How To Transform Your Sleep into a Peaceful Paradise (Your Mental Health Will Thank You)
If Good Sleep Promotes Good Health, How Do I Get It?
Last week on the blog, we discussed why we should prioritize good sleep for our mental health. This week, we’re focusing on how to prioritize good sleep.
What is Good Sleep?
Not all sleep is created equal. Sleeping for four hours on a friend’s uncomfortable futon in a freezing cold room without any noise or curtains over the window the night before a big exam would leave you feeling pretty different than sleeping eight hours in your own bed with the temperature just how you like it and your blackout curtains drawn. So what makes sleep “good”? A good quantity and quality of sleep, of course!
Quantity
Both the CDC and the Sleep Foundation advise that adults ages 18-64 need 7-9 hours of sleep. Teens, on the other hand, need 8-10 hours, while older adults often do fine on 7-8 hours. Though these ranges are more “rule of thumb” than hard-and-fast requirement, they do give us a helpful starting point for assessing whether we’re getting enough shut-eye.
Quality
Think back to our futon-at-a-friend’s-house scenario. Even if you get the 7.5 hours of sleep you need, if the quality of your sleep is hindered by less than ideal circumstances, you might wake up feeling groggy. Add to that the stress of an exam the next morning, and you’re not getting the nighttime bang for your buck that you would at home.
Create the Right Sleep Atmosphere
According to the Sleep Foundation, this is super important! Their advice includes:
Choosing a comfortable mattress and pillow
Choosing quality bedding (think: cozy as well as temperature-regulating)
Making your room as dark as possible (whether through black-out curtains, an eye-mask, or both)
Finding the right temperature (tip: if you get hot at night but can’t stand the thought of going blanket-less, try out a weighted blanket!)
Introducing calming aromas (try diffusing some lavender in your bedroom!)
Start Before Dark
Wait, good sleep starts the moment you wake up? Yep! In addition to a healthy screen-free pre-sleep routine (which is crucial to activating your body’s natural sleep cycle), here’s some advice from the experts on things you can do throughout the day to improve the quality of your sleep:
Get outside. The more time you can spend in natural light during waking hours, the more regulated your internal body clock will be… making it easier to register that when it gets dark, it’s bedtime.
Get moving. Exercise, even a light walk, has been correlated with better sleep. Just avoid intense exercise right before bed.
Be mindful of caffeine and alcohol. Though alcohol may induce drowsiness, the reality is, it disrupts sleep quality. And as for caffeine… keep an eye on your intake, avoid it later in the day, and try not to use it as a way to wiggle out of sleeping enough (guilty as charged!).
So what about you? Ready to start implementing some of these tips into your daily life and bedtime routine? So are we!
Verified sources for content in this article: CDC, The Sleep Foundation (How Sleep Works), and The Sleep Foundation (Sleep Hygiene)
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Luke Lewallen, Mental Health Counselor