Guide To Getting A Good Night's Sleep

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DISCLAIMER: As always, this post is only to provide general information. Please consult with your healthcare professional regarding treatment for your specific needs.

Sleep problems can be common with a lot of people. We have all been around friends or colleagues that have said they are exhausted or didn’t sleep well last night. The good news is that if you are intentional and committed to making some changes, you can get a much better night’s sleep, which can be a benefit to your life, as well as your health and wellness.

Below, I share a few suggestions that you can try in your nightly routine that may help you achieve a more effective sleep.

Avoiding Caffeine

It can be hard to cut caffeine completely from your body, but when you have caffeine close to bedtime, it can significantly disrupt your sleep. If you are someone that does have caffeine in their diet, then avoiding it closer to bedtime will be beneficial to you. The impact that caffeine has is also true as you get older, especially if you consume it multiple times throughout the day, so taking steps to get into healthier habits now, will augur well for your overall health.

Rest and Unwind

This might sound like an odd one, because surely going to bed itself is a way to rest and unwind? But in actuality, stress has a massive impact on how well you are able to sleep. So before you actually get into bed, you need to take time to rest and unwind. It could simply be meditating for a few minutes, lighting a candle or listening to calm music. It’s best if you can avoiding screens and computers before bed because they can overstimulate your brain. A good book or magazine is the perfect alternative, but either way make sure it is stress-free. If you’re quite easily involved in fiction, then a tense, scary, or emotional story is not great for bed-time. Keep it easy, breezy, and even uplifting.

Try Natural Remedies

They say that pillow sprays made from things like lavender can have an impact on your sleep, so that is a natural easy win that can help you to drift off. Diffusing essential oils can help, as well a CBD oils like those of Imbue Botanicals, for example. The reason being, if you suffer from anxiety at night, or are someone that suffers from insomnia or wakes up a lot, then this kind of oil might be a solution, as it relaxes the mind and body, reduces your heart rate, and helps you drift off to a restful night’s sleep.

A fragrant, warm bath filled with luxurious oils or bubbles is a great way to relax. We may not have the time to regularly indulge in baths during the week, but they are perfect before an early night. Breathe deeply, apply a face mask or other pampering treatment, and try to release all the tension from your muscles. When we fall asleep, our temperature drops slightly. This also happens when we get out of the bath, and mimicking a slight temperature drop can tell our brain that it is time to sleep.

Create a Conducive Environment for Sleep

Where you sleep plays a big part, because if you are not comfortable, then it will be hard to drift off to sleep. Making sure that you have a mattress with good support and some comfortable bedding is an easy win. Then make sure your room is just the right temperature for you, as too hot or too cold will impact how well you sleep. Don’t use your bed for things like studying or doing work as these can be things that stimulate the mind, and you will start to associate your bed with those things. Not good when you are already struggling to drift off.

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10 Ways To Help You Break Hard Habits

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We are the sum of our habits. Everything that we do or think is born out of routines and lessons we have been taught our whole lives. When you allow the habits that you have developed to become bad ones, life becomes a little less fun and a little more difficult. 

The problem is that it is exceptionally easy for bad habits to creep into your life. One minute you’re socially smoking with your friends when you have a glass of wine, and the next you’ve managed to develop a thirty-a-day habit. They’re insidious: they happen when you’re not looking or paying attention. To break bad habits you need a lot of self-control. It takes work to be able to notice that you are doing something unhealthy - whether that’s unhealthy for you or for those around you. The thing is, breaking your bad habits is worth the effort. If you can put your mind to it, you can do it, and it’s as simple as that. Not only do you manage to change your unhealthy habits into good ones, you are able to develop a strong work ethic and better productivity in your everyday life. Hashtag science, yo.

So, with that in mind, here are ten things that you should stop doing and start changing today.

  • Stop Using Technology In Bed

The bed is the best place in your house, bar none. Most people don't realize that climbing into their comfortable beds and scrolling through Facebook is unhealthy. Before you know it, you’ve got into bed at 9pm, and it’s now 3am and you are knees-deep in YouTube conspiracy theories with a subscription to TinFoilHat.com. The bed is the one place you don’t need technology. You do not need to bring it to bed and make your brain stay awake long after your eyes want to sleep. Start leaving your device on a table outside the bedroom or across the room - that way, it’s there for emergencies but not close enough that you’ll sleep badly.

