5 Proven Effective Secrets to Enjoying a Great Night of Sleep

Getting regular, adequate sleep is amongst the most important factors in determining your overall quality of life, health, and daily productivity. In fact, regularly experiencing quality sleep reduces inflammation in your body, provides an optimal state for cellular repair, is a catalyst for greater creativity, aids in weight control and heightening your mood, and maximizes athletic performance. But how much sleep is enough? Studies have shown that the average adult needs between 7.5 and 8 hours of sleep each night.

Of equal importance, the manner in which you fall asleep has a direct affect upon the quality of day you will experience. Why? Because the day actually begins at night when you’re in re-charge mode…fast asleep.

So how do you know what works best for you? Listen to your body and act accordingly; that’s what I did.

Several months ago, I noticed that I wasn’t sleeping well most nights. Though the past few years have been seasoned with change and difficulty, I was managing the stress in a really healthy manner, yet couldn’t pinpoint my daytime feeling of unrest. After taking stock in my daily habits, evening routine, stress load, doing some research, and logging my sleep patterns for a few weeks, I landed on a winning recipe for a great night’s sleep.

If you are dragging by midday and are lacking motivation and energy, I’d like to share my five proven effective secrets to enjoying pleasant, rejuvenating sleep.

Great Sleep Starts Here

1.) Turn off all electronic devices one hour before bedtime. “One of the most simple but important reasons technology affects our sleep is cognitive stimulation,” says Mark Rosekind, Ph.D., former director of the Fatigue Countermeasures Program at the NASA Ames Research Center. Simply stated, the glow from your smartphone keeps your body in “go mode” and delays the natural release of the sleep-inducing hormone, melatonin.

2.) Don’t go to bed mad, anxious, or with heightened emotions. And if you’re married, don’t argue in bed. When you’re emotionally charged, your body is in fight or flight response mode, and that’s stress. Trying to fall asleep in that state is similar to driving down the road and throwing your vehicle into park without applying the brakes first.

3.) Don’t consume caffeinated beverages in the evening. In my opinion, there’s absolutely no reason to drink soda of any kind with dinner. You body needs pure water. Soda is full of sugar and other garbage ingredients that definitely affect your body’s ability to wind-down. The trap people get themselves into is consuming sugary, caffeinated beverages (including coffee) at night, then relying on sleeping pills to fall asleep. Instead, choose water or herbal tea, but try to not drink anything an hour before bedtime, else you might find yourself visiting the restroom in the middle of the night.

4.) Create an evening routine to “land the plane” smoothly. In the last hour before falling asleep, I like to read (not on an e-reader), journal, pray, or have a quiet conversation with family or a friend.

5.) Jumpstart your descent into deep sleep with sleep aids. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Therapeutica Sleeping Pillow (I use this one specifically).
• Lavender Essential Oil. I place one drop on the bottom of my feet and one on my temples. Lavender oil is a great relaxer and helps induce sleep.
• Cool bedroom temperature. To me, there’s nothing worse than being too warm while trying to sleep. At night, the house is usually around 65ºF year-round.
• Sound machine/diffuser/or White Noise app. Diffusing external noise is really important to me in ensuring a great night’s sleep. I love the White Noise app and usually use the “brown noise” setting with the automatic timer set for two hours.

After incorporating these tactics, I have never slept better. Most mornings, I wake-up before my alarm and have a ton of energy. Try them out for yourself and let me know how they’ve helped you achieve excellent sleeping habits.