We are big fans of sleep at HealthUnlocked HQ. Aside from being a fast-track to breakfast, sleep also helps reduce stress, improves your memory and learning, and helps your body work on repairing muscles and fighting illness!
Everyone knows sleep is super important, but many of us struggle to get the recommended 8 hours a night. This includes lots of the HealthUnlocked team who have busy schedules, lots of technological distractions or just generally struggle to get to sleep. If you’re like us and find getting enough high-quality sleep difficult, you might like to check out our Sleep Support community to exchange tips with others: healthunlocked.com/sleep-su...
In honour of World Sleep day, we’ve decided to share a few of our night-time routines for a full 8 hours of zzzz’s.
What do you do to improve your sleep? Let us know below!
---------
“It took a while to build up this habit but number one is only using the bed for sleeping, so I don't relax or read or just generally chill out on the bed or in the bedroom. I'll also avoid sleeping/napping on the couch or anywhere else, I can't sleep in cars/buses/trains/planes anyway so i'm sorted there.
We've also reduced all light usage around the flat in the evenings as well and started opting for candles, cuts down on the energy bills too and just gives a softer, warmer feel around the place”
-----------
“- I turn off all my main lights and just have fairy lights/ candles on in the eve in my bedroom
- Read/ Headspace (the mindfulness app)
- A bit of bedtime yoga
- Switch to decaf/ herbal teas after 5pm
- Have a nice, comfy mattress topper
- Try and be as active as I can during the day”
-------------
“We have banned the TV or iPad from the bedroom, and have been trying to avoid phones as well. The atmosphere of the bedroom is more relax and we can spend a few minutes talking about life before falling asleep”
-------------
“My mum told me to download the Calm app - it's a sleep aid that plays bedtime stories for you to help you fall asleep. I've never made it through a full story though (so I guess it's working?)”
-------------
“My routine:
-Try not to use my phone or watch TV after 9pm
-I have a white noise machine that I use every night all night
-Eye mask as I have trouble keeping my eyes shut while I am trying to fall asleep
-If I can’t sleep I listen to Headspace's sleep meditations
-If I can't sleep after a little while I will go into the living room and read Sapiens”
-------------
“I recently started listening to guided meditation videos before going to sleep whenever I feel like my head is too full of thoughts/worries to fall asleep”
-------------
“My tips/routine:
- Read before bed to avoid using my phone/laptop/watching TV
- Write a to-do list for the next day so I don’t go to bed with lots of thoughts/worries that might keep me up”
-------------
“I have started opening the window for 10 minutes before I go to bed, because high levels of CO2 has a negative impact on your sleep quality, so I try to get as much fresh air in the room as I can. I've also got a lot of plants in my room to help with this too!”
-------------
And from one of those people who can nap anyplace, anytime:
“Cool, I like sleep. I lie down and turn the light off, and then I sleep”
