This is part of our series to help you feel less stressed through the holidays. If you start to nod off while reading this, that’s good! Our post today will teach you how to sleep a little better. We plan on making another series about sleep in the future, so this will be a quick overview since there is so much to say.
Sleeping poorly causes the body to produce more adrenaline and other stress hormones to keep you awake. This puts the body into a fight or flight response just to keep you functioning. Sleeping better will reduce production of these hormones, allowing the body to remain balanced between “fight or flight” sympathetic nervous system and “rest and digest” parasympathetic nervous system. This also improves mood and mental function, which could make picking out the perfect gift for Nana easier.
Here are a few quick tips on how to sleep better:
- Get 8 hours of sleep a night
- Have a regular sleep time and wake time
- Avoid eating a big meal right before bed
One of the best ways to improve your sleep is to stop using your screens at least an hour before going to bed. Most screens produce blue light frequencies that stop your body’s production of sleep hormones. This stops your body from shutting down as it normally would at night. Screen time also keeps your brain entertained, and therefore pushes sleep further into the night.
Blue light glasses have been shown to reduce the negative effects of screen time on your eyes. To get a better night’s sleep we recommend either wearing the glasses or turning on the blue light filter setting on your portable devices. However, the most effective thing to do is to stop using your screen devices completely at least an hour before bed.
If you find this difficult, you could spend that time
- Reading
- Writing in a diary
- Having a conversation with a loved
- Organizing part of your house
- Practicing breathing techniques (yes, this is a shameless plug for our previous blog post, check it out here!)
If you are reading this on your phone while laying in bed, that’s hilarious, and it is also okay. Like any habit, it can be difficult to change at first, but it is very doable.
Start by putting your phone down tonight.
Then again tomorrow night.
And again the next night.
Before you know it, you’ll be phone free by the new year!
As always, if you have any questions, please contact us at (530) 809-2695 to make an appointment by phone with Sarah our office manager, or make an appointment online at spinechico.com.
-Ian Chase
Sources: Image 1 from CNet.com, Image 2 from Intrinsic Health, Image 3
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5839336/pdf/nihms921772.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28045969 h