The National Sleep Foundation suggests that adults ages 18-64 need seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Children and teens require more sleep; teenagers require between eight and ten hours, and young children can require as many as thirteen hours of sleep every night.
There are factors that may change the amount of sleep that is right for you personally. Evaluate the amount of sleep you need on how you feel when you have had different amounts of sleep. Do you need caffeine to make it through your day? Do you feel happy and productive? Finding out how many hours of sleep your body requires will enable you to plan your days and leave yourself time to fully rest each night.
Sleep is an undervalued but vital part of your overall health. Making the decision to make sleep a priority is a great start, we want to give you a few more tips to help you get the best possible rest.
Schedule: Make sleep a priority. Having a regular sleep schedule will help you to get a better night’s rest. Stick to your sleep schedule on the weekends, changing your schedule on the weekends can throw your internal clock off.
Listen: Try listening to some relaxing music as you prepare for bed. If you have a relaxing routine before bed you can help your body wind down and get ready for rest. Try taking a warm bath or reading quietly for a few minutes.
Exercise: Getting around 30 minutes of exercise can help your body sleep more soundly, but don’t exercise right before you go to bed. Your body temperature will rise during exercise, leave yourself a few hours to cool down before you go to sleep.
Environment: Have a cool, dark, quiet place to rest. Fun fact, people with blue bedroom walls tend to get more sleep than any people in bedrooms of any other color.
Prepare: Start gearing toward sleep in the evening, be aware of what you are consuming. Alcohol, while it may help you fall asleep a little faster, can actually wake you up later at night as you metabolize it. Meals high in fat and protein can take a long time to digest, so eating these late in the evening can keep your body awake and digesting. Caffeine can remain in your system for up to fifteen hours, so have your tea or coffee early in the day.
If you wake up in the middle of the night try to avoid bright lights, smartphones/tablets and watching the clock. Try to breathe deeply and let yourself be calm and relaxed. If you aren’t able to fall asleep after a fifteen or twenty minutes get up for a bit and try a relaxing activity like reading or listening to music.
People that suffer from chronic pain tend to have a harder time sleeping soundly. Often people in pain will not finish their sleep cycles or will wake up in the middle of the night. If you have pain that is keeping you from a full night’s rest, we can help you address the issue, give us a call!
