Six Tips to Better Sleep

Sleep is a cornerstone of optimal mental health.  Almost all my clients struggle with achieving a healthy amount and quality of sleep each night, and part of our work together consists of helping them develop good sleep habits.  Here are six easy tips you can try to help you sleep better, tonight!  (Some of these might look familiar, from a previous post, but sleep is such a huge part of good health and self-care that they bear repeating.)

1.  Shut off technology at least one hour before turning in.  Being available via Facebook, playing computer games, watching a movie on Netflix, or texting your best friend who's vacationing in London will stimulate rather than calm you.  So turn 'em off.

2.  No sensational news after lunch.  Watching horrific stories of tragedies worldwide activates your body's stress response system.  You don't need adrenalin coursing through your body a few hours before bed, nor do you need those frightening images keeping you awake.  Keep the news off. 

3.  Background sound.  Play sleep-enhancing music (youtube.com has hours of them, for free), run a small fan, or turn on a white noise machine before you turn out the lights.  This is especially helpful if you have young adult children living with you who do not keep the same hours as you!  (Trust me on this one.)  Caution:  do NOT use a white noise machine if you have little ones who depend upon you.  You need to be able to hear them if they need you in the middle of the night. 

4.  Drink herbal tea, skip the caffeine (unless you have ADHD).  A warm cup of herbal tea (unsweetened, or sweetened with no calorie and all natural stevia) is a divine indulgence, and a great way to relax you for sleep.  But here's some good news if you have ADHD:  if you have previously noticed that drinking caffeinated beverages makes you sleepy, go ahead and drink caffeinated green tea.  I know a psychiatrist who prescribes sugar free diet soda for his ADHD patients who have trouble sleeping.  They drink it before bed.  And it works!

5.  Try magnesium, in the bath or in tablets.  Magnesium is a muscle relaxant.  So run a warm bath, add Epsom salts (magnesium) to the water, and soak for 15-20 minutes.  Or, if you don't have a bathtub, try a tablet or two of magnesium (found in the vitamin aisle at your local pharmacy) with a glass of water an hour or so before bed.  Talk to your primary doctor first before using magnesium to relax.

6.  Fix your environment.  That means keeping your bedroom dark, cool, and decluttered. Turn off all the lights, use black-out curtains, wear an eye mask, whatever it takes to keep it dark.  Then, make sure that your bedroom is slightly cool, but not too cold though, or that will keep you awake.  Finally, do not allow your bedroom to be your home's catch-all for laundry to fold, holiday decorations, kids' toys, or your cat's bed.  Declutter it and improve your sleep!  (More to come on decluttering in future posts.)

Bonne nuit!