While losing weight and getting in shape remain popular New Year’s resolutions, any conversation you may have with patients about healthier living and wellness should also emphasize how to consistently get quality sleep. Restorative sleep supports physical and emotional health, while also being fundamental to achieving goals.
Fatigue can lower resolve. For some people, grogginess may put their best wellness intentions out of reach. But quality sleep may help them to turn that around. Sleep sharpens thinking, elevates mood and replenishes energy. It also enables productivity and supports creativity.
Taking Suntheanine 30 minutes before bedtime can help by putting you in a calm, relaxed state so that you can fall asleep faster, sleep deeper and wake up without grogginess. It’s not a tranquilizer or a sedative. Instead, it stimulates production of alpha brain waves, a deeply relaxed and mentally alert state often achieved by meditation.
More strategies to share with patients for consistently getting quality sleep include:
- Teach your body to follow a sleep routine. Those may include a lower room temperature and following the same sleep/wake times. Our bodies learn to respond to certain cues, even if we’re not aware of them.
- Give yourself at least 30 minutes to wind down. Use this time to read a book or listen to soft music.
- Give your body and brain time to grow accustomed to your new routine. Almost any new routine takes time to become a habit. Give yourself a set period of time, such as 90 days, to start experiencing the benefits. If you are dramatically changing your sleep times, you may want to do so gradually by adjusting your sleep/wake times by an hour or two at a time. Reinforce your new sleep patterns by following the same routine daily, even on weekends.
Lastly, everyone should find and participate in an enjoyable form of exercise. Exercise is a proven way to enhance sleep, and exposure to sunlight helps manage the circadian rhythm responsible for quality sleep.
