be up in a couple of hours because your body is restless and has a sense of agitation spurred on by the abnormal nervous system reaction.