We’re going to talk about sleep today and look at some simple steps you can take to get a better, more restful night of sleep. I’d like to share a real story with you to illustrate some of these steps. Recently, my wife and I purchased a camper so we could recreate some of the childhood memories we both had with our parents. We wanted to give our boys, ages three and five, the same kind of experiences.
Our boys had never been camping before but they had a ball the first night. I woke up around daybreak the next morning, made myself a cup of coffee, and relaxed at the table. Across the camper, I heard some rustling going on in one of the beds. Sure enough, my three year old looked at me, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and came to cuddle with me.
We sat silently together for a few minutes, then he looked up at me. “Daddy, I love this. I want to do this again and again. This is an amazing experience,” he told me. Normally, my three-year-old is very grumpy when he wakes up, but not this morning. This morning, he was calm, peaceful, loving, and cuddly instead.
As the grayness of dawn started to reveal the colors of day, my son got more excited about his experience. I wondered, “Why the change in this kid? Why is he so calm and so amazed with life?” After some thinking, I realized it was because he had a great night’s sleep.
Sleep Tips and Tricks Master Tip!
Why You Need a Good Night of Sleep
Sleep is important because it allows your body to recover every night and perform essential metabolic processes, such as cleaning toxic proteins in the brain. During REM sleep, your brain is very busy consolidating short-term memories and turning them into long-term memories.
Unsurprisingly, a lack of proper sleep has been associated with a multitude of health issues. It can increase inflammation and impair focus, fat loss, insulin signaling, testosterone production, and cardiovascular health.
Getting enough quality sleep isn’t just a health necessity either. It can help you perform better mentally, physically, and sexually. Overall, a good night of sleep will make you happier.
5 Simple Tips for Better Sleep
Five simple things created a better sleep for my son when we went camping, and you can use these five tips to encourage a more restful night of sleep for yourself. These five things made a difference in his attitude and his psychological wellbeing for the rest of the day.
1. Light
The first night of our family camping trip, we basically went to bed at sunset. We did enjoy a campfire and s’mores, but soon after that, we read the boys a couple of books as the sun was setting and they went to sleep peacefully.
Lighting is important, so make sure it’s dark in your bedroom at night. Avoid having televisions or computers on in the room, and be careful of bright alarm clocks too. It needs to be dark in your bedroom because darkness signals certain cells in your eyes to tell the brain to produce melatonin, the sleep hormone.
In the morning, make sure you have access to the sunrise. When you wake up, light is a natural signal for your eyes and your brain to stop producing melatonin so you can wake up naturally and feeling refreshed.
2. Noise
Many of us have a lot of noise to deal with in modern society and our homes. On the second day of our camping trip, both of my sons commented on how amazing the new noises were. They were amazed by the natural noises they heard at night like crickets chirping, owls hooting, and coyotes yelping in the background. The natural background noise was calming and helped them sleep through the nights incredibly well. In the morning, the boys heard a different set of noises. Once the sun started to rise, they could hear the welcoming songbirds starting the day.
At home, make sure any artificial noises are turned off. If weather will allow, open a window so you can hear more natural noise. Those calming sounds will put you to sleep at night and help you wake up in the morning.
3. Temperature
Make sure your bedroom is not too hot nor too cold. Of course, we had all the windows open in the camper for a nice breeze. Do what you can to create the perfect temperature in your room. If you’re too hot or too cold through the night, you will struggle with sleep.
4. Exercise
The first day of camping was full of hiking and playing so the boys were super active all day, which helped them sleep very well at bedtime. Exercising and being physically active throughout your day will help your body shut down at night.
5. Cold Shower
When you’re camping, you don’t always get the benefit of a hot shower. It might be warm, but it’s usually lukewarm or cold, so all four of us took cold showers while camping. For millennia, humans have used either cold baths or cold showers just before bedtime to help calm the nervous system and prepare for sleep.
This recent camping experience with our boys reminded me how simple it is to encourage a better night’s sleep. Use these tips around light, noise, temperature, exercise, and cold showers to create restful sleep for yourself.
Never doubt the small changes in your life that can make an enormous impact on your health.
At Zenith Labs, we’ve developed a supplement called Sleep Wave which contains herbs and melatonin. Along with the five sleep tips, you can use this supplement to help calm your nervous system and achieve a better, more peaceful night of sleep.
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I believe in the original meaning of the word doctor, ‘docere’, which means teacher. I’m here to help educate you on how to take care of yourself in ways that you may not have heard of before, but that are effective. I always want to hear your ideas and feedback so be sure to leave me comments below!
