One of the main human needs is sleep. For this reason, any sleep disruption can lead to health problems and insomnia is so annoying.
In statements collected by the MirrorProfessor B, a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford, explained: “Sleep is just as important as good nutrition and exercise for longevity.”
This expert collects 13 tips to make sure, or at least try to, that we get a good night’s rest:
snoring couple
If you sleep next to someone who snores, you could be losing up to an hour of sleep a day. “Think separate bedrooms. Co-sleeping is not an indicator of the strength of your relationship and can be bad for your sleep,” says Foster.
patience to sleep
If you wake up, wait about a quarter of an hour without looking at the clock. If you still can’t get to sleep, then go somewhere quiet and do something passive like reading…but don’t be tempted to stare at a screen. Once you start to feel sleepy, go back to bed.
tire your brain
Complete mental challenges and test your brain it can help make you tired at night. Throughout the day, it gives your brain more variety and stimulation, even when performing normal tasks. Create a new route to the supermarket to use your problem-solving skills or try a new recipe.
Your brain will be ready to sleep at night because he needs that time to recover.
bath or shower
Taking a relaxing bath or shower before bed can help you sleep well. Experts say the increase and decrease in body temperature when bathing they imitate the experiences of sleep.
When you get out of a warm bath, your body temperature will naturally begin to drop, mimicking the drop in temperature that occurs when you fall asleep. making you sleepier. It is best to do it 90 minutes before going to sleep.
Do not close your eyes
Another way to help you fall asleep is to lie down in the dark with your eyes open. This is known as ‘paradoxical intention’, in which you resist sleep instead of trying to force it. The idea is to turn the tables so that you give up trying to stay awake.
don’t dine late
Your eyes are not the only ones that need to rest, the digestive system too. The cells that regulate the body clock in the brain tell the organs when to activate and deactivate key activities.
This includes the liver, which is programmed to switch from burning sugar for energy at night to burning stored fat during the day. If this is interrupted at bedtime, it can reawaken the digestive system and cause weight gain.
train your brain
Sleep acts like a reset button that improves our ability to be alert, energized, and emotionally stable. But this can be interrupted if you’re worried about not falling asleep quickly. If you keep telling yourself you don’t sleep wellthis will rewire behavioral pathways in the brain.
The 20 minute rule
Make sure you take a nap no more than 20 minutesas the brain can slip into a deeper slow-wave sleep, leaving you groggy.
“The need for a longer nap also suggests that you’re not getting enough sleep at nightso you may want to try going to bed a bit earlier so you can get more sleep,” adds Prof Foster.
Avoid strong lights in the middle of the night
Research has shown that of people over the age of 40, eight out of 10 women and seven out of 10 men have to use the bathroom at least once a night and then have a hard time going back to sleep.
Don’t turn on the ceiling light, It emits a blue light that alerts the brain and disturbs the sleep cycle. If you have to get up or look at the time at night, use a flashlight with a red lens, which gives off a longer wavelength red or ‘evening’ light and doesn’t have the same effect.
Avoid blue light
Many of us check our phones and answer emails late at night. But our brains are wired to interpret blue light of screens as a signal to be alert and ready for action.
night birds
It is estimated that around 15 al 25% of the population is a night owl, as people who are active at night are often known. The expert recommends adapting your work life to your sleep schedule: “As a night owl, as much as possible I schedule meetings later, instead of first thing in the morning, which is torture for me,” says Foster.
The last coffee, at 2:00 p.m.
Most people enjoy a cup of coffee to stay alert during the day, but it could be affecting your sleep. Caffeine interrupts the release of melatoninthe hormone that makes us tired.
Five to seven hours after your cup of coffee, half of the caffeine is still in your system. So if you have trouble sleeping, have your last cup of caffeine of the day. around 2:00 p.m.
Get away from worries
It is common for worries to keep you awake at night and prevent you from sleeping. But try pushing worries away can actually make them worse. So don’t take care of them until bedtime; do it in the morning when they are not so overwhelming.