Tips to Achieving Better Sleep

There is a major factor to your overall health that you have probably been overlooking… sleep!

Quality sleep isn’t always easy to achieve, and as Brian Clement explains in the Importance of Healthy Sleep many of us sleep so little it is very frightening.  Sleep debt is a real thing, but instead of owing money to a bank we literally owe our bodies! The average person needs about 8 hours of sleep a night for your body to fully rest and recover from the daily stresses it endures. Now imagine you only sleep 6 hours a night over a 2 week span… you’re building up your sleep debt which can result in reduced alertness and performance equivalent to a full 24 hours of sleep deprivation!

So what can you do to ensure you are getting the sleep your body needs? We’ve put together some of our top tips to help you achieve quality sleep:

RECOVERY BY NIGHT

What you’re sleeping on will make a big different to the quality of sleep you experience nightly which will greatly affect your body’s recovery. Consider that you should be spending at least  ¼ of your life sleeping, you want to be sure that you are on a healthy sleep surface that reduces your exposure to toxins, chemicals and flame retardants while still offering proper support for your body.  The Essentia mattress is the best solution we have found, and one that you will find on the Hippocrates campus very soon!

Essentia mattresses create a clean air environment, made with only the highest quality natural and organic components. As the world’s only natural memory foam mattress, Essentia can offer a low-VOC air environment while still eliminating pressure points and negative space in your lumbar region. Essentia’s patented natural memory foam reacts quickly to natural movements made during sleep, meaning reduced sleep interruptions allowing you to fall asleep and stay asleep longer.

CREATE A SLEEP OASIS

Once you have your mattress it is important to evaluate every part of your sleep environment. The right support pillow can enhance your sleep experience. You will also want to be sure you are using organic cotton sheets to reduce the exposure to pesticides and chemicals.

You will sleep better in a very cool room; the recommended thermostat setting is between 61 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit at night. A great tip apart from dropping the thermostat is to sleep on a mattress that naturally keeps you cool, like Essentia mattresses, which have been tested to sleep on average 7 degrees cooler than your body temperature.

MAKE A NIGHTIME ROUTINE

If you follow a nightly routine and make it a relaxing ritual you will get your body into a state of being ready for sleep. We suggest you leave all devices in another room, drink some hot tea, take a warm shower, read a bit (from an actual book) and snuggle into bed. All of these steps but your mind into a relaxed state that when coupled with the right sleep environment can help you fall asleep quickly.

Creating a new habit can be difficult, but you will reap the rewards of getting amazing sleep that will boost your overall health and lead to more productive days. Pick a wind-down routine which best fits your lifestyle and you will succeed.

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KEEP A CONSISTENT SLEEP SCHEDULE

This can be the most difficult to master: go to bed and get up at the same time every day!

Being consistent means your body will teach itself to naturally wake up daily, which is much more pleasant than an alarm blaring in your ear. Each person has a different sweet spot of how many hours of sleep a night you need but the average person does need a minimum of 8 hours nightly. Based on your body type and daily activity you may need 7 hours while another person may need 9 hours. Try different bedtimes and wake up times, takes notes of how you feel on 7 hours of sleep vs 8 hours of sleep vs 9 hours of sleep. You’ll notice slight differences and be able to tell which day you were operating at your best. Once you have figured out your ideal sleep time make sure to set reminders to begin your nighttime ritual to ensure you get to be on time to reap the benefits of a full night’s sleep.

We hope these tips help you get the best sleep possible so you never have to worry about sleep debt again!