Here at Naturalmat, we love our sleep. But we all agree that sometimes, getting your all-important 8 hours a night is easier said than done and really, we could all use a bit more sleep. We've come up with our top 10 natural ways to sleep better, making sure we can wake up refreshed and rejuvenated, ready to face the day!
1. Keep Hydrated
Our bodies are made up of at least 70% water, so it's important to keep the water flowing! Drinking a glass of water before bed replenishes the water lost during the day and as your body isn't working as hard whilst you sleep, you'll have the necessary levels of water in your body to wake up feeling refreshed as opposed to the groggy, slow feeling you can get from dehydration.
2. Eating a Smaller Dinner
To limit the amount of work your body has to do whilst you sleep and allowing it to rest fully, try eating your main meal at lunch time and opting for a smaller dinner several hours before bed. The digestion process can take hours, so keep the work that the body has to do to a minimum and you'll have more energy when you wake up.
3. Take a Dip!
Getting into a warm bath or shower before bed soothes and relaxes aching muscles, and the warm water can help regulate body temperature as you prepare to sleep. The hotter the water, the more likely you are to sweat out and wash away toxins in the body that would otherwise contribute to the groggy, slow feeling in the morning.
4. Stock Up On Salt and Oil
Epsom salts and essential oils. Add some epsom salts and your favourite essential oils to your bath for the ultimate bedtime bath mix. Epsom salts are made of magnesium sulphate, which is a natural muscle relaxant, perfect for soothing tired, aching people at the end of a busy week. Add a few drops of your favourite essential oils for the perfect wind-down - our favourite combination would be lavender and eucalyptus!
5. Say No to a Lie-In
This might sound counter-intuitive, but what you are doing by waking up consistently at the same time for the majority of the week, then sleeping in for a few hours on a weekend, could be resetting your body clock, making it even harder to get out of bed on a Monday morning. Stick to a sleep schedule by going to sleep and waking up at the same time each day - your body will quickly adapt and will be prepared to wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go!
6. A Medieval Bedroom
Now, we're not saying go and build a fort in your bedroom, or fill it with heavy velvet drapes. We mean, go old-school and keep technology out. In this day and age, we can spend hours at a time on the phone, sat at computers, staring at screens and so on. Leave the stress and the harsh lighting that might be keeping you awake, at the bedroom door and have a screen-free bedroom.
7. Keep It Dark
Light can interrupt your sleep if you're not ready to rise. Ensure you have a dark bedroom when you go to sleep by investing in some blackout curtains or blinds, preventing street lights, moonlight or the early morning sun shining through.
8. Make Your Bed
A simple trick. No one looks at a messy bed and thinks that they could rest easy there. Making sure you dress your bed in the morning, means when you come back to it at night, it's there, ready for you to crawl into and avoiding a last minute wrestle with the the sheet corners.
9. Wearing Socks in Bed
Do you do it? Keeping your feet warm causes vasodilation - dilation of the blood vessels - which may tell the brain that it is bedtime and keep you sleeping easy!
10. Warm Milk
Sipping on a mug of warm milk before bed provides your body with an extra dose of tryptophan, an amino acid that allows the brain to produce sleep-inducing serotonin. Sweeten this with a teaspoon of honey, or if warm milk isn't your thing, go for a decaffeinated milky tea. Still peckish before bed? Snack on some turkey instead - also rich in tryptophan.
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