Good night, sleep tight and sweet dreams

How to improve your sleep quality?

So, how can you get a good and restful sleep? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Environment
   
   • Make sure your room is well-ventilated, and there is a good exchange of fresh air.
   • Lower the room temperature can help you sleep better.
   • Use night lights, dim light or switch to total darkness. If total darkness is impossible, try putting on a sleep mask.
   • Keep your room in total silence or use some white noise; if you are sensitive to noise, try earplugs or a sleep mask with earmuffs.
   • Clean up the dust on your fan, air-conditioner filters, bedside cabinet, photo frames, etc. on a regular basis can help you sleep better without breathing in dust particles.
   • If you have asthma or allergy to pets’ fur, keep the animals out from your bedroom.
2. Bed
   
   • Choose a comfortable firmness for your mattress and pillow will help with your sleep.
   • As you shed dead skins, it attracts bugs like dust-mites and bed bugs, it is important to change fresh bedsheets and pillow covers regularly to prevent allergies and rashes.
   • Use a blanket to add an extra layer of cosy warmth while you sleep, especially when the room temperature is set to low.
3. Habit.
   • Make sleeping at the same time your habit. In your body, there is a circadian rhythm that governs your internal clock, it regulates your sleep-wake cycle. If you are supposed to sleep but you are awake or vice versa, your hormone release system, digestive cycle, body temperature, mood, energy level, and so on will go haywire within days.
   • If your profession requires you to work on night shift, you should condition your mind and body to get used to the cycle and new routine. Get uninterrupted sleep whenever possible.
   • Avoid smoking, if possible, especially before bedtime.
   • Reduce the use of digital device with blue light before sleep, for example, computer, laptop, tablet, flat-screen television, and mobile phone. Blue light suppresses your body’s secretion of melatonin that makes you feel drowsy, gives your body the false signal of daytime.
4. Feed your stomach.
   • You cannot sleep when you are hungry, even if you could, it will not be a good quality sleep (unless you are on a diet plan).
   • Having some light meals or warm milk before bedtime can improve your sleep quality, but if you have heavy meal, late dinner, supper, or go to bed with a full stomach, it is detrimental to your health in the long run.
   • Drinking too much water before sleep will also affect your quality of sleep, because you would tend to urinate more often in the middle of the night.
   • You should also avoid alcohol before sleep. It may let you feel relaxed and sedated, but the relaxation effect on the airway could worsen snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea; when alcohol levels drop, you may experience sleep fragmentation, awakenings, night sweats, nightmares, and even headaches.
   • Avoid taking caffeinated drinks before bedtime, such as Coke, Red Bull, coffee, tea, energy drinks and chocolate.
5. Prepare for bedtime.
   • To improve sleep quality, you can consider doing some light exercises or stretching in the evening and taking a warm shower to help relaxation.
   • Studies show that meditation is also helpful to slow down and quiet your mind. You can train your mind to put worries and emotions aside, and to be mindful of the present.
   • Reading a book, listening to soft music or white noise can also help you sleep better.
   • Using essential oils such as peppermint, eucalyptus or lavender is also beneficial to sleep.