You sleep better when you
– fall asleep in 15 minutes
– fall asleep quickly when woken up at night
– feel fresh when you wake up
Not sleeping well can increase the risk of diabetes, obesity, hypertension, heart diseases, and dementia.
We sleep in cycles of light sleep [30 minutes] and deep sleep[ 60 minutes]. If we wake up in light sleep, we feel fresh. If we wake up in deep sleep, we feel bad. Either way, 6-9 hours is the amount of sleep needed by our brain to rest and recover for physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
We can’t control if we wake up in light or deep sleep, but we can definitely control the number of hours we sleep. So technically, the only thing we can control is our BEDTIME routine.
Before you start changing your bedtime routine, know WHY you want to sleep better? Is it because it feels amazing to go to bed, it feels cozy under the sheets in a cold dark room, is it the warmth of sleeping next to a loved one, or is it the promise of waking up feeling – FRESH.
Know what is your current routine and which part of it is not working.
Romanticize the whole experience of going to bed, because after a good night sleep the only person who gets to feel GOOD is you.
Try aiming for the following
1- Have early dinner so that you can sleep early
2- Turn off fluorescent lights after dinner. Have warm lamps instead to signal your brain to unwind.
3- Stop every activity which means WORK for your brain, i.e., no email or text responses, no text chatting, no phone games, no watching videos on the phone; as your brain has to give a lot of signals to your body to do these activities.
4- Allow yourself to spend time with your family and if you notice no one is talking or is on the phone- CALL IT A NIGHT.
5- Go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, get into your pajamas, close the curtains, make the room cold and get in bed.
6- You can allow yourself to watch an episode on TV with a promise that if your eyes get heavy, you will SWITCH OFF the tv and lamp and GO to bed.
If you are someone struggling to lose weight and not sleeping well, I CAN HELP YOU. Get started by booking a session.