The golden rules of sleep include establishing a consistent bedtime routine, avoiding stimulants before bed, creating a comfortable sleep environment, and incorporating regular exercise into your routine.
Sleep is one of the most important things in our lives, it contributes to your health just as much as diet and exercise do! Sleep helps to improve brain performance and boosts your mood drastically. The risk of things ranging from heart disease, obesity, strokes, and dementia are decreased for people who follow the golden rules of sleep.
The golden sleep rules aim to help you maintain a healthy sleep schedule. There are three main aspects when it comes to defining healthy sleep; the amount of sleep you get, the quality of sleep you get, and keeping a consistent schedule.
Golden Rule #1: Establish a consistent bedtime routine
Importance of consistency for regulating sleep patterns
A good place to start is to establish a proper bedtime routine and sleeping schedule. This will help get your body used to when you should fall asleep and when you should start your day, your body will know when to get tired helping you to fall asleep faster and ensuring you stay asleep through the night.
Golden Rule #2: Avoid stimulants close to bedtime
Stimulants such as caffeine and electronic devices can disrupt your sleep. Caffeine affects your brain since it blocks chemicals that promote sleep such as adenosine. This is usually to keep you alert to get through your busy days! Although at night time this can be a problem that disrupts your sleep quality. It’s best to avoid caffeine a few hours before sleeping as it can help minimize the risk of insomnia
Your electronic devices emit blue light which delays your body’s natural melatonin, sadly meaning you are likely to stay awake longer even if you are trying to use your phone or television to wind down for the night. The blue light is caused by the use of the fluorescent/LED lights that most devices use; this means that some lighting you may have in your home may also be preventing you from developing proper melatonin.
A few things to do that would help you with this issue would be to avoid fluorescent lighting in your bedroom and to make use of blue light filters on your devices. You can decrease your overall screen time, but in today’s world that is a challenge so avoiding the use of devices late at night will do wonders on its own!
Golden Rule #3: Create a comfortable sleep environment
Creating a comfortable sleep environment is important to getting quality rest. Quality bedding is a worthwhile investment that can significantly enhance your sleep experience. Additionally, maintaining a clean and organized space not only helps your mind relax but also sets a positive tone for starting your day after a restful night.
You should consider personalizing your bedroom to suit your needs, whether that means adjusting noise levels, lighting, or temperature. Some people sleep best in dim light and silence, while others prefer a dark room with white noise.
Golden Rule #4: Keep active during the day
Overall, keeping active during the day can help ensure you don’t have excess energy when it is time to rest. It can help to relieve stress, this helps to promote relaxation making sure you can get some quality sleep. Exercise can work to help you build a consistent sleep-wake cycle; this helps more than most people know to reduce sleep disorders!
Some people may not have the time to incorporate regular exercise in their day-to-day life; luckily keeping a moderate amount of activity can help to promote better sleep. One thing to keep this simple would be to focusing sitting less and moving more, whether that is a walk to the shop instead of a drive or taking a pet on a walk. Even doing household chores can contribute; the best thing is to just include more movement in your everyday tasks!
These are the main four golden rules of sleep, just following some of this advice can do wonders to improve your sleep. It is important to create a healthy relationship with sleeping through these rules and tips. Improving your sleep quality is the key to improving your life in many aspects including physical and mental health. Improve your life today with the golden rules of sleep!