Sleep Well with 5 Good Habits

By admin, April 30, 2010

Here I would like to share with you 5 tips to sleep well at night:

Avoid caffeine and alcohol at night
Caffeine’s an obvious one, but it needs saying. Alcohol might come as a bit of a surprise – isn’t a nightcap sedating?

But it seems it disrupts the second half of the night, either making you sleep fitfully or waking you up completely. Studies show that a moderate dose of alcohol consumed as much as six hours before bedtime can increase wakefulness during the second half of the night.

The old wives’ tale that’s true
Turns out milk’s power to help you sleep isn’t an old wives’ tale after all. Milk contains a substance called tryptophan that your body converts into the sleep-promoting hormones melatonin and serotonin. If you wake up in the early hours and sleep lightly for the rest of the night you may be serotonin deficient so try a glass of milk or other tryptophan-rich foods such as oats or bananas before bed.

Keep your alarm clock away from your head
Watches, clocks and the like all emit electromagnetic pulses that can interfere with your body’s own electromagnetic field. Even if you don’t think you have trouble sleeping, try moving the alarm clock further away from your head at night. Perhaps try the foot of the bed, and see if it improves the quality of your sleep.

Try Valerian
Dubbed ‘Nature’s tranquiliser’, this herb sedates the nervous system and makes you drowsy. You can make a tea with one or two teaspoons of dried valerian root before bed but be warned, it tastes disgusting. If you can’t quite stomach it, try a tincture or capsules from your local health food shop.

Accupressure
Try touching the following two acupressure points on your forehead for a couple of minutes. Here’s how to find them – place one finger on the middle of each eyebrow, then trace up the forehead, to halfway between the eyebrow and the hairline. You should feel a slight bump here, which is why these points are called the frontal eminences.

Eat magnesium-rich foods
Magnesium is a natural sedative, so try stocking up on foods rich in magnesium. These include seeds, dark leafy green vegetables, wheat bran, almonds, cashews, blackstrap molasses, brewer’s yeast, and whole grains.

Avoid counting sheep
Listen to some relaxing music, take a shower. Avoid watching the news or some violent TV programme that leaves you wired. If your mind is still racing when you get to bed, don’t count sheep – that just stimulates the brain even more.