Sleep hygiene is really important. How you wind down at the end of the day is crucial, especially if your days are long and stressful. Being calm, and inducing a feeling of ‘hygge’ (that’s Danish for cosiness), encourages sleep to come more easily.
Here’s how to fall asleep when the night’s are cold & unforgiving.
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Eat Supper Early
Try having your last meal for the day at least 2-3 hours before bedtime. Eating too close to bedtime can elevate your blood sugar levels, which will heighten your energy levels when you should really be slowing down.
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Exercise.. During The Day
Exercise promotes restful sleep – depending on when you do it. It can help you fall asleep faster and sleep deeply. Exercise stimulates the secretion of the stress hormone cortisol, helping to activate the alerting mechanism in the brain. This is good for the body – Unless you’re trying to fall asleep! Aim to finish exercising about three hours before bed – or work out in the morning.
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Shut Down Screen Time
Turn off all screens before you go to bed, and remember to keep your cellphone out of the bedroom for a much better sleep session. Research says that exposure to ‘blue-light’ screens over-stimulates the brain and makes nodding off more difficult.
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Keep Your Covers Cozy
Make a hot water bottle and put it under the covers to warm up your bed before you turn in, this should help you fall asleep much faster because your covers are already cozy.
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Turn The Lights Down Low
This probably goes without saying, but making your space as dark as possible before you hit the hay will help you fall asleep faster, it should also help you to sleep better when the time comes to nod off.
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Soak In The Bath – If You Can
The rise, then fall, of body temperature promotes drowsiness. If you’re a ‘Kapenaar’ and can’t indulge in a bath, soak your feet in a basin of soothing hot water for 10 minutes. The feeling of relaxation is absolutely heavenly.
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Read
If you’ve got some time to spare at night, try switching out your late night TV show for a book and read for half an hour. Reading takes you into another space, mentally, and being in another zone is relaxing.
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Drink a Cup of Turmeric (aka Curcumin) Milk
The health benefits of Curcumin are a hot topic. It has potent anti-inflammatory benefits, as well as powerful antioxidant effects. It neutralizes free radicals on its own, then stimulates the body’s own antioxidant enzymes.
Curcumin boosts levels of the brain hormone BDNF, which increases the growth of new neurons and fights various degenerative processes in the brain. From a health point of view, this naturally derived ingredient is worth its weight in gold.
What’s more – Turmeric is a deliciously golden alternative to cocoa or tea! Here’s our hot tip to help you get those zzz’s when it’s cold out:
To enhance the health benefits of Curcumin, take a Releaf Curcumin 185 capsule with your ‘golden milk’. (Curcumin 185 is more ‘bioavailable’ – and therefore 185 times better absorbed by the body.)
Read more about the benefits of Turmeric here.
Sleep Well…
And with all those hot tips, you’re well on your way to a better night’s sleep during the cold Winter months.
For a good night’s sleep, you can also try Releaf Theanine – a wonderful sleep aid formulated with a caffeine antagonist to relax, calm and reduce anxiety. Read more here
