4 Tips for Your Best Sleep Ever

Ever had a few nights of bad sleep or not enough sleep? You start to feel like you can’t function properly and feel crappy pretty quickly. There is nothing more crucial for our overall health, vitality and daily function than getting proper sleep. For some this is no issue at all and for others it’s a problem getting to bed at night, falling asleep, staying asleep and having restorative sleep.

There have been so many studies and so much progress in understanding the role proper sleep plays in relation to our health and we now have access to trackers like the Oura ring, Whoop, Fitbit so people are able to track and understand their sleep patterns and see the quality of sleep they’re getting and how it directly impacts your day-to-day life.

We have amassed some of the best tips to help with your sleep hygiene and hopefully get you asleep faster, for longer and of better quality.

Sunlight in your eyes early in the day

Your eyes need light to help set your body’s internal clock. Early morning sunlight seems to help people get to sleep at night. First thing in the morning, as soon as possible, try and get into the sunlight, even if it’s cloudy. This helps with the circadian rhythm and signals to the body that its now daytime and sets your body’s natural rhythm on a proper track. It allows your body the intuitively understand that when it gets dark it’s time for bed. This really works and Katherine has been practicing this for over a year and sees the difference in the quality of her sleep.

Devices off 1 hour before bedtime

This one tends to be harder for most but it’s one of the main reasons so many of us are having problems falling asleep and staying asleep. Blue light is a short-wavelength light emitted from the screens of electronic devices, like your phone, laptop and tv. It stimulates your brain and affects your pineal gland’s ability to produce melatonin, the hormone that makes you feel sleepy. Instead, blue light signals your brain to be more awake. Blue light throws your circadian rhythm (your body’s internal clock) out of whack.

Our suggestion, download a sleep story on the calm app, turn your phone on airplane mode, turn off the tv and you will likely be asleep in no time.

Stop eating 2 hours before bedtime

At the most basic level, if your body is working to digest food it’s not able to get to as restful a state as it would otherwise. This can cause you to have trouble falling asleep and reduce the quality of your sleep. The process of digestion may also revert resources away from other restorative aspects of sleep which help your body recover. Also, like everything else when it comes to sleep, the process of digestion can throw your circadian rhythm for a loop and confuse what time of day it is and in turn throw off your sleep patterns.

Supplements that help

Getting a little help when it comes to sleep is often necessary and there is a plethora of fantastic herbal and natural remedies to help you get to sleep faster, sleep deeper and more restoratively and stay asleep. Here are a few of our faves.

A Vogel Relax Tabs

These are amazing and really work! This is a homeopathic remedy to help relieve restlessness and/or nervousness and as a sleep aid to promote sleep, especially during times where you can’t shut your brain off. This is a powerful combination of Passionflower, Lemon balm and Valerian.

Leefy Nidra

Each drop of nidra is packed with powerful science-backed ingredients that help to gently calm the nervous system, improve circulation, reduce pain, and promote rest & recovery. This combination is an anti-inflammatory powerhouse and is good for more than just sleep, it contains organic tart-cherry, organic blue vervain flower, organic chamomile flower, organic passionflower.

St Francis Herb Farm ValeriCalm

ValeriCalm is a finely crafted, effective formula to help calm and relax you, preparing the way to sweet dreams and gentle sleep. It contains a powerful synergy of six sleep-inducing herbs hinged on valerian, a classic sedative that really works and has calmative and sedative properties. Gentle relief that never results in a “drugged-like” state. Antispasmodic, sedative action that helps to soothe and relax the nervous system and muscles.

We hope these tips help, we know how important it is to get a good night’s rest!