Why can't I sleep?!

With social networking being as rife as it is, and the world being so easily connected, it's no wonder we're told we live in a world that 'Never sleeps'. So it's even less surprising when we can't actually get to sleep!

It's estimated that 6 in 10 people don't get the sleep that they require each night. Whether this be due to work commitments, noisy neighbours or spending too long on tumblr each night (guilty), it's not good for you! Sleep is just as important for human beings as food, water and air are, so don't let it be neglected! Here are five tips that I've used that just might help you get the sleep that you need each night:

1. Turn out the lights

Our bodies are hard-wired to stay awake while it's light, and sleep when it's dark. That's the nature of our body clock. Exposure to light stimulates parts of the brain responsible for temperature control, hormones and various other functions that either make us feel sleepy, or wide awake.

So when you're staring into your iPhone at 2am, wondering why you can't fall asleep, the answer is literally right in front of you! If you haven't turned off your bedroom lights and TV, shut the curtains and stopped holding your phone 3cm from your nose, then it's no surprise your body isn't going to sleep, it hasn't been told to yet.

2. Don't eat/drink excessively before bed

Having a little snack before you head off to catch some Z's is fine, but having a large meal or drinking gallons of water before you go to bed is going to end up in a bad night's sleep. Having a lot of food is likely to result in more vivid dreams, more often than not nightmares. But drinking excessive water is going to have an equally disruptive effect, in that you'll be heading back and forth to the bathroom every half an hour.

3. Keep your phone away from you

Whilst most of us are in the habit of keeping our phone close by when we sleep (who knows what might happen in the night!) It would actually be more beneficial for your sleep if you kept your phone on the other side of the room, or at least out of arm's reach. Otherwise every time you wake up, you want to check it to see if Larry's liked that picture of your cat with it's face in a slice of bread. If you keep your phone away from you, and on 'do not disturb' mode, you'll sleep a lot more soundly having not disturbed your sleep so much. Larry's opinions can wait until morning.

At the very least, iPhones now have a built in blue light filter, which you can select when you flick up the phones control menu and press the button in the middle at the bottom. An app that achieves this for androids can be found here

If you are so tethered to your phone that you can't keep away, then at least start using this function before you go to bed and turn the lights off. The blue light in our screens places more strain on your eyes and will result in you having a worse nights sleep as a result of that.

4. Keep your room cool

Whilst some of us like to be snuggled up with our hot water bottles, blankets and microwavable stuffed animals, research has proven that sleeping in such warm conditions may not be beneficial to our sleep. The ideal temperature for us to sleep is 60-67 degrees Fahrenheit (15-20 degrees Celsius)

For those of us that won't be able to give up the warmth of our beds, I highly recommend at least having a cool shower before going to bed as it will bring down your core temperature and heart rate. This was one of the major things that helped me change my sleeping habits and made my sleep much more peaceful and less disjointed.

5. Relax!

One of the biggest contributing factors to my own sleep issues was that I wasn't relaxing before I went to bed. I would put on a film or an episode of something and then sit there and watch it until I fell asleep. This of course meant that at some point during the night I would wake up so that I could turn the TV off, which in itself was disrupting my sleep.

But as a whole, not making the correct transition into your sleep will result in your brain staying highly active before bed. This will result in more vivid dreams and will leave you feeling more tired in the morning.

My standard routine is normally to have a shower about half an hour before I want to sleep, get straight into bed and read a chapter or two of a book and then meditate for about 5 minutes after I've turned the light out. Having that time to collect your thoughts in a peaceful, serene environment will put you in much better stead for the next day.

I hope these tips have helped you in some way. These are just some examples of ways I've tried to take control of my sleep a bit more, as beforehand I was regularly falling asleep in public places and suffering from sleep paralysis. Now my sleep is a lot more steady, regular and healthy! Don't hesitate to leave a comment below, or message me on tumblr with any of your concerns!

Metta,

Avazen