After years and years of research on health and wellness, mostly through the night, I came to the understanding that I should be doing most of my research through the day and focus more on how to sleep better.

Sleeping better is one of the pillars of  a healthy lifestlye along with exercising and healthy eating.  As of this moment, it is elevated to the most important pillar as google rates the search for “how to sleep better” very high.

Everyone wants to know how to sleep better without even understanding the actual benefits or hazards of sleeping habits. As the west started getting into sleep hygiene, India went into nightlife pollution.

But this article will help throw light on why your ignored sleep cycle is the secret behind many of your physical and mental ailments.

I have summarized some shortcuts which can fast track your sleep hygiene. The shortcuts mentioned below our explained in the article in detail.

Why and How to sleep better?

The digital disco plays the best beats when you are about to sleep.  Cyber black holes suck you in as soon as you pick up your phone right before sleeping and soon what was supposed to be 15 minutes becomes 3 hours.

I think all of you who have found the topic of this article interesting can relate to the statement above. Many might argue that even if they sleep at 3 a.m. they can complete their sleep by waking up late or sleeping during the afternoon or covering up on the weekend.

But it is essential to establish optimized circadian rhythm, sleep cycle, throughout your life to ensure proper hormonal function which are essential for disease prevention, determine your mood, optimizing body temperature and ensure quality rest.

Here are some good and bad impacts of sleep cycle which will tell you why you should learn how  to sleep better.

 

Ensuring Optimal Sleep Cycles

Optimal sleep cycles based on research ensure proper hormonal secretion. The best time for quality sleep  based on hormone secretion is between 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

It is impossible for modern lifestyles to make sense of this timeline. But the rates at which stress, depression and substance abuse are going up, we need to backtrack a little on  modern lifestyle if we have to live better.

You can either look at this video for in-depth discussions on why and how to sleep better or look at the summary below to find out how to sleep better.

 

1. Digital Curfew – Set a curfew beyond which no technology should be used, avoid screens and engage in more human activities.
2. Use technology well– Download flux for windows, Twilight for android and use the blue light filter on your iPhones if you have to use your phones late at night.
3. Bedroom should be a sleep sanctuary– Make your bedroom into a sleep zone, don’t use it for everything else, that way you will condition your minds neural framework to relate the rooms ambiance only to sleep.
4. Lower Room temperatures– Ideally between 16-20 degree Celsius.  Take a warm bath before bedtime, use socks if you feel cold.
5. Get more sunlight– Between 6 am to 10 am  in the morning for 10 to 15 mins is enough to reset cortisol rhythm.
6. Ensure darkness– Make your bed room devoid of any lights when you sleep as even your skin has photo receptors which can sense even less light.
7. Workout in the morning–  Resets your cortisol rhythm ensures proper sleep cycles and lower blood pressure in the evening.
8. Meditate- Let Buddha sing you a lullaby.

For more about circadian rhythm by  reading the book Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson  and follow him on social media and youtube to know more. If you learn how to sleep better you will  not only do good to yourself but the environment around you.