For many years I really struggled with insomnia and it had a terribly negative affect on so many aspects of my life. I visited many people who thought they could help, and how didn’t help in the end, but all of that changed when I met John Denboer PHD, the man who helped me to cure my insomnia, and a man who is incredibly knowledgeable about the effects fo sleep on the body. John made this entire problem incredibly simplistic and created a routine which I would follow each night when I went to bed, and it has worked ever since. If you struggle to get a great sleep, try this out.
Timings
The first step is to try as best as you can to go to sleep at the same time each and every night, and wake up at the same time each morning. What happens when you do this is that your brain picks up on the habit and after just a couple of weeks you will find that both your brain and your body will have already begun to shutdown in the last hour before you go to bed, and that you will wake up automatically at the same time.
No Tech
For the final hour and a half before you go to bed it is vital that you don’t use any tech gadgets which have a screen. The light display of a screen makes our brains wake up and energize which of course is the last thing that you are looking for just before you head off to sleep.
Pitch Black
It is absolutely vital that the bedroom is pitch black when you go to sleep and even the faintest chink of light can make your brain react. This may not prevent you from getting to sleep but it will prevent you from drifting off into REM sleep which is the high quality sleep which you need. Try to get some black out blinds so that there is no light coming into your room when you sleep.
Food and Drink
It goes without saying that caffeine should be avoided in the final 6 hours before sleep, and for the best night’s sleep you shouldn’t eat or drink anything other than water in the final 3 hours before you go to bed. If you think about it this makes perfect sense because food is an energy source, and the last thing that you need when you go to sleep is energy. Keep on drinking water to ensure that you are hydrated, but avoid anything else beyond that if you want to get a great sleep.
Follow this routine each and every day and if something comes up which means that you can’t, make sure that you get back to it as soon as you can. In sticking to this routine you will ensure that you can both get to sleep, and that you get high quality sleep which will leave you feeling great.