How can you get a full night of restful sleep without waking up tired or groggy, but still feeling refreshed when you wake up in the morning?
Someone asked me this question on Quora and I gave her this answer.
I just felt like sharing it here with all of you and elaborate a little more on it for greater clarity.
Here is a checklist that we can keep to ensure that we are able to get a full night of restful sleep without waking up tired or groggy, but still feeling refreshed when waking up in the morning.
Go to bed at night when you are feeling sleepy. Don’t postpone sleep for anything else. When you mess with your sleep, then sleep ends up messing with you.
Ensure that you have had your dinner at least 2–3 hours before your sleep time. Your body needs time to digest before you sleep, so you can get the best quality sleep.
Avoid coffee 12 hours before your sleep time. Coffee consumption can reduce sleep quality and quantity for over 12 hours.
Alcohol needs 1 hour to get out of your system when you have had one peg. Allow as many hours as you have had pegs before going to bed.
Make sure that your core body temperature has dropped a couple of degrees before going to bed. A pre-cooled bedroom or a warm shower (one hour before bed) would help do that.
Avoid water 2-3 hours before bedtime. Water causes night urination and disturbs the continuity and quality of sleep.
Avoid mobiles, electronic devices, and other disturbances one hour before bedtime. Let your mind wind down naturally and turn inwards as you approach sleep time.
Make sure that you turn down your lights for some time before sleep time and let your bedroom be dark and sound-free when you lie down to sleep.
If you snore or have any breathing issues during sleep, get it checked by a doctor.
Any sleep-related disturbances need to be checked by a doctor to ensure that you get a good night’s sleep.
When you wake up naturally (without an alarm) get out of bed within a couple of minutes. Don’t decide to snooze several times before actually getting out of bed.
Get the morning sun to fall on you when you wake up or when the sun is up (whichever is later). This will program your circadian clock to function well.
Give gratitude, exercise your body, meditate and nourish yourself with love in the first hour of the day to power yourself through the day.
Remember that good sleep starts first thing in the morning. How you start your day, determines how your day turns out and ultimately how your night turns out.
Remember to get great sleep you need the right TDS of sleep.
T stands for Timing of Sleep:
You go to sleep when your body and mind want to sleep
You sleep at the same time every day
You sleep within 10 to 30 mins of lying down. Not before and not after
D stands for the Duration of Sleep:
You sleep as long as your body (and mind) want to sleep.
This duration will become clear after a week of sleeping without the alarm
S stands for Satisfaction of Sleep:
This happens when you wake up feeling fully refreshed and your energy levels stay up through the day without bouts of sleepiness
Chances of this happening increase if you do not have any sleep-related disturbances, and your sleep environment and sleep hygiene are both good.
If you have the right TDS of sleep, there is nothing to stop you from living for 100 years or beyond.
Wish you blissful sleep and very happy life.
