Our body works exactly like an engine works for a vehicle. Without having the necessary amount of rest and effective care, any kind of vehicle can get eroded. Longevity of the vehicle can only be gained by the proper use of authentic diesel, servicing it in a definite period of time and using the vehicle in a smooth way. Just like this our body also needs care. Proper food, exact care, and mainly a good night sleep are really necessary to have a long and healthy life. But sometimes, due to some internal or external reasons, we fail to sleep properly, which affects our body, mind, and health as well.

In such depressed condition, if you are about to give your sleeping pills a try, please reconsider and try to follow these top ten easy methods to get over the giant of sleep deprivation.

Create a suitable atmosphere in your bedroom:

Changing the bedroom atmosphere can be the most effective method to have a good night sleep. Most importantly use your bedroom only for sleeping purpose and also try to follow these little tricks to have a soothing sleeping time.

•    Try to clean your bedroom and use mild room freshener to avoid bad smell.

•     Use clean sheets and décor your bedroom in a cute and effective way to relax your mind.

•     Have a proper pillow which can keep your head and neck in a straight line. Also to avoid any back pain or strain, using a side pillow is preferable.

•    Try to use a proper mattress and change it after continuous use of 5 to 7 years. Also, it’s advisable to not to use very hard or very soft mattress. Always buy a mattress which is soft and hard in an equal way.

•    Adjust the room temperature in a suitable mode. This factor will help you to have a relaxed time as well.

•    It’s also stated by researchers that sleeping without any clothes on, can help you sleep better and to regulate body temperature. But if you prefer to wear night-dress, then please use loose cotton clothes.

•    Lust but most importantly try to leave any kind of hectic work, tension and weird thoughts outside the bedroom’s door. Try to relax before sleeping and have a wonderful time.

Bright and blue lights are not welcome before bedtime:

Research has proven that before bedtime any kind of unnecessary bright light should be avoided. It’s also said that switching off the extra lights, at least one and a half hour before bedtime can help to regulate your “Body-Clock” properly. Body-clock, also known as Sleep-clock can control the quality and quantity of dream, by producing “Sleep Hormone” Melatonin. This hormone forces our brain to think that it’s bedtime, makes us feel relaxed, decreases the body temperature and helps us to have a good night sleep. Melatonin, the “Darkness Hormone” works perfectly in a dark atmosphere, so try to dim the lights and lets your brain think that it’s sleep time. Also, use these methods to sleep well…

•    Stop watching TV before going to bed. It can hamper in producing and increasing the level of sleep hormone.

•    Try to avoid stressful work or any hectic conversation before bedtime. It’s also mandatory to ditch any kind of weird thoughts before sleep.

•    Do you know that your smartphone can be the fatal cause of your sleep deprivation? Nowadays each and every one uses mobile phones before sleep. The blue light, emitted from the mobile screen can give you dark patches, can decrease the level of Melatonin, and the ray of the mobile phone can harm your mental and bodily function greatly. So try to avoid using mobile at least one hour before bedtime.

•    Try to close all source of light, like drapes and curtains and after that if you face trouble to achieve a better sleep, use soft cotton eye band.

•    Sometimes outside sounds of the horn, mike etc. can ruin your relaxation time. To avoid this you can use earplugs as well. But remember to clean your ears on a regular basis, because without proper use, earbuds or plugs can harm your ears. Be cautious of it.

Make your own healthy diet chart and eat your food at a definite time:

Another most effective way of having a perfect sleep is a moderate way of consuming food in a proper and perfect timing. It’s strictly advised by doctors to avoid irregularity at dinner time. Eating your dinner at least three hours before bedtime is a very healthy way of living life. Other most important factors are:

•    Try to consume a limited amount of food at dinner time. A heavy meal can disrupt your body function in a great deal, which can also harm your good night sleep.

•    In spite of having oily, spicy, high carbohydrate-containing foods in dinner, have some light snacks or high-protein containing foods like soybean, yogurt etc. Foods containing high protein can produce Serotonin in the body, which is really helpful for our body to relax.

•    Also, try not to go to bed with an empty stomach, it can create acidity problem in your body, which can be a real obstruction in the way of having better sleep.

