5 Healthy Sleep Habits to Try Every Night

A good nights’ sleep is important for your health. Not getting six to eight hours of sleep each night can even weaken your immune system and impair brain function in the short term. Getting enough quality sleep increases the quality of your time awake. What you do leading up to bedtime is also important because it sets the stage for the night ahead. Check out these five healthy sleeping habits below and hunker down for a restful night’s sleep.

Watch What You Eat and Drink Before Bed

While research is mixed, it’s generally accepted that eating two hours leading up to bedtime contributes to less than optimal sleep. If you’re hungry for something, have a healthy nighttime snack before bed. Many experts suggest that eating foods high in tryptophan, like eggs, milk, cheese and turkey, can be beneficial before sleep. Try to avoid foods that are high in fat, along with alcohol and caffeine, in the hours before bedtime.

Ditch the Distractions

Make your bedroom an inviting place to sleep. The temperature, level of darkness and clutter or other distractions in the room can all affect the quality of your sleep. In terms of temperature, it’s generally recommended that you keep the temperature in your bedroom no higher than 70 degrees Fahrenheit, with the optimal temperature being between 60F and 68F. Scientists believe that this cooler room temperature closely mimics your actual drop in body temperature and promotes better sleep. Sleep experts also recommend making your room as dark as possible. That means no night lights or hall lights. You can even use blackout curtains to encourage deeper and more restful sleep. Finally, most experts agree that your bed should be reserved for sleeping. Do work on your laptop or watch TV elsewhere. This can help you build up the habit of having the space for sleeping. It also creates a quiet, restful environment.

Get Some Exercise

Being active during the day will encourage better sleep at night. While vigorous exercise is best, any level activity is better than not moving. It's also fine to exercise at any time of the day. However, some people find that working out late in the day can sometimes disrupt their sleep. If you're not sure what's best for you, trial and error over the course of about a week or so should help figure it out.

Practice Relaxing Bedtime Rituals

Many people find that practicing relaxing bedtime rituals is a great way to wind down after a long day and fall asleep easily. Things like making a list, tensing your toes and taking five breaths can really enhance your sleep quality. You might tend to drift off every evening while making a mental list of all of the things to do the next day. Writing these out on paper can move them from your head to the paper, which helps you relax. Taking five or six deep inhales and exhales can also deeply relax your nervous system. As you inhale, count to three. Do the same as your exhale. Once you've done this five times, you'll feel your body relax. Finally, tensing your toes is another great way to relax before falling asleep. Even though it may sound counterintuitive, tense your toes up towards your face and hold them there for 10 seconds. Releasing them can help to relax your whole body. Repeat the tense and release movements five times.

Make Sure Your Bed Is Comfortable

If your bed isn’t comfortable, it’ll be difficult to sleep well. How long have you been using your mattress? The average mattress has a life span of about 10 years. So, if your mattress is older than that, it may well be beyond its prime. Take note of your pillows too. Are they comfortable and supportive? Pillows come in many different shapes and with many different fillings. If you’re tossing and turning at night or waking up with an aching neck, a new pillow is a good investment.