If you want to have a beautiful morning and start your day positively, you need to pay attention to your sleep. Beautiful mornings naturally follow restful good night sleep. I am a lifelong night owl, and fortunately or unfortunately, I don’t get tired or sleepy at night. Every night I need to force myself to bed, hoping a good sleep will come.
And if you are like me, or suffer from occasional sleepless nights, here are the tips for good night sleep.
1.Embrace Morning Light:
First of all, good night sleep starts in the mornings. Circadian rhythm is a 24 hour body clock which regulates the wake and sleep cycle, and you want to set this clock right. Try to get as much light as possible in the morning. Going outside is the best, but if not possible, you can at least try to sit by the window. I use a light therapy box in winter, which you may want to investigate.
2. Limit Coffee to Mornings:
Are you a coffee lover? If so , no need to feel guilty because now there are many scientific researches which concludes coffee is good for you! But the fact remains that it contains caffeine and caffeine disturbs sleep. Many sleep researchers say they don’t drink coffee. For a good night sleep, you may want to limit your coffee to the mornings.
3. Exercise Early:
Exercise is another thing you want to keep to the earlier part of the day. Exercise is an excellent way to improve your sleep in many ways including reducing anxiety, but exercise too late in the day may make the body too alert. Ideally exercise in the morning in the morning light. For me, practising yoga in the early morning outside is the best!
4. Body Temperature Needs to Drop!
I remember my mother touching my infant son’s hands and saying ‘He is going to sleep in a minute because his hands are getting warm.’
When we fall asleep our body temperature drops and our hands and feet get warm. For this reason, having a warm bath or shower before bed helps you fall asleep easily as this assists body temperature dropping. Also wearing bed socks and having hot water bottles have the same effects.
5. Eat Early.
This relates to the above point. If you eat late before bed, the blood will go to your stomach to digest and the body temperature will not drop. Do not eat at least 3 hours before bed. This will also assist the circadian rhythm.
6. Limit Screen Time Before Bed:
Apart from the blue light effect, this stimulates the brain. Especially, don’t watch the news! You don’t want to go to sleep on all these horrible things you hear. Instead, meditate or do breathing practice, which are proven to reduce anxiety and promote sleep.
7. Prioritise Your Sleep!:
This is something I really want to shout to the fellow night owls out there! You need to prioritise sleep. Set your alarm clock for bedtime, and the computer to dim. How often do you think ‘I should have gone to bed earlier’ when the alarm goes off in the morning? Get enough sleep so that you will wake up feeling well-rested and refreshed. Tomorrow will be another exciting new day!
Hope these tips from a natural-born night owl will help!
After beautiful night’s sleep, if you want to start your day with a beautiful morning, signup to my free gift ‘Beautiful Morning Starter Kit’
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