You’ve probably experienced this too: the evening has become a little too long again, you really should be thinking about this and that, but tomorrow you have to get up early again. The result: we turn from left to right in bed, look at the clock far too often and ask ourselves when sleep will finally come. And as if that weren’t enough, the next day we also feel tired, worn out and unfocused.
If you have found yourself up to here, you should definitely read on. With this article, we would like to give you a few tips on how you can help yourself and your body sleep better and get more rest.
Prepare the bedroom: Ventilate & heat
First of all, you should make sure that your bedroom is ideally prepared for a good night’s sleep. Ideally, you should ventilate your bedroom three times a day for about 5-10 minutes. This ensures a complete exchange of air and ideal conditions for the night.
In addition to fresh air, the right temperature in the bedroom is also important: experts recommend a sleeping temperature of 15-18 °C. If you generally like it a little warmer, you can also set the heating to 20 °C. If you have smart heating thermostats, you can also set the temperature in the bedroom so that it is lowered a little during the night.
Ban stress factors from the bedroom
Mobile phones, tablets, laptops and televisions should ideally be banned from the bedroom. If you don’t look at your mobile phone regularly in bed or even a while before, you will be less distracted and find your way to sleep more quickly.
With the right fragrance to better sleep
Aromatherapy based on herbal active ingredients is appreciated by many people as a gentle method to lighten the mood or to promote general well-being. The sleep-promoting effect of certain essential oils is also known: The scents of lavender, jasmine, stone pine, rose and lemon balm, for example, have a calming effect on our body and mind and experience has shown that they can also promote falling asleep.
Don’t eat dinner too late
Surely most of you know the saying: “In the morning like an emperor, at noon like a king and in the evening like a beggar”, which advises against a sumptuous dinner. The background to this is that when we eat too much, our stomach has a lot of work to do to process and digest the food properly. But when the stomach is working hard, the rest of the body can’t rest either.
That is why it is advisable to eat dinner at least two hours before going to bed. It is best to eat light food and avoid heavy meals in the evening.
The right drink in the evening can also influence your sleep patterns. Coffee or black teas are not suitable for the evening because of the caffeine they contain. Alcohol should also be taboo in the evening. Scientists at the London Sleep Centre have found out in a study that drinking alcohol confuses the sequence of sleep phases, has a diaphoretic effect, stimulates thirst and causes more trips to the toilet. In the long run, all these aspects can even lead to massive sleep disturbances.
Instead, you should reach for a hot and tasty herbal tea in the evening. Camomile tea has a calming effect on our nervous system due to its ingredient apigenin. But other herbal teas made from lemon balm, hops or lavender can also be very good help before falling asleep.
By the way: In our shop you will find our herbal tea “Evening Star”. A well-dosed blend of honeybush, lemon balm, sweet fennel, camomile, lavender, sage and hops that ensures good sleep and sweet dreams in the evening. If you want it to go a little faster, we recommend our “bedtime herbal bitters “.
What about exercise before bed?
You should avoid endurance and weight training two to three hours before you go to bed. This way, your circulation will no longer be running at full speed and your body will have enough time to rest. If you don’t want to completely give up a little workout in the evening, you should try relaxing yoga exercises. You will see that there are many exercises that can also be done lying down and can be integrated into an evening ritual.
The sleep ritual
To make it easier to fall asleep and to improve the quality of your sleep, you should introduce a fixed ritual for the evening. It is best to start about an hour before you go to bed to prepare your body for the night’s rest: a hot bath, a short meditation, reading a good book or drinking a tasty tea can work wonders. If possible, try to stick to your ritual every night so that your body gets used to the routine. You will see: The problems falling asleep will become less and less with time.
If it doesn’t work: Get up, distract yourself and try again later.
As soon as you notice that you can’t fall asleep. Do not try to force sleep. Instead, get up again and do something as monotonous as possible in dim light. This could be light housework such as emptying the dishwasher or folding the laundry. Under no circumstances should you turn on the TV or use your mobile phone – the blue light from electrical appliances will only make your body wake up unnecessarily. As soon as you notice that you are getting tired, you can try to fall asleep again.
Please remember that there is no one strategy that will help you sleep better and more relaxed. It is best to find out for yourself which tips and aids best suit your sleeping habits and help you fall asleep better.
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