Get Good Sleep: 15 Ways to Improve Your Zzz’s

We’ve all heard the saying, “Sleep is for the weak,” or “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”, but we need to flip that narrative on its head! Sleep is for the wise and the energized! If you’re committed to aging gracefully, get better zzz’s. And here are the important details: how much you need, why it’s essential, the benefits, and some tips to enhance your slumber.

The Sleep You Need

First things first, how much shuteye do you need each night? The National Sleep Foundation suggests that adults aged 18-64 should aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep every night, however, individual needs may vary, so it’s essential to find your own sweet spot within this range. The key here is quality. It’s not just about spending 7 hours in bed; you need to be going through the cycles to allow your body to heal and regenerate itself.

Why is Sleep So Vital?

Getting adequate sleep is crucial for aging well. Your body and brain need REM and non-REM sleep cycles for restoration, aiding everything from immunity to hormones to brain power. This ultimately improves so many functions – thinking, working, coping with stress, and generally being a good person.

Cellular Repair

Deep sleep is when the magic of organ, muscle, and cellular repair happens. Your body goes to work on repairing and rejuvenating cells and tissues.

• Longevity: Deep slumber is crucial for cellular longevity. It helps your body recover and renew, contributing to overall well-being as you age.

Physical Health

Sleep is the unsung hero of physical health. It’s a time when your body carries out essential maintenance work.

• Immune Support: Sleep plays a significant role in bolstering your immune system. It’s during this time that your body produces cytokines, which are essential for fighting infection, inflammation, and stress.
• Chronic Disease Prevention: Long-term sleep deprivation has been linked to an increased risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Quality sleep helps keep your body in balance, reducing the risk of these health conditions.

Emotional Well-Being

The connection between sleep and emotional well-being is profound. It can be your emotional anchor.

• Stress Reduction: A good night significantly reduces the production of stress hormones. It leaves you better equipped to handle life’s challenges with a sense of calm and resilience.
• Anxiety and Depression: Quality sleep is associated with lower levels of anxiety and depression. It provides the emotional stability needed to navigate life’s ups and downs.

Hormone Regulation

Sleep and hormones are tightly intertwined. The regulation of key hormones is dependent on your nighttime patterns.

• Appetite and Weight Management: Lack of sleep can disrupt the hormones that regulate appetite, leading to overeating and weight gain. Leptin and ghrelin, the hormones responsible for hunger and fullness, can become imbalanced when sleep is compromised.
• Growth Hormone: Growth hormones, responsible for tissue repair and muscle growth, is predominantly released during deep slumber. Quality sleep ensures your body has the right conditions for these essential processes.

Cognitive Function

Quality sleep is like a reset button for your brain. During the various stages, particularly deep sleep (slow-wave) and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the brain undergoes crucial processes that support cognitive function.

• Memory Enhancement: Sleep aids in memory consolidation. Your brain processes and stores information gathered during the day, helping you remember essential details and experiences. This is why a good night can often lead to better problem-solving and decision-making abilities the following day.
• Mental Clarity: Adequate sleep ensures mental clarity and focus. It’s the difference between starting the day with a foggy brain and embarking on it with a sharp, alert mind.
• Creativity and Innovation: Sleep can also stimulate creativity by allowing your mind to process and connect ideas more effectively.

Skin Health

Your nighttime slumber isn’t just beauty rest; it’s essential for skin health.

• Radiant Skin: During sleep, blood flow to the skin increases, promoting a healthy, radiant complexion. It’s also a time when your body produces collagen, an essential protein for skin elasticity and youthfulness.

Getting into a regular habit of a good night’s sleep can benefit you with enhanced energy, reduced stress, improved memory, healthy weight management, immune support, and emotional resilience. And we need all of this in order to keep getting better!

Enhancing Your Slumber

If you’re wondering how to enhance your sleep and make the most of your rejuvenation hours, it’s not too hard when you make a few small changes. Try a few of these and see what works for you:

1. Create a Bedtime Routine

Establish a calming bedtime routine to signal your body that it’s time to wind down. Relaxing with a cup of chamomile tea, turning down the bed, and dimming the lights can help get your body transitioned to sleep.

Limit Screen Time

Reduce exposure to screens (phones, tablets, and TVs) before bedtime, as the blue light can interfere with your circadian rhythm. As much as many of us like our TV and electronics in the bedroom, it really does make a difference if you make the bedroom off limits to screens. Try it for a week and see if it makes a difference.

2. Maintain a Comfortable Environment

Creating a comfortable sleeping environment is a vital component of achieving restorative and restful sleep. Factors like room temperature, light exposure, and overall coziness play a significant role in determining the quality of your slumber. Consider using these tools if you have a hard time falling or staying asleep.

