How to Improve Your Sleep Hygiene

Have you had trouble getting to sleep lately? Have you had trouble sleeping well on a daily basis? When you do get to sleep, do you find yourself experiencing troubled dreams? If so, you may be in need of some help as far as your sleep hygiene is concerned.

What is sleep hygiene, you might ask? Well, quite simply, it’s the matter of optimizing both your ability to fall asleep as well as the actual sleeping experience.

Here are four simple ways to improve your sleep hygiene.

Avoid Caffeine Before Bed

For starters, you’re going to want to avoid things like pop, coffee, and other caffeine-heavy drinks and products. These things can not only keep you awake, but if you do happen to fall asleep, can act in such a way as to keep you from having peaceful or restful sleep. Instead, if you consume anything before bed, it should be something which encourages restfulness and doesn’t mess with your regular sleep routine.

Set Up a Sleep Routine

This brings us to our next point—actually having a good, reliable sleep regimen and routine is an important step towards ensuring a restful night. Towards that end, you might wish to transform your bedroom into an area which is conducive to sleep (that is, ease up on the bright colours or light-up fixtures at night, and look into auditory or tactile elements which are altogether soothing).

Don’t Force Yourself

Then again, as important as a routine can be, you shouldn’t necessarily “force” yourself to sleep—if you just can’t go to sleep, getting up meditating before trying again can be both more productive and likewise more conducive to your end goal of restful sleep. Towards that end, you may wish to exercise or otherwise remain physically active during the day so as to facilitate better sleep hygiene at night.

Talk to a Therapist

Seeing a therapist is yet another way in which you can improve your overall sleep hygiene. Think of it this way you see a doctor to deal with matters of regular internal cleanliness and to keep your body in tip-top shape, and so the same goes for therapists and your mental state. Again, the main goal here is to put you at ease and in a state which is most conducive to bringing about restful sleep. Therapists are experts in that regard, and can therefore do you a world of good. Contact Ottawa Counseling Services to book an appointment and help identify stressors that may be standing in the way of a good night’s sleep.