Do you wake at the slightest noise you hear? Do you find sleeping lightly exhausting and fatiguing the following morning? Is it possible to learn how to sleep deeply?
Yes, you can learn how to sleep deeply, it takes effort and some lifestyle changes, but it can be done. Start working out regularly, nothing too hard, just brisk walking every day will help. Avoid caffeine drinks at least 7 hours before you sleep. Make your bedroom a sleep sanctuary devoid of electronics.
Why is my sleep not deep?
Anxiety has a significant impact on how deeply you sleep. You may have an underlying medical condition such as sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome that prevents you from sleeping deeply.
Environmental factors prevent you from sleeping deeply like your room is too warm. If you check your social media pages before sleeping, the light emitted from the screen is similar to daylight which fools your brain into thinking it’s not time to sleep.
Poor quality or worn mattresses contribute to not sleeping soundly. If you wake with aches and pains, it may be time to throw out your old mattress and invest in a new mattress.
The same goes for pillows. Pillows lose their ability to give support over time and become uncomfortable, changing your pillows frequently to achieve the best possible sleep.
Poor quality sleep is a vicious circle. Just because you sleep lightly one night does not mean you will sleep the following night deeply. In fact, the opposite happens.
Your body adapts to sleeping lightly, and it becomes the new normal for you, so inadvertently, you have created your problem.
Can you train yourself to sleep more deeply?
Yes, you can train yourself to sleep deeply. The process starts with creating an environment that is conducive to better sleep.
Look at your daily routine. You will need to make some subtle changes along the way to improve your sleep.
Consider giving up drinking caffeine drinks and soda drinks. If you can’t give up these drinks, make sure there is a gap of 8 hours between your last coffee or tea, this is the amount of time needed for the body to eliminate the caffeine.
Your evening meal should be meager compared to the other meals during the day. It’s the old saying breakfast eat like a king. Lunch eat like a prince and diner eat like a pauper.
Eating a light meal in the evening will help you to sleep soundly. A full stomach can be uncomfortable, and a lot of blood is in your stomach during digestion.
Avoid certain foods for your evening meal. Avoid spicy food and grease-fried food. Your evening meal should consist of a small amount of protein and a small number of carbs.
Reduce your fluid intake a couple of hours before bedtime to lessen the urge to urinate during the night.
Exercise daily, even on weekends, just a brisk walk for 30 minutes will suffice, and you can build up the duration. It’s important not to overdo exercise in the evening. Strenuous exercise can prevent you from sleeping.
Head off to bed at the same time every night, including weekends, establishing a sleeping routine will pay dividends when it comes to learning how to sleep deeper.
Sleep deeper, sleep longer pink noise
Establishing your bedtime routine to sleep deeper needs thought and preparation to achieve your goal. Before bed, have a warm shower to help you relax. Use aromatherapy scents like lavender that have a soothing effect on the mind and body.
Make your bedroom gadget-free, including your smartphone and any other light-emitting screens. The light from screens will wake your brain. Reading content and messages is not conducive to sleep!
Keep your room cool, cooler than you would normally have your room. It’s nice to snuggle into a duvet for warmth which is also comforting.
Pink noise, you may have heard of white noise, which is a constant hum and crackle of noise that is used in interrogation to confuse prisoners. Well, pink noise is thankfully relaxing.
Pink noise can be your favorite soundtrack played as background noise to eliminate slight noises that could catch your attention.
A perfect example of pink noise is a soundtrack of waves breaking on the beach being played in the background or the otter patter of raindrops against a window. Pink noise can be almost hypnotic and easily make you drift off into a deep sleep.
You will find that once you have established a routine and your sleep is improving, you are now sleeping better and more profoundly stimulates your sleep pattern, which then becomes your new usual way of sleeping.
Why do females need more sleep than males?
Women’s brains are wired differently to men’s brains, and for either woman or man reading this, they will surely agree.
Women tend to multitask, which requires more brainpower and energy, while men focus on achieving the job at hand.
Neither trait makes either sex better than the other it’s just an evolutionary process where males could not be distracted while hunting a wild animal that may retaliate and kill him!
Whereas females in evolution have protected the children and made homes for the family that required the female to focus on many tasks simultaneously.
So for all of you moms and girlfriends telling your husbands and boyfriends, “I told you I need more rest than you,” hold your horses.
As stated from the study at Loughborough University UK, the actual amount of additional sleep needed is a whopping 20 minutes!
Nevertheless, you now have the evidence to support your multitasking talents and need for extra sleep.