•    Try to avoid consuming tobacco, Caffeine-containing products before going to bed. These things can energize your body in order to stay awake. For having a better sleep you can always prefer a hot cup of milk, chamomile tea or green tea etc.

•    It’s believed by a lot of people that consuming alcohol before bedtime can aggravate your sleep quality. On the contrary, it’s a proven fact that continuous intake of alcohol before bedtime decreases the quantity and quality of sleep at the same time. It also can make you a patient of Insomnia. So get out of the myth and accept the truth to have a meaningful life.

•    Also, try to avoid consuming water or any kind of fluid at least two hours before going to bed. If you feel thirsty by the bedtime, just slip a little amount of water.

Create a perfect timetable for getting a Goodnight sleep

It’s said that practice makes a man perfect. So if you are facing trouble to have good sleep time, then change your irregular routine right now.

•    In order to have a perfect sleep make an exact timetable of going to bed and waking up. If you follow this time-chart and try to maintain it every day, then it’ll help you to a great extent to fell asleep

•    For this timetable to work, you must know that an adult body needs at least eight hours of sleep. So if you are a sound sleeper, give yourself an exact eight hours of sleep. But if you think that you awake at night for different reasons, then you can increase the time to 10 minutes maximum.

•    Again if you fell asleep within 15 minutes after going to bed, then you don’t need to change your clock. But if you face trouble to fell asleep even after 30 minutes, then try to decrease your sleep time for at least 15 minutes for some days. If that doesn’t help then decrease the time up to 30 minutes. This method can seem weird to you, you can feel tired in day-time, but this tiredness will help you to fell asleep more quickly than ever.

Create a perfect routine for every night

You know they say that consistency is the key to success. After lots of sleep-deprived night when for the first time we fell asleep without any trouble, it seems like we have won the game. So that satisfaction of a better sleep at night is equivalent to become successful in the exam. So a routine is necessary. For creating your own routine just remember this obvious steps:

•    In the bedroom, we shouldn’t welcome any kind of gadgets but an I-pod which can give you soothing music. Music is generally known as the best method for relaxation and before bed, you only need your body and muscle to be relaxed. So corresponding these two factors you can easily understand that a few melody songs will help you to have better sleep through the night. But remember try to avoid using headphones and rock songs that time.

•    If you feel doing something before going bed and can’t forget your working habit, then it’s advised to read a storybook. Caution word is don’t read a book from a gadget like a tablet or mobile. Be aware of the blue light.

•    Try to go to bed with a happy mind. Think something which can enlighten your mood. Pet owners are very lucky for this factor to work. As we know hugging our beloved pet can be a great mind relaxation method, it also helps our brain to be happy, build the body immune system and also give us a good night sleep. The happy or feeling good hormone- “Oxytocin” releases whenever we hug our cute little pets. This hormone also reduces stress, normalizes our heart-beat and regulate the body-cortisol levels. So try to cuddle your pet more often, love them and be loved.

A little exercise or pranayama every day can keep sleep deprivation away

According to research, everyday body-workout or pranayama or yoga can rebuild the body immune system, can regulate your bowel system and also gives your body a chance to recover from the energy loss or tiredness. As we sleep to get recovered from the body-tiredness, exercises can help to a great deal to sleep better. Along with this also try to remember some important points:

•    Try to wake up early and go for a jogging and skipping routine, which is known as the best calorie burner for your body.

•    Waking up in the morning if you want to go for a walk, then that’s also ok. But remember to socialize with the outer world, cuddle in nature’s lap, try to relax your mind, play with the fresh sunlight and cool morning breeze. Try to consume vitamin-D as much as you can, with the help of sunlight until 8-8.30 am.

•    If you are a busy person and prefer to go to the gym, then that’s ok too. But try to be cautious about your gym routine. A little bit a day is the best way to remove body fat.

•    Also, you can do aerobic or cardio work out in your very home. But if you are a heart –patient, then instead of doing these workouts, choose a morning walk for good results.

•    For other factors try to walk your way in office instead of catching a bus, don’t take the lift and use stairs, try to intake a proper amount of water a day ( for women 2.7 liters and for men 3.7 liters is recommended) etc.

