Unless you are a secret Supergirl, your body requires sleep. Getting a good night sleep is very crucial to stay active the next day. More often than not, when bedtime comes at the end of a very busy day, you find it hard to allow your body and mind to slow down and drift off to sleep. You then take a moment to scroll through social media, checking email, watching an episode of your favorite show and before you know it, it is midnight! The blue light from your electronics has thrown off your circadian rhythm—the body’s biological clock that regulates the 24-hour cycle of each day—and you can no longer fall asleep properly. However, there are ways you can roll your way to a good night sleep easily. Let’s scroll through this edit to know the 7 ways you can get a great night sleep. Here we go-
Bedtime Yoga
Winter is the time when most people’s workout regimes go out of the window. With days getting shorter and the sun setting at 5, the evening workout stays out of the question. It is the perfect time to embrace bedtime yoga. Bedtime yoga poses such as child’s pose, and some twists would not only help you sleep better but also help you to get in touch with yoga again. Even as per researchers, yoga addresses both the physical and psychological aspects of sleep problems.
Click here to see a sequence of seven yoga poses you can do in bed.
Pen & Paper At Bedside
If it is your thoughts that keep you awake at night, keeping pen and paper at bedside would help you a great deal. Whenever something important pops up in your mind, write it down on the piece of paper, taking the load off your mind to remind you about it on a constant loop or the stress of forgetting about it.
No Disturbing Shows At Night
Even if you like watching something before you drift off to sleep, steer clear of creepy documentaries about serial killers or for that matter, don’t binge watch any episode of Black Mirror. It would freak the hell out of you before bedtime. You can watch these any time during the day, but spare the night as you don’t want to stay up all night thinking that someone might be watching you.
Keep A Book Handy
Just so you don’t start scrolling through your social media feed, keep a book handy. No matter whether you like fiction or nonfiction fiction, just keep any book which is on your to-read list. Whenever you find your thoughts irking you, lay our hands on the book and start reading it. It is better than getting yourself harmed by the blue light of your smartphone and laptop.
Stop Worrying About Sleep
The worst thing that you can do while not being able to sleep is to beat yourself up about it. This is only going to make things worse. It is okay not being able to sleep sometimes.
Meditation
The best way to fall asleep and get a better hold of your thoughts is meditation. Just focus on your breath for some time but don’t push away your thoughts. Let them be. As time passes by, you would notice that thoughts don’t bother you much at bedtime and drifting off to sleep is starting to come naturally to you.
Use Essential Oils
Essential oils have been around for a really long time. Essential oils purify the air, enhance your mood and create an optimal sleep environment. You need to get completely relaxed before you go to sleep and nothing relaxes better than the go to sleep scent- lavender, in the diffuser. Lavender has been proven to reduce anxiety, depression and sleep-related problems. Plus, it smells sublime. If you are not able to sleep because of cold and congestion, try Peppermint+Eucalyptus, these would clear your nasal passage while you sleep, and keep you from snoring too. Place a few essential oil drops into water and watch as the vapor drifts out of the small opening at the top of your diffuser (We recommended Nilkamal’s beautiful Buddha shaped electric diffuser in case you are looking to buy one).