Sleep hygiene, in a few words, is a routine that, if properly followed, allows for tissue repair, energy recovery and a better quality of life.
Sleep hygiene, or sleeping well, is a series of habits every person should adopt — sleeping isn't wasting time, sleeping is giving the body that capacity for repair at the lymphatic level (a cleansing pathway for the central nervous system), so as to avoid long-term illness and, especially, emotional problems like anxiety, stress and depression.
There are various ways to disrupt the sleep cycle, and it's increasingly common to find people saying they didn't rest well the night before, when they themselves caused that rest to not be fully restorative.
Main reasons why sleep doesn't come easily:
- Excessive use of technology:
Going to bed with your phone in hand, sleeping with the TV on, or finishing sending emails through a mobile device is one of the main bad habits at bedtime, since the blue light emitted by these devices keeps melatonin from working properly, even though it starts working around nine at night.
Phones in particular are the type of technology that has become most attached to the human body, turning into one more limb of ours that keeps us on constant alert, notifying us of what's happening in our social life and what we consume.
Taking your phone to bed means not giving your brain the disconnection it needs in order to repair your thoughts and your physical and mental body. - Using the bed for what it's for:
It's vitally important that the bed be used for two purposes: having sex or sleeping. It's become common for people to spend more time in bed watching TV, working or eating — these activities don't let the brain associate the bedroom as a place of rest, and it ends up associating it as just another space where the person does anything other than sleep. - Poor diet:
Caffeine, tobacco and cigarette use are adrenaline accelerators and stimulants that activate reward mechanisms in the brain, which is why it's not recommended to consume these substances, at least before going to bed. As for coffee, it's better to drink it early in the morning given its activating effect, compared to drinking it at night.
Likewise, it's recommended to set meal times and eat lighter food, at least 4 hours before sleeping, since a heavy or filling meal will make us feel weighed down, cause acid reflux, and create the need to use the bathroom.
Sleep hygiene habits
Adopting a habit requires following certain norms, rules and schedules, especially if you want to sleep to rest better and wake up refreshed
- A schedule for sleeping and waking up
Try to set a time for waking up and another for going to sleep — this will get your brain used to a routine, for example waking up at 5:00 a.m. and going to bed at 10:00 p.m., in order to have at least eight hours of repair and rest. - Keep technology out of the bedroom
Give technology a space outside your room, especially your phone and TV — you can start by moving your TV to the living room and your phone to a table, always remembering to keep it outside the bedroom. - Exercise daily, but not late in the day
Exercise can be done in the morning, but don't leave it for the last hour of the day. Just like coffee, exercise activates us, and doing it in the morning will make your body feel healthy and relaxed at night, ready to recover and start a new day. - A bedtime ritual
The bed is for what it's for: sleeping. However, there should be a ritual for going to bed — for example, create a calm and relaxed atmosphere, pay attention to the room's lighting, wear sleepwear, don't wear the clothes you had on outside your house, and lastly you can use a sleep mask, which will help darken your sleep.
Although there are many practices for sleeping better, remember that sleeping well is a vital part of having a routine full of energy — it will help you have better concentration, and if you follow at least 3 of these four tips you'll feel better.
Recommended flower essence for falling asleep:
Dormiyá
To naturally and lastingly recover restorative sleep and reclaim the daytime benefit
of a good night's sleep. It supports memory and vital energy as a result of good
rest.
Recommended Dose: 4 drops 3 to 6 times a day, for 6 weeks up to 6 months.