Home Remedies to Fall Asleep Quickly
A sound sleep at night directly affects your mental and physical health and the quality of your working life. A shortfall in sleep can take a serious toll on your daytime energy, productivity, emotional balance, and even your weight. People seem terribly annoying, work stalls, and the future seems unattractive.
Unfortunately, many of us regularly toss and turn at night, struggling to get the sleep we need. There is a solution. Making simple but important changes to your daytime routine and bedtime habits can have a profound impact on how well you sleep, leaving you feeling mentally sharp, emotionally balanced, and full of energy all day long.
Be careful about your food
Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and heavy meals in the evening. Alcohol, cigarettes, and caffeine can disrupt sleep. Eating big or spicy meals can cause discomfort from indigestion that can make it hard to sleep. If you can, avoid eating large meals for two to three hours before bedtime. Try a light snack 45 minutes before bed if you’re still hungry.
Exercise during the day
Exercise daily. Vigorous exercise is best, but even light exercise and yoga are better than no activity. Exercise at any time of day, but not at the expense of your sleep.
Sick to your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle
Stick to a sleep schedule of the same bedtime and wake-up time, even on the weekends. This helps to regulate your body’s clock and could help you fall asleep and stay asleep for the night.
If you have trouble sleeping, avoid naps, in the afternoon.
A short nap may help you get through the day, but if you find that you can’t fall asleep at bedtime, eliminating even short catnaps may help.
Improve your sleep environment
Keep noise down. If you can’t avoid or eliminate noise from neighbors, traffic, or other people in your household, try to mask it with a fan or sound machine. Earplugs may also help.
Keep your room cool. Most people sleep best in a slightly cool room (around 65° F or 18° C) with adequate ventilation. A bedroom that is too hot or too cold can interfere with quality sleep.
Make sure your bed is comfortable. Your bed covers should leave you enough room to stretch and turn comfortably without becoming tangled. If you often wake up with a sore back or an aching neck, you may need to experiment with different levels of mattress firmness, foam toppers, and pillows that provide more or less support.
Reserve your bed for sleeping. By not working, watching TV, or using your computer in bed, your brain will associate the bedroom with just sleep and make it easier to wind down at night.
Control your exposure to light
Manage your exposure to light. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone controlled by light exposure that helps regulate your sleep-wake cycle. Your brain secretes more melatonin when it’s dark—making you sleepy—and less when it’s light—making you more alert.
However, many aspects of modern life can alter your body’s production of melatonin and shift your circadian rhythm. Avoid bright light in the evening and expose yourself to sunlight in the morning. This will keep your circadian rhythms in check.
Practice a relaxing bedtime ritual
A relaxing, routine activity right before bedtime conducted away from bright lights helps separate your sleep time from activities that can cause excitement, stress, or anxiety which can make it more difficult to fall asleep, get sound and deep sleep, or remain asleep.
Wind down and free your head
Clear your mind. Your body needs time to shift into sleep mode, so spend the last hour before bed doing a calming activity such as reading. For some people, using an electronic device such as a laptop can make it hard to fall asleep, because the particular type of light emanating from the screens of these devices is activating the brain. If you have trouble sleeping, avoid electronics before bed or in the middle of the night.
If you’re still having trouble sleeping, don’t hesitate to speak with your doctor or to find a sleep professional.
