Now that it is a new year, there’s never a better time to set forth some new personal goals along with some health goals for 2018. Since sleep is so closely correlated with overall health, making some bed time adjustments or changes may set forth a better you for the new year. We here at Spring Air feel that implementing some of these suggestions will ensure you are sleeping better in 2018!
Here are our top 3 suggestions:
- Take the TV out of your Bedroom: studies have shown that the blue light that occurs when watching TV in a dark room stimulates your brain in a way that makes it very difficult to fall asleep and/or get the deep restful sleep that you need. A simple solution – just take it out of your room and put it in your storage area or extra room. Give it a try for 2-3 weeks and see how you are feeling – we are going go out on a limb and say you will be feeling much more rested!
- Charge your Mobile Phone in a different Room: continuing with the trend of making your room a “no electronic zone”, try leaving your phone in another room to charge overnight. The only downside to this would be if you use your phone as an alarm clock, as so many do. You may need to go out and get an old-fashioned alarm clock to make this resolution work – but it will certainly be worth it! If your mobile phone is at arm’s reach as you try to get to sleep, you will have a higher chance of picking it up to respond to texts, emails, and surf the web. Similarly, to watching TV in bed, your brain becomes activated when you are on your smart phone in your bed- so don’t bring it to bed anymore!
- Listen to Classical Music: if you are accustomed to either watching TV in bed, or playing on your smart phone before bed, it might be hard to transition into a silent, dark room and expect to fall asleep. Many alarm clocks have the capability to also play music that’s on the radio – so listen to your local classical music station in the dark when you are settling down. Now, you may not want this music to be playing all night long, so set it on a time to shutoff 30-45 minutes in. While classical music has a calming effect on most people, it might not be up everyone’s alley to incorporate classical music before hitting the sack. Another variation of listening to music, would be investing in a sound machine. Sound machines give you a variety of different (non-musical) sounds to that promote relaxation – some settings would include the sound of the ocean, running brook, and white noise.
Here’s to Better Sleep in 2018!