Ciao! Welcome to our snooze o‘clock section, besides the mattress world, there is also a whole world of sleep! Our first topic to touch on is sleep hygiene.
You might be wondering, “what is sleep hygiene? and I am here to answer this for you.
Sleep hygiene is the practices and habits you obtain in order to get a good night’s sleep, these habits can also prevent certain sleep issues and discomfort as well.
Okay so now you are probably wondering if you have good or bad sleep hygiene! Listed below are signs that you need to improve on your sleeping habits:
- Having background noises while sleeping
- You tend to nap throughout the day
- You do not have a consistent bedtime or sleeping schedule
- You tend to drink a cup of coffee before bedtime
- You have a lot of build of anxiety that troubles you to fall asleep
If any of these sounds like a familiar habit to you, not to worry! I will now the good practices you can take part of to ensure you a restful satisfying sleep:
- Avoid daytime naps
- Establish a nighttime routine
- Make sure to sleep in an environment that is clean, healthy, and makes you feel comfortable
- Perform stress relieving activities before bedtime such as; yoga, meditation, and journaling
- Avoid eating heavy large meals and drinking coffee prior to your sleep time
- Try to stay away from your phone, laptop, or any electronic devices before bed
- Make sure to have a consistent sleep schedule
- Associate you bed mainly for sleeping, try to avoid doing work or eating on it
That was a handful of good habits! There are many more tips and suggestions to improve your sleep hygiene, however, I will go more into depth on the ones previously listed.
Bene let’s begin!
Avoid Frequent Day Time Naps
Ah, the bittersweet daytime naps. It is a tempting feeling to just “rest your eyes” for a “few minutes” but what we all get tricked on is those short little resting minutes end up turning into a full three-hour nap! Oh mio dio, now the whole night you are up and the next day you will want to rest your eyes again because of the lack of sleep you got. See the endless nap trap pattern?
Napping can help you feel less tired during the day, but it will affect the amount of sleep you get during the night. A great alternative to napping is going on a walk instead! Even though it might sound like too much work, it is refreshing and can wake you up.
The key to feeling less tired is keeping your body moving, exercising and meditating are healthy ways to take care of your body and stay clear of the tempting yet dangerous daytime naps.
Establish a nighttime routine and keep your sleep schedule consistent:
It is important to also have a steady daily nighttime routine, just as you might have for during the day.
Usually, nighttime routines can include calming activities that are able to relax your body and prevent any stress and anxiety that could interrupt your sleep. Some of these activities include but are not limited to; journaling, meditating, reading, listening to soothing music, or even taking a hot bath!
We are accustomed to habits and routines, so make sure to allow your body to have consistency when it comes to the thing we need and love the most: SLEEP.
Avoid eating heavy meals or drinking coffee prior to bedtime:
That late-night pizza craving or that hot cup of coffee does sound molto delizioso, but it is not so great when it comes to maintaining a healthy sleeping hygiene.
Heavy meals before bedtime can lead to an uncomfortable feeling in your stomach! You could possibly get indigestion, acid reflex, a heavy feeling in your stomach, and pain.
However, you can still have a light snack such as some fruit, nuts, and occasionally some homemade popcorn won’t hurt!
Caffeine and Alcohol are stimulants, this means they will surely keep you restless at night if taken close to your bedtime. Now I am all for a tall glass of wine, but you have to make sure you are intaking these beverages at a reasonable time that won’t affect your precious sleep.
Try to stay away from your phone or any electronic devices before bed:
Yes, I do mean say goodbye to before bedtime Instagram scrolling! But only for a good reason of course.
The bright lights from the electronic devices can actually trick your brain into thinking it is daytime! So when you are staring at the screens right before bed, it will be difficult to get your body back into the resting mood.
Try to associate your bed with sleeping only:
Our beds are usually the most comforting place to be in the whole house, however, it is important to make sure you are not always plopping yourself on the bed for things such as work, or even eating!
When you associate too many other habits with the bed, your body and mind will be less likely to immediately want to sleep. Your bedroom and bed should be a calming sanctuary where you can take a step away from the busy life and take a breather! If you are working on your bed, you have now correlated rest and relation to stress and deadlines.
Keeping your bed clean and a place for a good night’s sleep can help boost your sleep hygiene tremendously! Maybe even purchasing a comfy new mattress can do the trick as well 😊
That’s a wrap!
Bene! You are all educated on the ins and outs of good sleep hygiene, and you might have realized there are some things to work on, for your sleep routine! Here at Gino getting the most comfortable and restful sleep is important to us, and I hope this helped and inspired you to keep your hygiene in check! If there are any questions, feel free to ask Mr.GiNO.
As always
Buona notte e sogni d’oro from yours truly
GiNO.
