5 TIPS FOR WAKING UP FEELING RESTED WHEN YOU CAN'T SLEEP
Every time I hear experts "stress" the importance of sleep, I want to scream! I think by now, we know. We also know to eat healthy, exercise and manage stress, yadda yadda yadda. The problem is not knowing what we need to do but how to do it and what to do when our efforts do not produce intended results.
As with anything, if it doesn't work, change it!
I have been obsessed with sleep for a long time. I wear a sleep tracker to track my deep and R.E.M. sleep. I wouldn't share my sleep score with anyone for months because I didn't want to brag (my score ranged between 80 and 92). Then suddenly, things changed. I would wake up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall asleep.
My goal is to feel great and be productive every day, and being tired and low on energy is just not an option. So I found a few solutions that worked for me and hopefully will help you. They are easy to implement and are inexpensive, and some are even free.
Sometimes we dismiss advice or certain remedies because they seem too good to be true or too inexpensive or too simple to work. A study was done using an M.R.I. scanner that compared people's joy from drinking wine. They had individuals sample different types of wine, but the only difference between the bottles was the price. As you can imagine, individuals "enjoyed" the expensive wine more than the cheaper version.
So here are five tips for getting better rest so you can be productive, optimistic, and full of creativity and energy!
EAT A TABLESPOON OF RAW HONEY BEFORE BED. I resisted this one for so long as I experimented with omitting added sugar, but it worked right away! My deep sleep increased that same night!
TRY NOT TO WATCH OR READ ANYTHING TOO STIMULATING OR EXCITING TWO HOURS BEFORE BED. The harmful effects of blue light close to bedtime are well known. I even replaced some lightbulbs in my house and bought blue-light-blocking glasses, but neither made a massive difference in my sleep. What did work was changing the types of shows I was watching and the material I was reading.
LEGS UP AGAINST THE WALL POSE - I keep a cozy blanket on my bed, especially for this. I flip myself on my bed, so my legs are against, you guessed it - the wall.
ACUPRESSURE MAT - I keep it under my bed and when I can't sleep, I put it on my bed and relax for a few minutes and usually fall asleep on it.
BINAURAL BEATS or HOLOSYNC are great! Holosync has a free 5-day challenge where you listen to a recording for 14 minutes with your earphones. I either download binaural beats for deep sleep from YouTube or listen to the Holosync recording when I can't sleep.
Side note: ever had problems waking up in the morning? Maybe you are not excited enough about your goals for the following day. That's why I added an "E" and an "R" to the well-known acronym "S.M.A.R.T." for goal setting, to make my goals "S.M.A.R.T.E.R." - EXCITING AND REWARDING. That's part of why I can't sleep sometimes. I'm too excited about all the things I want to work on the next day.