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Quality of sleep affects our health. It impacts our physical and emotional health in both positive and negative ways. This time of year we tend to need more sleep. If you have a chronic illness or pain you need more rest to help heal your body. There are many natural ways to help. And if those don’t work, take a look at your lifestyle habits. You may be contributing to the disruption of sleep without even realizing it.
In addition, nutrition affects sleep cycles and brain waves. The biggest influencer is insulin levels. Eating too many carbs will raise insulin levels and then affect sleep. Not enough rest will lead to an increase in adrenal hormones, affecting our immune system, digestion, brain function, reproduction, and other systems. It is all connected!
Exercise is the best method because it increases positive neurotransmitters that help the nervous system calm down and increase the chances of more restful slumber. The environment affects how well we rest. Light, noise, seasonal changes, and other disruptions will affect the quality of nighttime routines.
Set Your Intentions
If you’re having trouble sleeping, you’re certainly not alone. Millions of Americans suffer from sleep deprivation!
First, set the intention of when you want to be in bed. Stick to the same times during the week and on the weekend. For example, if you want 8 hours of sleep and you need to wake up at 6:00, plan to be ready for sleep by 10:00. This means you’ll want to start getting ready for bed by 9:30.
Note: If the following simple solutions don’t work for you, check with your doctor to see if they can find the root cause. A functional medicine practitioner or naturopathic doctor may be able to find a good natural solution for you.
15 Ways to Improve Your Sleep
1. Eliminate/reduce alcohol (these increase urination & cause restless sleep)
2. Don’t have caffeine within a few hours before bedtime
2. Turn off electronic devices 1 hour before bed
4. Finish eating a few hours before bedtime
5. Drink a calming tea like Chamomile in the evening
6. Sleep in a dark room or wear eye covers
7. Set your bedroom at a cooler comfortable temperature
8. Exercise in the morning or early afternoon
9. Take a soothing hot bath at night
10. Listen to soft music or a guided sleep meditation to help wind down
11. Practice relaxing breathing techniques to calm down your nervous system instantly
12. Use a fan, sleep app, or sound machine for white noise
13. Relax with a good book before bed
14. Try Yoga or Tai Chi or stretching at night to de-stress
15. Write down a list of things you want to get done the next day. Get it out of your brain!
Research
There are many studies out there proving the necessity of a good night’s slumber. Here are a couple of research studies about the science of sleep.
Science Daily Sleep Research News
Sleep Research on Mental Health
Revitalize Your Evening Sleep Ritual
Enhancing your overall well-being and embracing a healthy lifestyle can significantly improve your sleep patterns. Making simple healthy changes influences sleep quality and our body’s ability to rejuvenate.
Be patient with yourself as you implement these changes. It may take a few weeks before you notice improvements. Remember not to give up too soon; your body needs time to adapt. As the season invites us to cozy up, it’s an excellent opportunity to focus on refining your bedtime routine. Here’s to discovering more natural remedies for addressing sleep concerns!
Check out my Shop page for products I recommended to help with sticking to a consistent self-care routine at home!
xoxo
Jill Ciampi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and a Certified Wellness Coach. She has a passion for helping others manage stress, chronic pain, and anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.
Linda Egeler
Falling asleep at night has long been a challenge for me. I actually do most of the things on your list already. Now: if only I could totally eliminate the after-dinner snacking!
Jill DeMasi
It is a huge challenge for lots of us to fall asleep! I hope these tips help 🙂
Holly B
Great tips and advice! A good night sleep is so important and I never thought about writing down the things that I need to do the next day.. I’m going to try this! Thank you!
Jill DeMasi
Thanks, Holly! Let me know how the brain dump works for you. 🙂
Carrie Pankratz
Sleep is so very important. When I can’t sleep, I am usually worried about something. Yoga or brain dumping in a journal are often helpful to set those things aside and allow me to sleep. This is great information. Thanks.
Jill DeMasi
I love journaling too to get all those thoughts out of my head!
inas
great tips I will have to try since I struggle sometimes from all the electronics we have to disconnect from
Jill DeMasi
Thanks! It is so hard to put them down but I notice a huge difference when I just read a book instead of watching TV at night. 🙂
Keirsten
Such great tips! I never really have any issues with sleeping so I’m fortunate with that. But if I have a big day, the night before usually involves a lot of tossing and turning. I already do so many of your tips but I think the jotting everything down before bed would be super beneficial for me. Thanks for the article!
Jill DeMasi
Thanks, Keirsten. I love doing the brain dump at all times of the day!
Michelle
YES!! I have found that as I get older, stretching, especially at night prior to bed is essential. One, so I can relax and be comfortable and two because I’m getting to be stiff as a board! Nothing worse than a stiff back when trying to sleep. So disruptive.
Jill DeMasi
That would make it harder to unwind for sure! Stretching is so helpful 🙂
Tricia Snow
Great tips! I added progesterone cream to my regiment and sleep like a baby now.
Jill DeMasi
That’s awesome to find something that helps!
Sandi Barrett
I love this! I always right down my list of to-dos before I go to bed. Don’t have to worry about them – great advice.
Jill DeMasi
That’s great, Sandi! Anything that helps put your mind to rest.
Suzan | It’s My Sustainable Life
Hormonal changes have definitely interrupted sleep. Wonderful tips!
Jill DeMasi
I think I am having that problem too lately!
Marianne
I am blessed in that I rarely have trouble getting to sleep… getting enough sleep is a different story! When I work night shifts I have a room darkening blind that I use… works almost too well!
Jill DeMasi
Room darkening shades are awesome!
Beth Shields
Great tips and had to chuckle about making the list of to-dos for the next day so your brain can turn off. I have done this for years and somehow my brain just doesn’t turn off. But I have done several of these things and it does help. Thanks for your post.
Jill DeMasi
Try some different ways and eventually you will find that one thing that does work!
Barbara
Great advice and tips! I like the tea ideas!
Jill DeMasi
The relaxing teas really work!
Tiffany Smith
I move my workouts to earlier and now am trying to do nighttime stretches. I need to be better with turning off electronics but I do all my work and socialization on computer now 🙁
Jill DeMasi
I know it’s hard to shut off the computer especially when you have to work on your blog! I have to do work on this myself!
lisa manderino
These are great ways to improve sleep!
Jill DeMasi
Thanks, Lisa! Hope you find something that helps.
Kendra
Wonderful sleep tips! I usually have no problems falling asleep, but if I wake in the middle of the night, it’s hard for me to get back to sleep.
Jill DeMasi
Thanks, Kendra! It’s so hard for me to get back to sleep after my bathroom trips!
Sabrina DeWalt
Great tips. A good night’s sleep is so important.
Jill DeMasi
So needed for all of us!
Tiffany
I started listening to music at bedtime and it made such a difference! Its from a medication app, and between that and some of your other tips I might have room to improve my nights even more!
Jill DeMasi
I love listening to ocean waves at night to help put me to sleep!
Alice
These are great suggestions for getting a good night’s sleep. I usually fall asleep easily but sometimes I wake up two or three times a night. I avoid caffeine after 3pm.
Jill DeMasi
Thanks, Alice! Avoiding caffeine is extremely helpful.
Melissa Jones
Great tips! so many people have problems sleeping!
Jill DeMasi
Thanks! It is a huge problem affecting so many.
Danielle Ardizzone
Great list! I’m terrible at laying off the caffeine before bed – one more thing to fix in 2021!
Jill DeMasi
A worthy goal to accomplish!
Cindy Moore
Great tips for a good night’s sleep, which is so important! I do most of these.
Jill DeMasi
It feels so good to find at least one thing that works!