Sleep is everything. When you don’t get regular, quality sleep, your mental health suffers. You may find you can’t concentrate, you’re irritable, you feel depressed, your anxiety increases, and you feel physically run down. For clients who report that they aren’t sleeping well, I always want to continue to check in on this topic.
What is sleep hygiene?
You probably have a typical hygiene routine in your life that involves showering regularly, brushing your teeth, putting on deodorant, etc. The idea of sleep hygiene is much the same—you develop a bedtime routine that will help your body to become accustomed to slowing down and preparing for sleep. The following are some good sleep hygiene routines:
- Go to bed around the same time each night.
- Reduce caffeine intake for hours prior to sleep.
- Keep your devices on silent and refrain from looking at it at least an hour before bed.
- Develop a typical routine—brush teeth, wash face, put on pjs and then get in bed. Make it the same every night.
- Keep your room at a comfortable temperature—not too hot or too chilly.
- Keep your TV off and try to keep the room as dark as possible.
- Try to limit exercise to daytime or morning. If you have to exercise at night, do it hours before sleep.
- Practice “mindfulness meditation.” Type this phrase into YouTube search area. Listen to calming and meditative sounds as you fall asleep.
- Reading a good book for 20 minutes before lights out can cause you to become sleepy.
Knowing how essential sleep is for our mental health, you should make sleep a priority. If you live in northern Colorado area of Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, Windsor, Severance, or Johnstown and are experiencing trouble sleeping, contact Mending Hearts Counseling today at 970-545-1111 or at this link to set up an appointment.