A Cool and Calm mindset is also vital

Through the whole day, your mind faces lots and lots of different situations, problems, and thoughts. As a day goes by your mind becomes very disturbed for these reasons. Sometimes this factor becomes the greatest obstruction in the way of having a better sleep at night. So before bed try to follow these basic steps in order to have a cool mind:

•    Meditation- According to scientific researches Meditation can help in building a greater concentration. But it’s also proved that sometimes before bed, Meditation for at least 5 minutes can relax your mind, make your body cool and help to remove your worries. If you can meditate every night before bedtime, it will show some obvious good result.

•    Breathing exercises can also help you to feel relax. Close your eyes, inhale and exhale slowly but deeply, with each and every breath try to fill your lungs with oxygen and also try to think in a positive way.

A small day-time nap is not also bad

For clearing your stressed mind, sometimes a short nap can be very helpful. This also helps to avoid drowsiness. For working people, this can be a little difficult to take a nap during your working time. So they can take a nap after work. If you feel tired, set your alarm for 15-20 minutes maximum, close your eyes, if are sleepy you will fell asleep within a minute, wake up as soon as the alarm goes off. Take a deep breath, drink water and again jump into your work. This factor will help you feel relaxed in a good way. But be cautious of two little things:

•    Small nap means it can’t be more than 20 minutes. If in the daytime you sleep for like 1 -2 hours, then that can affect badly in your sleep time at night. So try to avoid the time mismanagement.

•    Also, a very important point to remember for a daytime small nap is- don’t fall asleep after lunch. This mistake can make you fatty, as well as you will feel bloated and dizzy even after your nap.

A routine check-up of your body is necessary

Sometimes after maintaining all possible ways of having a better sleep, we fail to reach the satisfactory point. We feel more troubled and stressed at that moment. But not to worry. There may be a reason for that and that can be a disease. Sleep deprivation can also be a marker of a disease our body is possessing. So if you keep a track of your body functions through a routine check-up, you will be able to avoid these kinds of problems easily. Many diseases like Diabetes, Hypo-Thyroid, Inflammation, PCO (in case of women), High BP, Heart disease and even Cancer can be the cause of your sleep deprivation. So consult with a doctor if it continues.

Medication:

It’s said that if you are thinking of getting into a medication routine for having a better sleep at night, you must not make it a habit. Because it’s often noticed that the insomnia patients get addicted towards sleeping pills and can’t avoid taking it. This also can disturb your body functions. Side-effects of high dosed sleeping pills are very harmful to our nervous system. It can show different kinds of side effects like- dizziness, nausea, headache, allergic tendency, gastric problems etc.

But if you need medicinal help, try to consult with your doctor about taking Melatonin, which can help you to sleep in a natural way. Other preferable drugs are Doxepin (Silenor), Estazolam, Ramelteon, Triazolam (Halcion) etc. Some important points to remember are:

•    Try not to make it a habit.                                 

•    Always follow the exact dosage your Doctor has provided. Don’t try to take more than your prescribed amount.

•    If you feel problem after taking medicine, consult with your Doctor as soon as possible.

•    Use plain antihistamine products or antidepressants for the beginning. Sometimes depression can be the main factor behind your irregular sleep. In that times antidepressants can improve your problems.

•    Always remember the prolonged use of any kind of drugs can deteriorate your health condition. So be aware of it.

Last but not the least, I want to share a helpful bonus point with my friends and that is “Cooling your Joints”. From my personal experience, I can assure you that this method has worked for me like a miracle. Before going bed, in order to have a good night sleep, you must control your body temperature. In our body, mainly the joint parts get more tempted than other body parts. So if for any reasons you are unable to take a cool bath, try to cool only your body joints like- knee joint, elbow, neck, toe etc. by using cool water or ice-bag. This can help your body temperature to decrease into an optimum level and let you fell asleep quickly. If you forget to do it at the beginning of your bedtime, and somehow wake up in the middle of the night, you can also apply it at that very moment. It will work like before. So try to relax, maintain these obvious steps mentioned above, and let’s say “Goodnight, Sleep Tight, and Sweet Dreams.”