A good night’s sleep will keep you healthy and allow your body to work efficiently. It can also give you peace of mind, regulate hormones, and even help memory formation. One important aspect of a good night’s sleep will be your ability to fall asleep fast in spite of whatever stressors are happening in your life.
If you don’t get enough sleep at night, there is a higher chance that you’ll catch colds or even worse diseases which will make living difficult.
Despite the importance of sleep, there are several reasons why people struggle to fall asleep fast.
Sometimes these reasons are minor – such as consuming caffeine too close to bedtime or trying to sleep in a noisy environment.
Other times it may be something much more serious like depression or even one of many different types of sleep disorders.
Learning different ways to get a good night’s sleep can greatly reduce the unrest often experienced when trying to fall asleep.
We explore how long it takes for most people to fall asleep and what activities like meditation or reading before bed can help us fall asleep faster. Let’s explore seven easy ways below.
1. 478 Breathing Method
Doctor Weil, an expert teacher, and practitioner of integrative medicine, devised a way to calm down by breathing for four seconds, holding for seven seconds, and then exhaling through the mouth for eight seconds.
He states that this technique helps him achieve peace of mind no matter where he is or what he does and it could also help us to fall asleep fast.
To perform this, a person should:
- Raise your upper back, so it’s perfectly straight, with the tip of your tongue touching the top of your front teeth.
- Say Whoosh as you exhale.
- As you mentally count to four, inhale through your nose while keeping your mouth closed.
- Hold your breath while you count to seven mentally.
- Practice an audible, purging sound by saying whoosh and mentally counting to eight.
- If three times isn’t enough, repeat the same process up to six times.
Dr. Weil suggests that people perform the 4-7-8 technique at least twice daily but warns them against using it more than four times in their first month of practice.
2. Exercise Early in the Morning
Exercise is linked to better sleep, and it may even prevent insomnia.
Although scientists aren’t sure how exercise can promote good quality of rest, it could be because people who experience difficulty sleeping have trouble lowering their body temperatures overnight.
Exercise might regulate the body’s temperature to promote deeper sleep that lasts longer.
However, exercising right before bedtime may deprive others of much-needed restful sleep.
If you suffer from restless nights, avoid doing so less than 2-3 hours before going to bed or if there are bright lights, such as those found in gyms.
3. Meditate
Meditation techniques help focus the mind and bring inner peace even in one’s most trying times.
There are many different types of meditation, but all share a common goal – to find serenity inside oneself.
Studies show that some practices can lead to better sleep patterns, but research is still being done on this topic.
When starting meditation, find a place without any distractions and stay there while focusing your attention on one thing – such as an object or phrase.
Allow thoughts to come naturally but don’t let them take over; when they do, bring your mind back to this single thing you’re paying attention to.
4. Reduce Thermostats
Studies have shown that room temperature has a significant effect on sleep.
Body temperatures decrease when people fall during the night, and to keep this lower degree consistent; most people rely on blankets to create a warm micro-climate surrounding their bodies.
Cooler room temps encourage sleepers to pull the blankets over themselves for warmth, which helps them go back to sleep faster due to the increased heat released.
If you’re feeling restless at night, one thing you can do is set your thermostat to 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
Air conditioning isn’t always necessary if it’s cool enough outside; open windows, turn on a fan or cover your window with dark curtains to keep the room comfortable for sleeping.
5. Avoid Gadgets Before Sleeping
When it’s hard to fall asleep at night, we often turn on the TV or pick up our phones. However, this can make it even harder for us to nod off because electronics emit blue light that makes people feel alert for much longer than usual.
So does exposure to bright lights and blue light within two hours of bedtime, making us feel drowsy later instead of now. Fortunately, you can take many steps to use electronics later in the day while maintaining a normal sleep cycle.
One such step is using special blue-blocking glasses before bedtime so that your body doesn’t give off an alerting signal when exposed to lights of any color just before going to sleep.
Another measure would be using electronic devices equipped with automatic features designed for nighttime usage – such as turning out all but the tiniest amount of blue light when it gets dark outside.
6. Create a Consistent Sleeping Schedule
A person’s sleep schedule may differ, but most adults should get around 7-8 hours of restful sleep each night. Having a consistent bedtime and waketimes is important to get enough restful sleep.
Try to keep a consistent sleep schedule, even on days when you don’t need to wake up early.
When you stay up late or sleep in – such as during weekends- you disrupt your normal light exposure pattern and change your sleeping cycle, making it harder for yourself to fall asleep later on down the line.
But with a routine schedule set, the body will be more used to falling asleep at specific times so long as the person sticks to their sleeping hours, giving them less trouble overall.
7. Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine
A person’s biological clock influences when they feel tired or alert, usually occurring once every 24 hours.
Different environmental factors can also change this circadian rhythm; for example, people will fall asleep easier if it is dark outside at night or stay up all night if lights shine on them during the day.
When your body’s natural circadian rhythm is exposed to a consistent pattern of light and dark, you automatically feel tired when it would otherwise be time for bed.
Exposure to inconsistencies can confuse the body’s internal clock, making it difficult to fall asleep easily. A regular sleeping pattern can retrain the natural circadian rhythm so everyone will sleep better.
Final Thoughts
Sleep needs and habits vary substantially across individuals, so one can’t say there is a certain amount of time it takes to fall to normal sleep. However, when we are trying to fall asleep fast we can at least fall back on these tips to try to hasten the process.
Sleep specialists also recognize that how long it might take for an individual to doze off can’t be used as proof for diagnosing someone with a sleeping disorder.
Rather, these medical professionals will combine all your sleeping habits with other diagnostic procedures to understand whether or not someone has slept enough.
So, if you are having any problem with your sleeping, try these ways to fall asleep fast and then contact a doctor.
Tags: falling asleep, health, sleep, sleep habits, sleeping
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