• Fan or Air Conditioner: Using a fan / air conditioner to maintain a cool, well-ventilated room can help regulate your body temperature, promoting a more comfortable atmosphere for sleep. It also provides some white noise which can be calming for your mind.
• Blackout Curtains or Sleep Mask: Both of these effectively block out intrusive light, allowing your body to produce the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin.
• Weighted Blanket: This can create a sense of security, reducing restlessness and promoting a calming effect that leads to a deeper and more peaceful slumber.

By paying attention to these environmental factors, you can significantly improve the quality of your sleep, ensuring you wake up feeling refreshed, energized, and ready to take on the day. I personally use all three of these to help me sleep, and it has made such a difference – many nights I don’t wake up at all until it’s time to get up!

3. Manage Stress

Practicing relaxation techniques like meditation, deep breathing, or gentle yoga helps to calm your mind. If meditation tends to give you energy, try using a guided meditation specifically designed to help you clear your mind and fall asleep.

4. Mind Your Diet

Avoid heavy meals, sugar, carbs, caffeine, and alcohol close to bedtime. If you can refrain from eating in the three hours before bedtime it will benefit you immensely. And no caffeine after 2:00 – it’s amazing how long it stays in your system and can affect you.

Late evening snacking can be a hard habit to break, but if you can get through a couple of nights without eating before bed, your body starts to adjust, and you’ll see your cravings diminish. This was a difficult one for me, but after getting over the initial hurdles it became easier and my body was so much happier!

5. Stay Active

Regular physical activity can contribute to better sleep but avoid vigorous exercise right before bedtime. This is one of the great reasons why you should incorporate some physical activity into your morning routine, and late afternoon is good for more intense exercise – it will help you sleep better at night!

I Can’t Fall Asleep!

That’s the why and the how of sleep. But what happens when you do your best during the day but now you just can’t fall asleep? It happens to all of us at times, even when we’re managing everything that can affect our nighttime.

Somehow, we end up tossing and turning, leaving us frustrated and struggling to nod off. Some tips to try if you have a hard time falling asleep:

6. Relaxing Aromatherapy

Use Eucalyptus or Lavender essential oils. Putting a few drops on your pillow or using a diffuser before bed can help you relax, which is the key to falling asleep quickly.

7. Try a Natural Remedy

Magnesium, melatonin & vitamin B, or valerian root have all been found to have relaxing effects. However, these should be taken before bedtime, so if you’ve already been in bed and can’t sleep or wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep this might not be good for your morning.

8. Cover Up the Alarm Clock

Watching the clock when you can’t sleep only exacerbates the problem because you’ll become annoyed that you’re not sleeping.

If you do wake up during the night, resist the temptation to check the time and try one of the other methods to fall back asleep.

9. Make a List

If you’re awake in the middle of the night thinking about what you have to do the next day, quickly writing it down will clear your mind and help you drift back to sleep.

Doing this as part of your regular bedtime routine can help you relax quicker and drift off to sleep without worrying about forgetting something the next day.

10. Put Away the Electric Blanket

As noted above, a cool and dark bedroom is ideal for sleeping. Although electric blankets can be cozy and comfortable to snuggle in, the exposure to heat increases wakefulness and decreases the sleep cycles that are important for quality sleep.

11. Leave Your Phone Alone

It can be so tempting to start scrolling when you can’t sleep. Don’t do it!

This is one of the worst things you can do. Things like social media stimulate your brain. And the blue light from your phone screen makes it even more difficult to fall asleep.

If you need to do something, try reading a book.

12. Focus on Your Breathing

One of the easiest ways to relax and turn off your brain is to focus on your breathing.

The 4-7-8 method is a simple, yet effective cycle that works for many in only 1 minute. Breath in through your nose for a count of 4, hold your breath for a count of 7, then exhale through your mouth for a count of 8. Repeat this cycle 3 times.

Focusing on your breathing while counting keeps your mind clear of any other thoughts, and the deep breaths help relax your body.

13. Listen to Music

Studies have shown that listening to relaxing music can decrease the amount of time it takes to fall asleep and even results in better sleep quality. Find a good playlist or create your own to use just for this.

There are also podcasts available with the sole intent of helping you wind down and drift off peacefully.

Take Your Slumber Seriously

Sleep is not just a passive state of rest. It’s an active process that ensures your mind and body are at their best. Prioritizing quality rest is a crucial investment in your overall well-being and your journey to aging well. Focusing on what you do (and don’t do) during the day in order to have a good night is so important as we get older. And as you start to see that correlation and understand how your sleep is impacted, it becomes much easier to make those small tweaks during the day. Because getting a good night’s sleep really does help you be your fabulous self all day long!

So, put on your comfy pajamas, fluff up your pillows, and enjoy the benefits of quality sleep on your journey to aging gracefully – one blissful night at a time. Sweet dreams! 😴🌟💤

Do you have any nighttime rituals or wind down secrets that work for you? I love to hear them, and any other feedback you have!