6 Effective Ways On How To Sleep Better At Night Naturally, Without Medication

For something that our bodies always for crave at the end of the day, we are guilty of taking sleep for granted.

Sleep is so important. In fact, it’s just as (if not more) important as maintaining a healthy diet and getting a consistent amount of exercise. It’s our maintenance time, allowing our body and mind to recharge, rest and repair itself to make sure that when you wake up in the morning, you’re good to go once more. As a matter of fact, an insufficient amount of sleep can easily lead to serious problems in our cognitive and behavioral functions, which can then impair you throughout the day, or worse, become the breeding ground for disease.

Chances are, you’re already feeling it too, as common side-effects include:

• Difficulty in solving problems and making decisions
• Feeling groggy and on the edge when you do daily activities, like watching TV or sitting at work
• Take longer to complete tasks and make more mistakes than usual
• Find it difficult to remember/recall things, or learn them in the first place
• Have trouble controlling your emotions

And that’s just some of it. Sleep is an incredibly essential function, and people who always pull an all-nighter should start taking notes.

Data from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reveals that about 1 in 3 Americans do not get the proper amount of sleep at night, which should be about 7-8 hours every night. But we're not here to play the blame game.

There are a lot of reasons why this is hard to do for some, but what it all boils down to is simply living in a fast-paced and modern world, where everything is supposed to be instantaneous, and everyone is just vying to get our attention and keep it there for as long as possible. The significant increase in screen-time for example, is one of the things that keep us up late at night, while the demands of the modern workplace always push us to work harder and longer hours, lessening the time that we have to ourselves.

All these can easily lead to bad habits without us noticing, and before we know it, we’re once again running fumes with just a couple of hours of sleep.

It doesn’t always have to be this way, and you’re simply not doomed to toss and turn on your bed at night. Here are some tips that hopefully, can help get more (and better) sleep at night, as well as some quality products that are specifically made to help you achieve that:

1.Increase Your Exposure to Bright Light During Daytime

It’s time to make some effort and fix your so-called “circadian rhythm,” which is essentially the natural time-keeping clock that your body follows. Affecting your hormones, brain and body, this rhythm essentially tells you when it’s time to wake up and when to sleep.

Unfortunately, we can easily mess up this rhythm. Thankfully, fixing it is possible, and one way to do this is by exposing yourself to natural sunlight or bright light during the daytime. In turn, this helps improve your daytime energy, which then results in healthier sleep quality and duration.

2.Reduce Bright Light Exposure During Nighttime

Same as increasing your natural light exposure during the day, you also need to lessen your artificial light exposure before sleeping at night. Also known as blue light, this type of light usually comes from mobile devices that we usually use in bed before sleeping.

While a lot of people use this while waiting to feel sleepy, the reality is that it’s doing the actual opposite, and helps you stay up for longer. This is because the blue light tricks your body into think that it’s still daytime, resulting in your body producing less melatonin, which is the hormone that helps you relax and fall asleep.

When reducing blue light, there are a few methods you can do. First is to wear glasses that block blue light, while installing an app that blocks blue light on your phone is also an option. The best is to simply stop using your phone at least two hours before bedtime, while turning off bright lights as well.

3.Nap Smart

You might find yourself more tired than usual if your sleeping schedule is extremely irregular, and one thing that can help fix this are naps. However, while short naps in the afternoon can definitely give you a boost of energy and help you think clearly, it can easily confuse your body’s circadian rhythm if you sleep too close to bedtime. As such, if it’s already close to dinner time and you’re still feeling tired, it’s best to power through the night and just sleep earlier later.

4. Take Advantage of Sleeping Products

These days, it’s very common to lose sleep over a lot of things. Thankfully, the modern world has acknowledged that and made use of current technology to provide gadgets and sleeping aids that are specifically designed to help you stock up on sleep. Here are two of the best ones we can recommend:

Mosaic Weighted Blankets

We all know how sleeping with a good blanket can make us feel comfortable and sleep better. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why kids get so attached to their childhood blankets. It feels like a warm hug, and being under it makes us feel safe and carefree. But did you know that more than making us feel safe and warm, blankets can also help us get more sleep?

Enter weighted blankets, which started as a fad but have proven itself to be incredibly useful, especially for people suffering from issues like insomnia and even anxiety. And for our choice, we recommend Mosaic Weighted Blankets.

Started by Laura LeMond, a native Austinite who herself was born early and had trouble falling asleep as a baby, Mosaic Weighted Blankets are made to help calm you down during the night, leading to longer and better sleep. Made in the U.S., these weighted blankets are made with tiny plastic pellets inside that make them heavier, while the kids’ selection just has a few extra pounds on them.

The extra weight results in “pressure therapy,” which then releases chemicals like melatonin and serotonin in your brain that will help you relax, calm down, and ease your heart rate.

In turn, this helps you sleep better, while also helping relieve other disorders like anxiety, stress/tension, ADHD, insomnia, ASD, restless leg syndrome, depression and so much more. This makes weighted blankets a great investment, especially if you live a fast-paced life that always leaves you stressed and sleep-deprived, and this is what makes Mosaic Weighted Blankets a great addition to your bedroom.

At the moment, Mosaic offers weighted blankets with different patterns and designs for kids and adults, as well as comforters, duvets, and even face masks to help meet the pandemic. You may check all their products here, and start on your journey to sleeping better.

Moonbow

Not everyone prefers weighted blankets, and that’s fine. Some simply fall asleep when listening to music and/or relaxing sounds, which is why we also recommend checking out these Moonbow bedphones by DubsLabs.

Specifically made for sleeping, these “bedphones” by DubsLabs are on-ear headphones that are so thin and soft they practically disappear between your ears and the pillow. Light as a feather and only a quarter-inch thick, these foam-covered headphones are made so you can barely feel them lying flat against your ears, even when you toss and turn and roll over in the night.

The result is a listening experience that is as calming as it is relaxing, letting you sleep with your favorite music without even feeling like you have anything on. This lets you block any snoring or sleep apnea, relieve tinnitus for those that have it, or simply listen to the music of your choice. And it’s not just for sleeping either, as these bedphones can be used basically all the time as well.

Coming with a “30-night guarantee,” these bedphones also have a 1-year warranty and free shipping, and are available in wired and wireless variants. Shop for them here, and get your next travel and sleep companion.

Additionally, Moonbow also offers a referral program where you can get a coupon for free bedphones when your friends buy from your link. Learn more about it here.

5. Exercise Regularly, But Not Near Bedtime

Now that we’re done with sleeping aids and weighted blankets, another tip to improve your sleep quality is to start moving and having physical activity such as exercise throughout the day.

It doesn’t have to be a high-intensity workout, as the goal here is to simply sweat out and refrain from following a sedentary lifestyle. In fact, studies show that exercise can reduce the time to falling asleep by 55%, and increase the total sleep time by 18%.

However, make sure that you don’t perform it late in the day, as the stimulatory effect of exercise includes increased alertness.

6. Tweak Your Diet

Lastly, make sure that you have a healthy eating plan. Doing so will give us the nutrition we need, which our body usually absorbs while we sleep. Avoid alcohol and high-fat/high-protein foods that take longer to break down as well. Additionally, avoid eating spicy food before bed, as this can cause heartburn that can impact your sleep.

So there you have it, six easy tips to help you fall asleep better at night. Sleeping soundly every night is simply part of improving your overall health and wellness, so make sure you catch more than a few winks when it’s bedtime.

So turn on the night light, put away your phone, pull up your blanket, and let your body prepare for the day tomorrow. Oh, and make sure to repeat this every night.