6 Expert Tips to Prepare You for Better Sleep Tonight

From verywellhealth.com 

Key Takeaways

• Stress, anxiety, excitement, work, school, and travel can make it harder to fall asleep at night.
• To get better sleep, experts recommend making small lifestyle changes like creating the right sleep environment and avoiding screens before bed.
• If lifestyle changes do not help, talk to a sleep specialist to figure out how to improve your sleep.

There are many things that can keep you up at night—from travel and excitement to health conditions and stress. Some strategies can help prepare you for better rest.

                                                      Lifestyle changes may help improve your rest.   Kawee Srital-on / Getty Images

1. Exercise Daily 

Jade Wu, PhD, a board-certified sleep psychologist and a Mattress Firm Sleep Advisor, told Verywell that getting regular physical activity and exercise not only promotes good health, but can also improve your sleep. It doesn’t have to be vigorous or lengthy; even 30 minutes of light exercise during the day can help.

“Simply moving your body throughout the day can even be helpful,” Wu said. “Exercising regularly improves sleep quality, and good sleep can also lead to better workouts.”

Exercising outside, in particular, gives you the chance to get some natural light. This helps to establish a proper sleep-wake cycle.

2. Avoid Caffeine and Heavy Meals 

For a good night’s rest, people should stop eating about two to three hours before bedtime, allowing the body enough time to digest, Wu said.

“When you eat foods high in sugar, carbs, and caffeine shortly before heading to bed, your metabolism is still working hard,” she said. “This keeps your body temperature higher than ideal for sleep, and potentially tricks your brain into not feeling the sleepiness it has accumulated.”

Eric Yeh, MD, a sleep medicine specialist at University Hospitals in Ohio and an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, recommends avoiding caffeinated drinks before bedtime, too.

Drinking caffeinated beverages can make you go to sleep later, disrupt your sleep cycle, and negatively affect your sleep quality throughout the night. One study suggests that having caffeine three to six hours before bed can contribute to sleep disturbance and reduce a person’s total sleep time by one hour.

3. Limit Distractions Before Bed 

If you can’t fall asleep, Wu recommends getting rid of distractions to help you wind down at night. For example, avoid using your phone or tablet to check emails, read the news, or scroll through social media. 

When you avoid phones and televisions at night, you also reduce your exposure to the blue light that screens emit. Blue light is not only harmful to your eyes, but can also prevent the production of a hormone that controls your sleep-wake cycle, melatonin.

“If you like to wind down by using your devices or consuming media, try switching from TV and games to listening to an enjoyable podcast or audiobook,” said Wu. “This way, you get less light stimulation and it’s easier to wind down your mind.”

4. Do Something Relaxing

Experts also recommend doing calming activities that you enjoy before bed, like taking a warm bath, reading a book, meditating, engaging in breathing exercises, writing about your day and any thoughts you have, or listening to soothing music or audio stories. 

According to Yeh, doing something that you enjoy that is also calming can help relax your mind and body.

5. Create the Right Sleep Environment 

To improve your quality of sleep, Wu said you need to have the right sleep environment. That means having a comfortable bed, enough blankets and pillows, and a bedroom that is quiet, dark, and cool.

Your sleep environment and temperature are unique to you, but if you’re looking for a rough guideline, the National Sleep Foundation recommends a bedroom temperature of 60–67 degrees.

“A lot of factors, including bedding, clothing, ventilation, body heat from a partner, and your own biology and age all influence your ideal sleep environment, and the ideal temperature range is different depending on these factors,” Wu said. “Protect your sleep environment and use tools like earplugs, eye masks, or consider sleeping separately from your bed partner—human or animal.”

6. Change Your Mind

Experts say it’s important to adjust your mentality about sleep. Going to bed shouldn’t feel like a burden or chore.

