At Cuddledown, we love Oprah’s O Magazine for all of its great tips on pretty much everything in life. So when we saw this article about bedtime rituals for better sleep, we felt we had to share it, given our focus on better, healthy sleep!
In the article, O gives some great sleep tips from a variety of people, including Jillian Michaels of “the Biggest Loser” and the Chairman of the Board of the National Sleep Foundation. Among the tips are the following (which we all think are great advice!)
1. Get as close to 8 hours sleep as you can – it’ll help make you more rested, and even less hungry. If you have trouble falling asleep, try an audio book with the volume turned way down so you can drift off.
2. Block out sleep interference, especially when traveling. Wear ear plugs to block loud or annoying noises, and block light with a mask, or dark curtains, and make sure your clock, phone etc. are not shining light on you as you sleep. The light can cause interference with the melatonin produced by your brain, thus keeping you awake. If you’re worried about getting up in the morning, you can use a vibrating alarm (there are apps for that!)
3. Similar to the above tip, use a fan or white noise machine to create a steady, soothing hum that will block out sleep-interfering noises.
4. Do some stretching exercises or yoga before going to bed to relax your body.
5. Let your furry friends sleep in their own beds. As much as we love our pets, experts recommend not sleeping with them, as they can significantly disrupt your sleep, according to a study by the Mayo Clinic.
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