When you wake up in the morning, do you find yourself feeling refreshed and energized to start the day? Or do you have to hit the snooze button several times before finally dragging yourself out of bed? It’s often easy to blame the volume of sleep as the culprit to our poor night’s rest, however, I often hear clients suggest that they get into bed at a decent time, target 8 hours of sleep but still wake up feeling tired.
A good night’s rest requires more than just volume. You can think of it like the wash cycles our load of laundry goes through. If all your laundry is going through is the fill cycle, or the fill and soak cycles, but missing out on the rinse and spin cycles, it would likely not end up in the condition you desire.
There are 4 different stages of sleep we cycle through throughout the night, each serving a different purpose. Stage one is the initial phase where we start to doze off, we quickly transition into stage 2, a light sleep, then stage 3, a deep sleep followed by stage 4, REM sleep. It’s in the latter 2 phases that our body does most of the heavy lifting to repair, re-energize and recalibrate our body and mind. A good night’s rest usually involves running through the full sleep cycle 4 to 5 times.
With that said many people experience difficulty falling asleep, interruptions in the middle of the night and/or periods of being awake with an inability to get back to sleep quickly. Here are a few healthy habits that have been found to help achieve a good night’s rest:
Avoid caffeinated drinks later in the day – caffeine acts as a stimulant blocking the bodies ability to recognize the sleep pressure that builds up as we become more tired.
Reduce screen time before bed – the blue light from our electronic devices blocks the bodies natural signal to tell us when we need to sleep, making it more difficult to do so.
Sleep in the dark – it’s surprising how the effects of ambient light within the room can impact both the ability to fall and stay asleep. Again, it can play tricks on your body’s biological clock or natural sense of when you should be sleeping. Black out blinds and removing/shifting objects within the room that project ambient light can help create a less stimulating environment.
Consistency – our bodies and minds love routines so try and maintain consistency on when you are going to bed and waking up throughout the week, including weekends.
Quiet the room and the mind – create a peaceful environment, further removing distractions that can interrupt your sleep. This can be the noise from an adjacent room by closing your door or the noises within your head by participating in mindfulness techniques such meditation and focusing on your breath.
Taking the steps necessary to attain a quality nights rest is worth the effort as it will show in both the way we feel and perform throughout each day.
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/stages-of-sleep
https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sleep/stages-of-sleep#fun-facts