The Secrets to a Better Quality Sleep

Are you tossing and turning sometimes and having a hard time falling asleep? Do you wake up in the middle of the night and cannot go back to sleep?

The last several nights this happened to me and I could not figure out why. I was tired, my brain was fried, so I should have been out in a deep sleep in no time at all.

Then I remembered that I already created a checklist on how to get quality sleep. Bingo. I pulled out my list and I figured out my shortcomings: I was working way too late and my brain just stayed in work mode; I was also concerned about things that I had no control over at the time. I had a late snack after dinner and a glass of beverage that did not help calm me down. No wonder I could not fall asleep. I ended up turning on the diffuser with Clary Sage and Sandalwood essential oils, which help me let things go and turned on a meditation app that helped me finally fall asleep.

Let me share my list of tips with you on how to get quality sleep. This list has a lot of things on it.

• Use these tips to create your own routine.

• Create a master list.

• Grab your list next time when you are having a hard time falling asleep or when you are wandering around in the middle of the night

• Find out what might be causing you not able to get quality sleep

• Take action.

Create a bedtime routine - to prepare your body and mind for sleep time:

• 3 hours before going to bed - do not eat (different for children)

• 2 hours before going to bed - stop working and turn lights down

• 1 hour before going to bed - turn off electronics

Environment:

• Create a peaceful bedroom • Clean out the clutter • Invest in a good mattress

• Create a dark room: use curtains that block out the light and use an eye mask

• Aromatherapy diffuser (try 6 drops of Lavender and 2 drops of your choice of Orange or Bergamot or Frankincense essential oils)

• Remove electronics from your room (they emit artificial blue light that affects your body's production of melatonin, which affects the quality of your sleep)

• Turn your cell phones and devices on airplane mode if keeping them in the room

• Put your alarm clock under the bed

• Turn on the blue light filter on your devices

• Journal: reduce your busy brain by jotting things down if you think of something

• What are you grateful for today? Write down three things in your journal.

• Focus on Your Breath: slow down your body and your mind

• Meditate: let go of stress or strong emotions (use a meditation app)

• Diffuse Lavender essential oil. When you arrive in your room, your brain and your body will remember that this is "sleepy time" and time to calm down.

Nutrition:

• Eat the color of the rainbow of veggies and fruit all week

• Have a light evening meal (when large meal is consumed at night, it interferes with the body's ability to rest)

• Avoid sugar and caffeine

• Avoid late-night beverages (it leads to a dreaded middle-of-the-night bathroom run, which disturbs our sleep cycle)

• Don't drink chamomile tea: it's a diuretic and will wake you up at night to go to the bathroom

Exercise regularly

With small changes, you can achieve big results.

Sweet Dreams!