Has it ever happened to you that your eyes are tired and exhausted, it’s tough for you to keep them open, but when you finally decide to take a nap, your sleep runs away? No matter how much you try to let go of your thoughts and shut out your environment, you just can’t doze off. All your night goes by, you toss and turn on your bed.
Moreover, it makes you think of the good old days when you were living a stress-free life, the time when you could take proper naps and wake up with unbeatable energy to conquer the day ahead. But now, because of your lack of sleep, you stay irritated, and even the minimal thing annoys you.
Well, there is more than that! Irregular sleep patterns or not giving your body enough time to rest negatively affect your mind and body. It is the root cause of fatigue, weight gain, and stress. Besides that, your eating habits are also affected, so your body doesn’t get the nutrients it needs to work properly. In short, not being able to sleep peacefully does nothing good to you.
That’s the reason why it is time for you to get a good night’s sleep that we are sure you are missing a lot. Nonetheless, we must tell you that it won’t be easy and instant to get back to your old routine. However, with a little bit of practice and patience, you’ll be able to achieve it.
So, without further ado, let’s get started with the measures to help you sleep peacefully when you have trouble sleeping.
7 tips to help when you have trouble sleeping
Reduce your night screen time
You might not know this, but your body has a circadian rhythm which is like a natural clock for your body. It helps you stay awake in the morning and fall asleep at night. To maintain this pattern, it is essential that the circadian rhythm stay healthy. But how? Well, for that, you need to reduce your screen time, get regular sunlight, and reduce blue light exposure.
The reason behind it is that light gives circadian rhythm indication that it’s a day and your body has to work. But if you’ll use your phone or laptop for a longer duration in the night, it’ll confuse the rhythm and make it difficult for you to fall asleep.
Don’t drink caffeine.
Need an instant punch of energy? Caffeine can do that to you. Undoubtedly, caffeine has several significant benefits. However, if you consume it at night, it’ll have adverse effects. As per a study, consuming caffeine 6 hours before going to bed makes it challenging to rest well. Besides, it also affects sleep quality.
The reason being is that it stimulates the nervous system, gives your energy, and hence doesn’t let your body take proper rest. That’s why you need to control your habit of drinking coffee. Instead, you should try to drink warm milk as it’ll help you.
Avoid longer naps in the daytime.
Sometimes the reason that you can’t fall asleep at night is that you have slept in the afternoon. Your sweet little afternoon nap has confused the natural clock and has made it difficult for you to snooze off in the night.
No! It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take naps in the daytime. In fact, as per a study, shorter naps (30 minutes max) in the day can help you improve your performance. And the longer naps (an hour or two) aren’t good for your health. So, you should either stop taking afternoon naps or reduce their duration.
Try yoga and meditation.
Sometimes the cause of not being able to fall asleep is overthinking, anxiety and stress. Your mind needs to be at peace, away from all the worries, so that you can rest well. If you are one of those who stay awake all night because of your stress, you should try yoga and meditation.
It’ll reduce your stress hormones, improve blood circulation, and improve the quality of sleep. Not to forget that yoga and meditation have numerous other health benefits as well, so you should make them a part of your daily routine.
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Change your mattress
Believe it or not, but if you have an old and hard mattress, it’ll disturb your nap time and again. You’ll spend all your night deciding a comfortable position to sleep in, and by the time you’ll find one, it’ll be morning. Moreover, it can also cause back and neck pain.
To avoid such a situation, it is advisable to change your mattress into a traditional mattress as they are more comfortable and soft. They provide additional support and are perfect for those who sleep on their stomach and back.
In fact, as per a study, a new mattress reduces back pain by 57%, back stiffness by 59%, and shoulder pain by 60%. So you better hurry and change your mattress.
Reduce your alcohol and nicotine consumption
It goes without saying that drinking and smoking are harmful to your health. Alcohol consumptions reduce nighttime melatonin production, which is essential for the circadian rhythm. In addition to this, it also increases snoring, sleeps apnea, and sleep deprivation. Thus, making your condition worse.
Having said that, nicotine consumption also does the same to your body. It hides your stress and exhaustion for a short period and makes you feel more calm and active. These false alerts confuse your body and make you wide awake.
We understand that it’ll be hard for you to quit drinking and smoking, especially if they play a vital role in your lifestyle. But to improve your health, you have to try and not give up.
Visit your doctor
Last but not least, if you have tried all the techniques, but none of these seems to be working for you, you should visit your doctor. Keep in mind that you should never compromise with the medical conditions as if you don’t take timely action, it’ll worsen your condition. That’s why without waiting any longer you should book your appointment.
To sum it all up!
Sleeping is as essential as eating. Otherwise, the functioning of your whole body will get affected. That’s why you must give all the above-mentioned measures a try and be consistent with them.
