Disclosure: I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for the National Sleep Foundation. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.
Did you know approximately 70 million people are affected by one or more symptoms of insomnia? Of these, an estimated 23.5 million people experience symptoms consistent with the diagnosis of insomnia. Me? I have dealt with insomnia most of my life. Even as a child, I would stay up all night cleaning and rearranging my room or reading (no computers back then).
Today, I still have symptoms of insomnia, but have learned to better handle them to get more sleep.
Tips to Improve Your Sleep
Therefore, know that if you suffer from insomnia, you are not alone. BeyondTired.org even offers resources to people who suffer from insomnia, like you and me, to help inspire more sleep.
At the end of the day, we simply want to climb into bed, sleep, and wake up well-rested. But that doesn’t always happen. Think about it.
How do you feel after a good night’s sleep?
Sleep helps to restore both our body and mind. Benefits of sleep can include lower stress, improved mood, healthy weight, better choices, more energy, and greater ability to focus. Our body needs rest.
We can help to ensure it is getting proper sleep by simply following three tips to improve your sleep:
- Establish consistent sleep. Set an alarm each morning to wake up around the same time to start your day. Make it a point to go to bed nightly at a regular bedtime. This regularity can mean better sleep quality and more sleep time. Both are conducive to getting the rest your body needs.
- Create a relaxing bedtime routine. Just as you may have had as a child or may establish for your children now, it’s important to ease into resting. Whether it’s a hot bath, reading, soothing music, or meditating, find a way to unwind before climbing into bed. Your body will begin to understand the cues and sleep will come easier.
- Wind down and avoid electronics. Ouch. Colby and I are both guilty of not following this tip. The activity from the electronics can actually be mentally stimulating and keep us awake. Not to mention, the glow from our phone, tablet, TV, laptop, or e-reader is physically alerting and does not help our mind shut down.
Beyondtired.org takes a look at the journey of four different individuals, all leading busy lives, working towards getting more sleep.
Which story do you feel best fits you? I seem to resonate most with Julie in my sleeping patterns. On Sunday afternoons I often crash on the couch and sleep through to the evening.
The lack of sleep from the previous week catches up with me and I can no longer fight it.
Through each of the stories presented, we can see that even though we all differ in the amount of sleep we need, it is still essential to our body’s needs. It is simply a basic human need and it’s important to our health to do it right.
Fortunately, with the resources available through The National Sleep Foundation, we can improve our health through sleep education.