“I participated in an Ambassador program on behalf of Influence Central for Pernix Therapeutics. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.”
A few weeks ago I posted about how much of a problem insomnia is in this country. With nearly 4 million Americans suffering from it, I think you can safely say that this is a huge problem in this country. Today I want to talk about some ways we can achieve a good night’s sleep, like practicing healthy shut-eye strategies.
What are shut eye strategies, you ask?
Shut eye strategies are things you can do throughout the day and right before bed that will help you fall asleep and stay asleep.
Here are some shut eye strategies that I’m going to try out this week to see if I can get myself to stay asleep.
- Get Active Early: Going to sleep early and waking up early aren’t the only things you need to do to get a good nights sleep. You need to be active in the morning. Exercising early in the day can strengthen your circadian rhythm which helps bring on sleepiness at night when the sun sets.
- Get Comfortable: Winding down before bedtime is essential. This includes relaxing activities like a warm bath. It can help your muscles relax and turn your mind off the stress of the day.
- Sign Off: Turn OFF your electronic devices at least one hour before bed time. Did you know that the LED light from a mobile device tricks the brain into thinking that the sun is still up? The light activates the brain which keeps you from falling asleep.
- Go Dark: Make sure you have blinds and light blocking curtains so your body knows it’s time to rest. If your room is too light, it can send messages to your brain telling you to “wake up!”
I’m looking forward to trying these shut-eye strategies to help me achieve a good night’s sleep. Out of all these strategies, I’m looking forward to making myself put my phone down and stop using it before bed. Since my work revolves around social media, that’s a hard thing for me to do. I know this is something essential to help me sleep better though. So we’ll see how well I do at that part of the challenge.
If you have any problem falling or staying asleep, I challenge you to try these shut-eye strategies for yourself.
You can learn more about how to achieve a full, uninterrupted night’s sleep visit wanttosleepmore.com.
Great tips. I generally don’t have problems with sleep myself, but I do have a young daughter who does. It makes it so difficult to get going in the morning for school when she won’t/can’t go to sleep at night. I think I’ll start waking her up 15 minutes early to do some yoga with me to see if that helps with her evening routine.
I alternate between periods of extreme insomnia and extreme sleepiness/lethargy, so I will definitely have to give these tactics a shot. Thanks for sharing!