“It shouldn’t be a hassle to go to bed and it shouldn’t be a chore to go to sleep. Some people have become conditioned to staying awake because they no longer enjoy sleeping,” says Rafael Pelayo, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine and a sleep specialist at the Sleep Medicine Center. “It’s not that you have to go to sleep—it’s that you get to go to sleep. It’s a privilege to have a place to sleep and you should enjoy that you have a safe place to sleep.”

How Common Is Sleep Trouble?

“Everybody will have experiences of insomnia at certain points in their lives, and nearly 20% of the population already experience insomnia,” says Yeh.

In fact, data has shown that sleep problems like insomnia affect 50 to 70 million people of all ages and socioeconomic statuses in the United States.

Why You Can’t Sleep

Pelayo told Verywell that many things can affect your ability to fall asleep and get quality sleep, such as:

• Stress, anxiety, and overthinking
• Mental health conditions, such as depression
• Physical health conditions, like heart problems or chronic pain
• Sleep disorders
• Certain medications
• A poor sleep environment, like an uncomfortable mattress
• Lifestyle factors, such as a change in your work schedule or drinking coffee or soda before bed

“So many things can disturb sleep, but the important news is that the vast majority of our patients improve and get better,” said Pelayo. “No matter how poorly you’ve been sleeping, the truth is that you can get better.”

What Happens If You Don’t Get Enough Sleep?

Getting quality sleep every night is necessary for the health of your brain and body. If you don’t get enough sleep, it can negatively affect your physical and mental functioning, metabolism, and immunity, as well as increase your risk for serious health problems.

Sleep deficiency can also affect your ability to learn, focus and react. These deficits can lead to injuries, decreased productivity, and chronic health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, depression, obesity, and kidney disease.

When to Seek Help From a Professional 

If you are having trouble sleeping, Yeh recommends seeking help from a sleep specialist sooner rather than later, especially because it can take weeks to months to get an appointment. 

“I think the national average is about two months to see a sleep specialist, so it could be beneficial to call and put yourself on the waitlist first,” he said.

If you’re struggling to sleep, Yeh said you can try the various recommendations first—like avoiding screens, caffeine, and heavy meals before bed or engaging in calming activities such as meditation and journaling—and then see a specialist if none of the changes have helped.

If you find something that works for you and see an improvement in your sleep, you can always cancel your appointment with a specialist. Or you can keep your appointment to ask about ways to make further improvements.

“The most important thing for somebody who has trouble sleeping is to tell somebody about it,” said Pelayo. “We’re no longer in an age where there’s nothing that can be done. Most sleep disorders can be improved and all of these sleep-related problems are treatable.”

https://www.verywellhealth.com/tips-for-better-sleep-11856447

One week away from social media improves mental health: study

From bcitnews.com

Study shows symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia lessened significantly without regular scrolling

Reversing social media’s impacts on mental health can occur in just one week, according to a November 24th study published in JAMA psychiatry. 

Authored by researchers in Boston and the UK the study followed youth reducing social media use for one week. 

Participants self reported their screen time, along with their daily habits and sleep cycles. Researchers used this data to calculate a reduction in symptoms of anxiety by 16%, depression by 24%, and insomnia by 14%.

Less social media didn’t mean less screen time, though. On average, youth in the study had more screen time overall, but still showed reductions in unwanted symptoms. 

The result has researchers suggesting that negative mental health effects may not be associated with how long someone spends on social media. Instead, they point to behaviours like comparing oneself to others.

“There used to be a time where you would compare yourself to like four people a week in your community. And now people are comparing themselves to 40,000 people a day,” says Skye Barbic, Associate Professor at University of British Columbia School of Medicine. 

While the JAMA study builds on years of publications showing social media’s negative effects, Barbic says social media use isn’t always black and white.

In 2023, Barbic was an author on a study looking at how Tik Tok is increasingly a tool for British Columbia youth to find information about mental health. In some cases, it destigmatized finding treatment or connecting people with like-minded communities.

“There’s a continuum. And we need to help young people understand that continuum and understand when it’s helpful and when it’s impacting function and day to day living,” says Barbic. 

