5 easy ways to have a better night's sleep.
Usually, I'm a good sleeper but since I've been sick this week my sleep has been totally out of whack. The first few nights I was sleeping more than I knew was humanly possible and now, I can't sleep at all. It's been a rough few days sleep wise so I figured I would write about my five best tips to help improve your sleep. They're all super simple, affordable (mostly free) and they make a world of difference in improving your sleep and making you a more well rested, happier human. Throwing on some cute PJ's never hurts either (insert winky emoji here). Shop my fave PJ's and read my tips for better sleep below!
1. Count Your Breathing
It's similar to a meditation but don't let that scare you away! I use this super simple technique almost every night to fall asleep. I've passed it on to Oren, friends and family and have only heard good feedback. I learned this technique from a really great, total hippie of a professor my senior year of college and I've used it ever since. When we get in bed, often our thoughts our so consuming that it's hard to fall asleep (as least this happens to me)! So, what I do is focus on counting my breathing. It's really simple, inhale 4 counts, hold my breathe at the top 4 counts, and exhale for 4 counts and repeat until I fall asleep. This makes your brain completely focus on your breathe and stops it from wandering your thoughts about what happened that day, what you have to do the next day, etc.
2. Essential Oils
This is a super easy, relaxing way to help you fall asleep quickly and with ease. Once you're all tucked in, put a couple drops of essential oil on the inside of one wrist, and rub your wrists together the way you would perfume. Bring one wrist a few inches from your face and take a few deep inhales. My favorite oil is lavender and studies have shown that the inhalation of lavender oil does improve quality of sleep. If you're not a fan of the smell of lavender there are plenty of other oils you can try as well. Some to keep in mind are chamomile, marjoram or rose oil. You can also mix a few drops of oil into a water spritzer and spray it a few times in your bedroom before you go to sleep or sleep with a diffuser with the oil of your choice next to your bed. (links to my favorites below)
3. Fan/White Noise Machine
Sleeping with white noise helps drown out all the outside noise in the city and makes it easier for me to sleep. I simply sleep with a fan on only for the purpose of the noise, and it dramatically helps me to fall asleep. I recently also downloaded a white noise app on my iPhone but the quality is pretty bad. I've heard that the best white noise machine out there is the Dohm white noise maker (linked below). If you have trouble sleeping I highly recommend trying to sleep with white noise, whether you use a fan or a white noise machine it's sure to help!
4. Earplugs
I know this doesn't sound very comfortable but if you insert them properly and don't shove them all the way into your ears, earplugs aren't bad at all. They can also be a huge sleep saver especially if you're a city dweller. Drowning out the outside noise completely makes it so pleasant to fall asleep and easy to stay asleep. I use earplugs often on top of my fan for white noise, that way any background noise I do hear is the white noise. It helps me tremendously.
5. Exercise on a Regular Basis
I know this is one tip that people say helps pretty much everything... Well sorry to add to that list, but sleep is no exception. Exercising on a regular basis does wonders for your sleep. It helps pretty much everything, actually. Regular exercise increases your energy during the day and helps you to fall asleep and stay asleep at night. If you don't already workout regularly, I promise if you start, within 2 weeks or so you will notice huge improvements to your sleep.