  • Stop Smoking

One of the worst habits to have is smoking. Why? Because this habit doesn't just affect you. When you smoke, you affect everyone else in the vicinity. We get it, it’s a hard habit to break because smoking is addictive. You’ll have noticed that most smokers turn to places like lightfirevapor.com to change their smoking habit into one where they still get the sensation of smoking but they’re using flavor instead. Smoking makes your clothes, hair and skin smell, and it’s something that you want to avoid along with the blackened lungs. Start working to get rid of this habit as soon as you can.

  • Impulsive Internet Searching

How easy is it to spend money online today? Well, Amazon has installed a handy “Buy Now” button to make it easier than ever. Before you mindlessly search online for nothing that will still cost you, stay productive by giving yourself 15 minutes to choose whether you really need what you went looking for.

  • Stop Looking At Your Phone - Mid-Conversation

How rude is it when you’re getting someone’s attention and while you’re doing it, they pick up their phone for a quick scroll? Very, that’s how rude it is. The thing is, you may be doing it yourself without knowing. Keep your phone away from your hands when you’re talking to someone and leave it in your pocket. You want to be engaged and paying attention properly. Don’t be that person.

  • Stop The Notifications

Oh, notifications are the productivity killer! When you’re at work or trying to be present with your family, your phone is going to ping off all over the place. Let’s turn those notifications off so that they can stop being a distraction and you can continue to be present in the moment.

  • Stop Saying YES

Okay, we don't normally advocate for saying no, especially when you should say yes to adventures and to good things. The thing is, saying “yes” to everything in life is not actually a good idea, as you become that person everyone turns to purely because you don't know how to say no. It’s a good way to get used to it and you shouldn't allow it anymore.

  • Stop Being Around Toxic People

Toxic people have a hold on us and it’s because of the toxicity. They know how to get under our skin with gaslighting and manipulation, and so we stay around the toxicity and believe that they love us really. They don't. Make it the thing that you do right now to say no and walk away from those who no longer deserve your attention.

  • Stop Multitasking When You Don’t Have To

In the workplace you need to be buzzing from place to place and doing multiple things. Life has you spinning many plates, but you don't have to do that throughout a meeting, so stop doing it! You don't have to turn yourself in knots for everyone else, so don’t do it anymore.

  • Stop Gossiping

It is so easy to get sucked into gossip. Gossip is salacious, it’s sexy and it’s devastating to the subject of the gossip. How would you feel if people were gossiping about you? We wouldn't like it, either. Gossip is a bad habit and it doesn't do you any good to gain anything from the misfortune of others. Morality check yourself whenever you can.

  • Stop Comparing Yourself

Every single butterfly in the world is unique and beautiful, and you are indeed a butterfly. There is no joy that comes from comparing yourself to other people. All you’re going to do is focus on what THEY are doing with life and less on what YOU are doing. And hunty, you are the focus of your own life - you have to play the starring role. Stop with the comparison, whether on social media or in real life - all you will do is ensure that you put yourself second. And that will never do.

These are all hard habits to break. Have you got what it takes?

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3 Ways To Modify Your Environment For Your Well-being

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When people think of self-improvement, they often think of stuff that happens "internally" rather than "externally," strictly speaking. For example, they'll work on reducing their negative self talk, setting productive goals, becoming more "motivated" to perform particular tasks, and so on. Interestingly enough, some of the most significant ways to transform your life for the better, actually rely on changing your environment, rather than just your thought process.

As human beings, our internal mental and emotional domains are always liable to be impacted to a significant degree by the surroundings we find ourselves in, and since we all spend so much time in our own homes, restructuring your home can easily be one of the most effective ways of creating that kind of change.

Here are just a few ways you can modify your environment to transform your life.


Overhaul your bedroom, and bedding, to experience a new world of deep sleep

People often underestimate the incredible degree to which the quality and length of their sleep impacts everything else in their lives. The research on this topic is crystal clear, though- when you get a good night's sleep, you're simply a better person across the board. Your emotions are more well-balanced, your mind works faster, your memory is better, and you're healthier.

