Tips on how to get the best nights sleep

Sleep is a highly essential act that our bodies undertake in order to recharge the batteries and allow for healing and regeneration.

If you find yourself struggling to sleep here are some simple tips to ensure you get a good nights sleep.

Blackout curtains. Keep your bedroom pitch black. Any light will affect your circadian rhythm (your natural sleep – wake cycle) and prevent the production of serotonin and melatonin. Turning your bedroom into a modern day cave will allow for the production of the right hormones at the right time.

Wind down in the evening. Dim the lights down low or even better, use candlelight. Turn the T.V off at least an hour before bedtime and try and relax your mind. Any bright lights will trick your mind into thinking it is daytime and you will struggle to get into the right hormonal state for sleeping.

Listen to relaxing music. Some people find that listening to relaxing music such as sounds of the ocean or sounds of the forest help them chill out and relax their minds before bed.

Turn off all electro magnetic fields in the bedroom. Turn off mobiles, WI-FI and any electric alarm clocks you may have, and keep them as far away from the bed as you can. These low-level electro magnetic fields can disrupt your sleep and affect the production of melatonin.

Keep the lights off if you need the bathroom. Hopefully you don’t need to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom but if you do, make sure you keep the lights off. The sharp light will instantly send a message to your brain telling you its day time. This instantly stops the production of melatonin, your bodies sleepy hormone.

Keep a grateful diary. Writing out what you are grateful for everyday is a perfect way to keep the glass half full. Research shows that being grateful puts our mind in a calm and less worried state before bed.

Read light fiction. Avoid books that might be stimulating to your mind such as murder mysteries, suspense novels or educational books.

Eat a light protein, high fat snack before bed. Protein contains tryptophan, which is then converted into serotonin and finally converted into melatonin resulting in a good nights sleep. A great example would be eggs; high in protein and healthy fats. A meal like this would keep your blood sugars stable and ward off any hunger pangs you may get through the night.

Avoid caffeine after 4pm or after 12pm if you’re sensitive to caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant and best avoided in the evenings if you want a good night’s sleep. Studies have shown that some people don’t metabolise caffeine very well and the stimulating effects can be drawn out for a long time.

Get to bed early. If you follow your bodies’ natural wake-sleep cycle (circadian rhythm) you should start to wind down as the sun goes down. The hours between 10pm and 2am have been shown to aid physical recovery and the hours after 2am have been shown to assist the mental recovery. Try and go to bed at the same time every night or at least 5 days of the week. This will help you get into a pattern of sleeping and waking.

Follow these tips to ensure you get good quality sleep each night.