You’re wide awake at 3 am and have given up on any chance of sleep. Your mind is racing with a million thoughts about how tough your day will be if you do not sleep soon. However, each time you try to sleep, you find yourself staring at the ceiling in vain. Does this sound familiar?
Many people develop poor sleep patterns and insomnia that can harm different parts of the brain and body, including emotions, learning, mood, memory, and other biological functions. Before you develop a permanent sleeping disorder, it is best to try some tricks to help you get to sleep fast:
1. Lower the Temperature
When you sleep, your body temperature changes. Usually, the body cools down when you are in bed and warms up when you wake up.
This means that if your room’s temperature is too high, you might struggle to fall asleep. One of the tricks to help you get to sleep fast is to set your thermostat to a cool temperature- anywhere between 60-to-67-degree Fahrenheit.
Of course, your preference may vary, so you can set the temperature based on your needs.
Moreover, you can also try taking a warm bath before bed. When you lie down, your body will start to cool down, tricking your brain into thinking that it is time to fall asleep.
2. Practice Mindfulness and Yoga
Usually, people have a hard time falling asleep when they are stressed or worked up about something going on in their life. Practicing mindfulness and yoga can help calm the body and mind down. Moreover, studies show that these have helped improve sleep.
Yoga helps individuals understand the importance of breathing patterns. It encourages body movements that release tension and stress that have built up in the body over a period of time.
Mindfulness helps you focus on the present instead of getting distracted by the thousand worries you may be plagued by during the day. It also helps you compartmentalize your thoughts, making it easier to switch your brain off at night and drift into a deep sleep.
3. Don’t Exercise at Night
Many doctors will tell you that if you want to establish a healthy lifestyle, you must exercise or include some form of physical activity in your day.
Exercise helps increase the quality and duration of sleep by increasing the production of certain hormones, like serotonin, and reducing the amount of cortisol, the stress hormone your body produces.
However, excessive training before bedtime has been linked to bad sleep patterns. One of the tricks to help you get to sleep fast is to exercise in the day. This will help promote better sleep at night.