Many people these days experience insomnia and other sleep conditions. Often, simply overhauling your bedroom, and bedding, can radically transform the quality of your sleep. Specially designed bedding, such as Tencel bed sheets ensure your sleep is refreshingly comfortable and the less crowded your bedroom is, the more likely you are to sleep properly at night.

Reshape your space, to increase or reduce resistance, and manage your habits

Writers Charles Duhigg and James Clear, have both written very successful books on the art of habit management. One theme that both men cover is that establishing good habits, and dissolving bad ones, largely comes down to managing "resistance." In other words – since people are typically inclined to follow the path of least resistance, making it just a bit harder to engage in negative habits, and a bit easier or more rewarding to engage in positive ones, can completely transform how you behave on an everyday basis.

In many cases, this is largely a matter of restructuring your home, and office environments. Such as by removing distractions, putting healthier food in the fridge, et cetera. Our habits define us to an enormous degree – so getting this right can really turn you into a new person.

De-clutter your home to enhance your attention and focus

It's inevitable that if your home is cluttered, your attention will be perpetually drawn in different directions, and you will find it very difficult to focus and maintain your attention on one thing at a time. There's a good deal of research to suggest that this particular state of affairs leads to chronic anxiety, and underperformance in work, hobbies, etc. Decluttering your home can help you to enhance your mental clarity, and simply lead to enjoying a better life.

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Why Your Mental Health Is Just As Important as Your Fitness

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Overall wellness incorporates your inner and outer self, including your mental health. However, there are many who believe that exercise alone will suffice. Unfortunately, this is a myth because not looking after your mental health could have a negative long-term impact on your life spanning from developing unhealthy coping mechanisms to injury. Taking your mental health as seriously as your physical health could ensure a fulfilling and healthy quality of life

Brain Health

Your short term and long term memory depend on your mental health and it is important that you get enough stimuli to promote brain health. There are plenty of ways you can engage with your environment and exercise your different senses. These include reducing screen time, reading, completing puzzles, logical games, building furniture, etc. Equally as important is taking time to rest and relax. This allows for recovery and can improve your motivation, memory and learning and decision-making capacity.

Dealing with Challenges

As we navigate through this thing called life, we all are bound to face challenges and obstacles. The good thing is, that you are not obligated to go through difficulties alone. Having a healthy support system, whether it be family and friends or a therapist, has been shown to increase well-being, reduce anxiety, stress or even depression, and aid in forming positive coping skills.

Some of the best benefits include higher levels of well-being, better coping skills, and a longer healthier life. Having a support system has also been proven to reduce depression and anxiety and reduce stress. In order for us to thrive, we need a support system to be there for us when we are in need.

Staying Flexible

If you would like to keep yourself in the best health possible, chances are that you are on a rigorous exercise routine. Do you get stressed if you don’t hit your weight loss target or get beaten by your teammates? If this is the case, you will have to learn how to stay flexible and give yourself allowances. Befriend yourself and accept your limitations, so you can stay flexible and adjust your life to your personal needs.

Developing Helpful Coping Mechanisms

If you look after your mental health, you will be able to find ways of coping with difficult people, situations, and relationships in the most positive way. If you don’t invest in your self-help, you will find yourself making things worse and being disappointed with yourself. Today we are facing much more stress than previous generations, so you have to learn how to switch off and relax.

Preventing Psychosomatic Illnesses

Some scientists believe that there is a much closer relationship between mental and physical health than most of us believe. The idea of psychosomatic illnesses is not new in science, and you might have experienced that you are more prone to infections, mood swings, and even serious long term conditions if you are not happy with how your life is going. People who don’t sleep enough and are always stressed are more likely to become sick.

Staying Focused

If you can clear your mind sometimes through practicing meditation, or mindfulness, you can get more focused on your tasks, and even your fitness plans. Whenever you feel like you are suffering from information overload and cannot see what’s ahead of you, take a step back and try to reflect on your situation. Notice and acknowledge the negative thoughts and let them go so you can keep on working towards your personal goals.

Better Clarity of Thoughts

Once you are able to think things through and take a step back from your busy life, magical things can happen. You will be able to see your situation clearer, without the emotional charge. Whether you have to make a challenging career-related decision or are dealing with money issues, seeing clearer will always help.

 

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