The Art of A Good Night\’s Sleep: 5 Tips to Move Past Sleep Deprivation
Life is busy and hectic; so many people are suffering from sleep deprivation and don’t even know it.
If you ask ten people if they’re sleep deprived eight of them will say no, and of those eight, six of them will actually be very sleep deprived. It’s a known fact in the health and wellness industry that sleep is one of the most important pillars of wellbeing, along with diet and exercise. So why don’t more people realize they are sleep deprived?
With the advent of technology and the dawning of the millennium, people are pressured to do more than ever in the 24-hour day. With pressures and demands to be more productive, something has got to give. What often happens is that our sleep is the thing that we give up to stay on the hamster wheel of producing and doing more. This is not a good thing because when you give up sleep, your mind, body, and spirit suffer. Now if you’re someone that recognizes your own sleep deprivation or someone that has been having trouble getting a good night’s sleep, then you’ll want to pay close attention because when you get the right amount of sleep your body needs and desires, you become more productive, healthy, and younger-looking.
Sleep deprivation is detrimental to every aspect of your life and when you don’t get enough, you compromise the quality of life that you can live.
This may seem like a crazy thought, but just take a moment to think about how you feel when you get enough sleep versus when you cut your sleep time short. Substituting sleep with a cup of coffee or one of the nasty little energy drinks may sound like a good idea and make you feel energized, but they are no substitute for getting a good night of shut-eye.
If a good night’s sleep is evading you or you are evading it, help has arrived. The following tips may be just what you need to turn that sleep deprivation to sleep rejuvenation:
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Block out the noise
You may not recall the racket that your neighbor caused when they came home at midnight but your body does. Even if you don’t wake up completely, noise can disrupt your slumber and cause restlessness, increased heart rate and blood pressure, and changes in breathing patterns. These interruptions can lead to fragmented sleep making it harder to reach the deeper, more restorative stages of sleep. Consider investing in earplugs to avoid disturbances.
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Get some lavender
Lavender essential oil is a fabulous, natural substance that you can use to create an environment of relaxation and set the tone for a wonderful and restorative slumber. You can diffuse it in your room thirty minutes before going to sleep. This scent will not only encourage drowsiness and have a relaxing effect on the nervous system but the very act of setting up a routine helps with signaling your brain that it is time to start shutting down.
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Keep your room slightly chilled
Your body temperature regularly fluctuates through the day and night and it is usually highest in the afternoon and lowest in the early morning. So if your room is hot, your body will work all night to cool it down and if you’re sweating you’re more likely to wake up in the middle of the night. Once that happens, it becomes hard to get back to that deep, restorative sleep cycle, making it disruptive to the whole sleep process. The sweet spot room temperature for getting a good night’s sleep is 65 degrees. Aim at keeping your room at this temperature so that your body does not have to work to keep you cool. You will wake up more refreshed. Remember you can always put more blankets on top of the bed if you tend to get cold.
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Dim the lights early
This is great to do as part of your evening ritual when you begin to diffuse the lavender essential oil. Not only does dimming the lights send a message to your brain that it is time to wind down, but it also has a powerful effect on stimulating the body’s natural circadian rhythm that controls your sleep-wake cycles and assists in starting the melatonin production cycle. Melatonin is the sleep induction hormone.
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Improve the ventilation in your room
A stuffy room can increase nasal congestion, which will hinder your ability to breathe. If you can’t breathe, you will not be able to have a restful sleep. It’s a known fact that if you’re congested you will not have good airflow through the nasal passages. Think of a baby and when they are congested: they get a little cranky, fussy, and don’t sleep well, which keeps you up at night. The same thing happens to adults except we don’t correlate the congestion at night with our crankiness during the day. Those that sleep with a window open overnight wake up feeling more alert the next morning. If you live in a city where there will be lots of noise during the night, then you can invest in some good earplugs or you can open the window for at least fifteen minutes during the day or evening to allow fresh air in.
Another tip: invest in a plant like a peace lily that naturally purifies the air, or you can get an air purifier.
Wishing you peace, wellness, and tranquility.
Namaste,
Rochel Marie
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Rochel Marie Lawson is a Registered Nurse, Ayurvedic Health Practitioner, Holistic Health and Wellness Consultant, Speaker, and Radio Show Hostess. Her goal is to bring holistic health and wellness into the lives of individuals seeking a natural path to wellness.
