Who does not love a good night of sleep? For students, in between studies, and interns, having a good sleep routine is not that easy, but a great desire. According to psychologist Amanda Bianchini, sleeping well directly affects our mood and, for our bodies, being sleep deprived is worse than being food-deprived.
The Study and Research Group on Trauma and Stress of a Brazilian university adapted sleep hygiene methods to help you increase —or maintain — your sleep quality. Here are some of them:
- Hours of Sleep
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Only sleep the hours you need to feel rested. If sleeping 8 hours makes you feel ready for another day, avoid sleeping more – even if you have time available for that.
Create a routine of always waking up at the same hour, which applies to weekends and days you have insomnia. You might spend the day tired and feeling sleepy, but it will help to regulate your sleep cycle.
And if you have insomnia, avoid taking short or long naps during the day. After you’re well-adjusted, feel free to take a few short naps.
- Exercise
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The regular practice of exercising helps you to regulate your sleeping cycle: besides improving the quality of your sleep, exercising also helps the body to fall asleep more quickly. That happens because the more active your body is, the less anxious and stressed you are, as well as tiredness makes you more sleepy.
Although, keep in mind that it’s better to not exercise close to your sleeping time. A good time distance is 4 hours. The most recommended is to exercise in the morning.
- Activities before going to bed
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Breathing exercises can help lower the heart rate to the sleeping point, so they’re highly recommended before bedtime. Also, having a small dinner and taking a hot bath usually helps a lot.
However, there are some activities to be avoided. It’s essential to only use your bed for sleeping: avoid working, using the computer, or watching TV on it. Stimulating activities, like action movies and online games, are also not recommended. Preferably don’t ingest stimulating drinks before bed — the most common are coffee, coke, guarana, and some types of tea.
With that in mind, let’s remember that our bodies work as one, so it won´t matter sleeping well if you don’t eat healthily, take care of your mental health, or keep your checkups up to date. Hopefully, these tips will help you see if you’re doing something wrong or give you ideas of new ways to get your sleeping routine on point.
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The article above was edited by Julia Bonin.
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