Ever had a bad night of sleep? I sure have, I go to bed early with every intention of getting a goods night rest, the light goes out, and I lay there unable to fall asleep. The seconds turn into minutes, and the minutes to hours. Suddenly the alarm goes off, and it feels as if I only slept an hour verse the 8 planned. Sound Familiar? Below are a few tips to help get a good nights rest.

Nightly Routine:

A routine will condition the body to help with falling asleep easier every night. This routine could include things such as: nightly meditation, journaling, or going over the events of the day. Light stretching could be combined with meditation. Light reading preferably something that isn’t going to get the mind spooled up. The idea is to do these same things each night at the same time to key the body into relaxing before getting into bed.

I personally have an issue with falling asleep or onset insomnia, once asleep I am good. The nightly routine has helped a great deal, along with trying to avoid reading thought provoking material or next day planning. This helps keep my brain from wandering once getting into Bed.

The Bedroom:

The bedroom is for sleeping, well sleeping and…..  However it is not for watching T.V., Facebooking, or Eating. Try to keep the bedroom as dark as possible, black out curtains and making sure there are no LED emitting devices in the room will help. A blackout mask could be used if the room cannot be completely blackout Dracula style.

Nutrition:

Studies have shown that waking up fatigued could be a result of low blood sugar. One way to combat this is a nightly snack such as: Plain Greek Yogurt and an apple, almond butter with celery/cucumber, or a few almonds. These are just a few suggestions, but the idea is to set up for success upon waking the next day. This snack could be added in just before starting the nightly routine.

Some things to avoid: Eating a large meal and then going directly to bed. Caffeine after 1pm yes this means forgoing that Venti Latte as a pick me up in the afternoon. Sleep supplements to including Melatonin should try and be avoided as much as possible to help get the most natural night of sleep.

The above are just some suggestions and tips remember everyone is different experiment to see what works the best. From fat loss to memory consolidation sleep relates directly to high performance living. So enough talking. GO TO SLEEP!