A Blogful of Pretty: April 2017

2 More Tips That Can Help You Fall Asleep Faster

April 13, 2017

Hello lovely people!

It seems that there are some more tips that could help us sleep better. I've actually read about this before, but they kind of slipped off my mind when I was writing the 13 Tips to Better Sleep post.

TAKE A MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENT

A couple of days ago, I read an article about magnesium which reminded me about the anti-stress effect this mineral has on the body. The author mentioned that taking a magnesium supplement to bed helps some people fall asleep easier. Magnesium relaxes the muscles, calms the nervous system and induces sleep. This research showed that taking a magnesium supplement improves sleep time and sleep efficiency, and reduces early morning awakening. Just be careful with the dosage, as too much magnesium can cause diarrhea. For adult women, the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for magnesium is 310-320 mg, and for adult men - 400-420 mg. For more information about RDAs click here.

I will definitely include this tip in the challenge, as I think I will benefit from it in more ways than one.

WHAT ARE YOU WEARING TO BED? SOCKS!

There are 2 kinds of people - those who wear socks to bed and those who don’t. Ok, that was not the greatest attempt at a joke, I admit. But still, you must have noticed that, on the one hand, many people think of this habit as a bit strange and rather unattractive. On the other hand, there are people who can’t fall asleep without socks… So, who’s right?

Believe it or not, warming your feet can help you drift off to sleep faster, as it causes dilation of blood vessels in your feet, which subsequently makes your brain think “hey, it’s warm and cosy, and it’s late… time to shut down all processes…”.
I used to wear socks to bed before. However, when I changed my mattress, I don’t have any problems with cold feet. For some reason, I find the new latex mattress (not so new anymore, I got it about 13 months ago) a bit too hot. This is maybe a topic for another blogpost, but yeah, I googled my “latex mattress too hot” problem and it seems that there are quite a lot people that have the some issue. I was worried that some other foam mattresses might be problematic in this sense, so I decided to buy one made from latex, as the previous latex mattress was quite pleasant when it comes to temperature regulation. Anyway, I found that putting two bed sheets over the new one, more or less takes care of the problem.

Ok, so, I will not be trying out the socks tip, but I plan to start taking a magnesium supplement before sleep.

What about you? Do you have a habit of taking Mg supplements? Do they help you deal with stress and sleep problems? Oh, and what do you think about wearing socks to bed?

Better Sleep Challenge: 13 Tips for Getting a Good Night's Sleep
Better Sleep Challenge: 2 More Tips That Can Help You Fall Asleep Faster
Better Sleep Challenge: First Impressions

Health

Better Sleep Tips: First Impressions

April 08, 2017

Hello lovely people!
The weekend is finally here and I hope you're making the most of it!

So, in my last post I shared 13 relatively simple tips that should help you sleep better! I've already started practising some of them and I would like to share with you my first impressions. As I promised, I will write a bit more about each of the tips I mentioned.

ENJOY THE DARKNESS

Apart from this tip sounding like a regular rock song title, it should also have a positive impact on your health. Research has shown that exposure to light during the night could affect hormones which regulate appetite and increase the risk for weight gain. Women who are exposed to bright light during sleep also have a 22% higher risk of developing breast cancer. Even exposure to dim light is not harmless and could lead to depression.

Why is that so?

Well, it seems that light during the night supresses melatonin levels and raises cortisol production. Melatonin is a hormone that controls your sleep and wake cycles. Its levels depend on natural (and indoor) light exposure - when it gets dark outside, melatonin levels go up, which causes you to be sleepy in the evening. Bright lights can disrupt melatonin production, which can create sleep and other problems. The hormone cortisole has an opposite effect, and its levels should remain low during the night, in order for us to sleep well.

My experience?

I know people who need total darkness so that they can sleep. I am not one of those people. It's easy to turn off all the lights and close the blinds, but I just don't like the feeling. Somehow I feel like I'm closed in a box, if that makes sense. However, I do plan to continue doing this, and I hope that I will see some positive effects during the next few weeks.

BREATHE FOR SLEEP

Breathing techniques can help us calm down, ward off stress, and also fall asleep faster. When you breathe slow, your heart rate slows down, too. The brain then gets the signal that you are calm and, as a consequence, the whole body relaxes as well. There are a couple of popular relaxing breathing techniques, with the 4-7-8 one being one of the most well-known:

Inhale through your nose while you count to 4.
Hold your breath for the count of 7.
Exhale through your mouth to the count of 8.
Repeat 5 times.

My experience?

Guys, I think this actually works! I don't fall asleep instantly, but I've noticed I don't toss and turn like I usually do. I modified the counts a bit and I basically do my own 5-5-5 method and repeat 5 times.

I would say that I need maybe up to 10 minutes to fall asleep thanks to this. However, I didn't sleep sufficiently a couple of nights this week (5-6 hours, which is certainly not enough), so that could also be the reason why I fell asleep fast. Or maybe 10 minutes is not fast enough, what do you think?

Like I said, I will slowly incorporate most, if not all of the better sleep tips I wrote about into my daily life. Some of them I am following already, like limiting my caffeine and alcohol intake. Oh, and I don't do naps. Still, I plan to write about these tips as well, as they might help some of you with your possible sleep problems.

Better Sleep Challenge: 13 Tips for Getting a Good Night's Sleep

Better Sleep Challenge: 2 More Tips That Can Help You Fall Asleep Faster

Better Sleep Challenge: First Impressions

Health

13 Tips for Getting a Good Night's Sleep

April 05, 2017

I must say, I love reading about and participating in different better life/health/diet/habits challenges that we often come across on social media. So, today I decided to write about my first challenge - the Better Sleep Challenge. I plan to check if one can really sleep better thanks to advice that we often find in books, magazines or on the internet. The idea is to incorporate the following tips gradually into my day (or rather night ;) ) routine:

Wake up and go to bed at approximately the same time every day.
Sleep 7-8 hours.
Avoid naps during the day.
Stay away from caffeine 6 to 8 hours before going to bed.
Avoid alcohol.
Don’t eat 3 hours before going to bed.
Avoid watching TV or using your cell phone, tablet or computer 2 to 3 hours before bedtime
Avoid spending time in brightly lit rooms before sleep, or simply put - dim the lights a couple of hours before going to bed.
Sleep in total darkness.
Practice breathing techniques to fall asleep faster
Drink a cup of warm herbal tea an hour before going to bed
Use essential oils that are known for their relaxing properties (lavender, lemonbalm, peppermint, ylang-ylang, sandalwood, etc.)
Eat foods that contain tryptophan or boost melatonin levels in the afternoon (almonds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, honey, bananas, oranges, pineapples, cherries, oats, rice, etc.)

These are most of the tips I collected that should help you sleep better. In this post I won't go into detail about each advice. As I plan to try them out step by step, I am going to write a weekly blogpost/report about the tips I followed and how and if they helped me sleep better and wake up well-rested. I've already begun to close the blinds each night before going to bed so that I can sleep in complete darkness.

So, what do you say? Would you like to join me in my Better Sleep Challenge?

Better Sleep Challenge: 13 Tips for Getting a Good Night's Sleep
Better Sleep Challenge: 2 More Tips That Can Help You Fall Asleep Faster
Better Sleep Challenge: First Impressions

Pages

2 More Tips That Can Help You Fall Asleep Faster

TAKE A MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENT

WHAT ARE YOU WEARING TO BED? SOCKS!

Better Sleep Tips: First Impressions

ENJOY THE DARKNESS

Why is that so?

My experience?

BREATHE FOR SLEEP

My experience?

13 Tips for Getting a Good Night's Sleep

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