How to sleep soundly: 9 tips

Simple tips on how to sleep soundly and have a restful sleep.

Sleep is a fundamental aspect and practice in our lives, which allows us to live healthy, rest, stay energetic, perform at our best in our daily lives and maintain a positive mood.

However, there are many people who suffer from sleep problems, such as insomnia (the most common sleep disorder), recurrent awakenings or unrefreshing sleep. But... how to sleep soundly? In this article we will see different sleep hygiene guidelines that can help you rest better.

How to sleep deeply: 9 key ideas

Sleep deeply, probably what we all want. There are people who have a great facility for it, and others who do not (it also depends a lot on the time we are living); this is a problem, because the consequences of not resting enough wear out both health and psychological skills that we use every day. the consequences of not getting enough rest are very detrimental to both our health and the psychological skills we use on a daily basis..

Sleep hygiene is a concept that encompasses all those measures aimed at making it easier for us to fall asleep and sleep better during the night (more deeply and restoratively).

So, how to sleep soundly? Here you will find several very useful sleep hygiene guidelines. As you will see, they are mainly focused on getting to sleep better naturally, which is related to a deeper and more restful sleep.

1. Exercise

Exercise is one of the measures that are part of the sleep hygiene techniques. Practicing exercise improves your health, and in addition, it can make you sleep more soundly. A key idea, in this sense, is to practice every day, in the middle of the afternoon, some exercise routine.

Exercises may vary from one person to another (in terms of intensity, difficulty and types of exercises), depending on their physical condition and age. The important thing here is to establish a daily exercise routine that will tire our body and that facilitates a more restful sleep at night..

Surely it has happened to you, the fact of being a long time "doing nothing" (sport), and feeling inactive, out of shape. And in these times, you have certainly had more trouble sleeping (especially if you already had sleep problems). On the other hand, when we are active, our rest improves.

On the other hand, it is important to emphasize that exercise should not be too close to bedtime (better before 8 pm), and that it should not be excessively intense (because over-activation will make it difficult for you to sleep and relax).

2. Do not drink liquids two hours before going to bed.

Many people who suffer from insomnia, or who do not rest well, tend to get up repeatedly during the night, either because they are sleepless or because they are tired.either because they are awake and do not want to stay in bed, or because (and this reason is much more frequent) they have to go to the bathroom.

That is why the second key idea on how to sleep soundly that we propose is to avoid consuming liquids at least two hours before going to bed. This will help you not to have so many urges to go to the bathroom, and will prevent you from waking up at night.

3. Avoid large dinners

Another key idea on how to sleep soundly is directly related to food, especially dinner.

If we dine on very heavy meals (copious) and high in calories and fat, our digestive system is likely to have a harder time digesting all this food, which in turn can make you feel uncomfortable.This, in turn, can make you feel discomfort during the night and make you feel unrefreshed.

In this sense, we suggest you opt for light dinners (for example, a salad with grilled fish), which will facilitate your digestion and can help you sleep better.

4. Avoid caffeine consumption

Caffeine is a substance that belongs to the xanthine group, which wakes us up and activates us. Consuming caffeine during the first half of the day does not necessarily cause problems during the night.However, after approximately 6 p.m. in the evening, we recommend that you do not consume this substance.

On the other hand, there are people who notice the effects of caffeine more (and that these last longer). (and that these last longer), so if this is your case, the ideal is that you do not take this substance, or that you try to reduce its consumption as much as possible. And, in case you do take it, it is better to take it in the morning.

The effect of caffeine (which is also found in other beverages beyond coffee, such as some energy drinks) is antagonistic to the effect we need when we want to relax and fall asleep, so stopping its consumption can help you sleep better (and more soundly).

5. Avoid alcohol consumption

Another tip on how to sleep soundly is to stop consuming alcohol (or reduce its consumption to a minimum), since this substance is also closely related to the onset of sleep disorders. is also closely related to the onset of sleep disturbances (difficulty in falling asleep, fragmented sleep (difficulty falling asleep, fragmented and non-refreshing sleep, etc.).

In the end, let's think that everything we give our body, which is "artificial", will alter our natural functioning, which directly affects our sleep quality.

6. Relax before going to sleep (techniques)

If your body is relaxed just before going to sleep, it is more likely that sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep) will decrease, and also that your sleep will be deeper and more restful.

Of course, you can fall asleep relaxed and wake up during the night, or do so and not sleep well (there are people and circumstances of all kinds), but enhancing relaxation when you get into bed, along with other factors, can really help you sleep better. In this sense, there are several techniques that can help you relax:

• Take a warm bath before going to bed (it will relax your muscles if they are sore).
• Play relaxing music.
• Practice gentle yoga.
• Practice diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing.

7. Use the bed only for sleeping

This strategy, which is also part of the basic measures of sleep hygiene, consists of to encourage our brain to use the bed only for sleeping, by using it only for this purpose.This strategy, which is also part of the basic sleep hygiene measures, consists of encouraging our brain to use the bed only for sleeping, by using it only for this purpose (i.e. avoiding eating in it, watching movies in it, working, doing homework, etc.).

This key idea on how to sleep deeply will help you to sleep better, since your brain will more quickly associate the bed with sleep and with a state of relaxation. This is a mechanism based on classical conditioning (association of environmental stimuli and physiological responses).

8. Keep your room ventilated and at the right temperature

It is a fact that heat can inhibit sleep. That is why it is recommended that you always keep the room ventilated, cool and at a suitable temperature. You should feel comfortable and calm in it, so that your body relaxes and associates these environmental conditions with sleep. and associate these environmental conditions with sleep. Thus, all this configures another measure that can facilitate a good rest.

9. Control your mind

Finally, another guideline on how to sleep soundly has to do with controlling your thoughts.

Many people, when they go to bed, tend to systematically go over everything they've done during the dayor everything they have to do tomorrow.

They may also be thinking about past, present and future worries, or other types of thoughts that only generate anxiety and discomfort, and make it very difficult to fall asleep (which, in turn, can also impair deep and restful sleep, although not always).

In these cases, we must learn to control our mind (hard task!), through the practice of the following technique: simply, let your thoughts flow, don't repress them, but don't dwell on them or dwell on them, either..

Here you can also apply, in a complementary way, breathing techniques and visualization of pleasant images, to help you connect the focus on something else and relax.

Bibliographical references:

• Merino, M. et al. (2016). Healthy sleep: evidence and guidelines for action. Official document of the Spanish Sleep Society, 63(Suppl. 2).
• Unidad de Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias. (2009). Learning to know and manage insomnia. Information for the patient. Quality Plan for the National Health System of the Ministry of Health and Social Policy. Clinical Practice Guidelines in the SNS.
• Sleep Unit, Ministry of Health, Social Policy and Equality. (2011). Quality and safety standards and recommendations. Reports Studies and research.