The November study suggests changing social media usage habits may quickly reverse negative mental health symptoms. But Dr. Bernard Crespi, a Professor of Evolutionary Medicine at Simon Fraser University, says some individuals may need to take more care. 

Crespi’s paper about social media and delusions suggest people with narcissism, body dysmorphia, or anorexia may be at a greater risk. Inside a digital bubble without in-person interactions, delusional beliefs cannot be refuted, with Crespi saying social media may “reinforce the delusion.”

Using social media with intention can mitigate harms. (Patrick McConnell / BCIT News)

Barbic agrees the individual using social media is also important, and simply cutting back usage is not a one size fits all solution.

“If you’re a young person who identifies as queer and you live in a very rural, remote community and you have no ability to connect to anyone else, maybe this is a really, really positive thing in your life,” she says.

Barbic advocates for intentional use, like prioritizing quality interactions over passive browsing along with protecting one’s sleep by not scrolling in the hour before bed. She sees Gen Z being more educated about social media, and in some cases removing it entirely, but that there are still folks “on it 10 hours a day.”

An individual’s mental health, ability to set intentions around use, and  real-life community all contribute to social media’s effects. But even with that knowledge Crespi advocates caution.

“It’s just one big experiment,” he says “and it’s being driven by the motivations of the big tech companies who make money by getting people online and getting them hooked.”

https://bcitnews.com/one-week-away-from-social-media-improves-mental-health-study/

The U.S. Navy's secret to falling asleep in 120 seconds is a game-changer for insomniacs

From good.is

Developed for fighter pilots facing high-stress combat, this simple 4-step hack reportedly has a 96% success rate after six weeks of practice 

For most of us, a bad night's sleep means a groggy morning and an extra cup of coffee. For a fighter pilot, it can be a fatal liability. That is why the U.S. military couldn't leave rest up to chance.

According to a report by Sharon Ackman on Medium, the U.S. Navy Pre-Flight School developed a scientific method to ensure their pilots could get shut-eye anytime, anywhere—even with gunfire in the background. The method is surprisingly effective: after six weeks of practice, 96% of pilots could fall asleep in two minutes or less.

If it works in a combat zone, it can certainly work in your bedroom. Here is the step-by-step breakdown of the technique.

Step 1: Relax in your seat

Given the space restraints of a typical plane, the pilots were taught to sleep in a seated position. They put their feet flat on the ground, while relaxing their hands in their laps.

Breathe slow, deep breaths while relaxing every muscle in your face and letting your forehead, cheeks, mouth, tongue, and jaw go limp.

Step 2: The Upper Body Drop

Next, let your shoulders drop as low as they can go, releasing the tension in your neck. Then, move to your arms. Start with your dominant side. If your bicep feels tight, tense it hard for a second and then let it drop like a dead weight. Move down to your forearm, then your hands and fingers. Repeat this on the other side.

Step 3: The Lower Body Release

Once your upper body is loose, exhale deeply to release any remaining tension in your chest. Then, move your focus to your legs. Tell your right thigh muscle to sink into the mattress (or chair). Move down to your calf, ankle, and foot. Repeat the process with your left leg until your limbs feel heavy and warm.

Step 4: The 10-Second Mind Clear

Now that your body is physically relaxed, the final hurdle is your brain. You need to stop the "thinking" process for just 10 seconds. Ackman suggests two methods to clear the static:

1. The Static Image: Visualize yourself lying in a canoe on a calm lake with nothing but a clear blue sky above you. Hold that image.
2. The Mantra: If you struggle with visualization, repeat the words "Don't think, don't think, don't think" over and over for 10 seconds.

Once the body is relaxed and the mind is clear, the method dictates that sleep will follow almost instantly. While it takes practice to master, the results suggest it’s a skill worth learning.

https://www.good.is/the-us-navy-secret-to-falling-asleep-in-120-seconds-is-a-game-changer-for-insomniacs-ex1