The only part of this "Spring Forward" thing I like is that we are one step closer to summer and longer days! Yeah! :D
But the lack of sleep that most of us will be suffering this week, trying to catch up with that hour loss can take a toll on your looks. The fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty may not be too far off from the truth when it comes to some of the secrets of beauty. In a recent study done in Sweden, photographs of volunteers after eight hours of sleep and then again after being kept awake for 31 hours where shown to participants that rated them on how they looked. The sleep deprived participants were scored as less healthy looking and less attractive. Upon further research, I also found studies linked to weight gain and sleep depravation. So with all of us trying to get our internal clocks back into step, let’s talk about what you can do to get a more restful nights sleep.
- Create a ritual. Best practice says we should create a routine to sooth ourselves into an comfort zone right before bed. Whether that includes and warm bath, a good book and nice shower some sleepy time tea or whatever it takes to help you wind-down, try to get in the habit of doing the same wind-down routine every night.
- Avoid these things. We all know these things but I can’t complete an article like this without including them. So here is the short list. Avoid, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, spicy foods and exercise right before bed.
- Stick to a schedule. Going to sleep at different times every night can confuse your brain and make it difficult to go to sleep when you want to. Try and hit the hay at the same time every night. Your body likes having a schedule and sticking to it. You will sleep more peacefully if you can manage this habit.
- Include exercise. Exercise in any form will help you feel physically more tired allowing you to sleep more restfully. Now that it is staying light a good hour after dinner, consider taking a walk and burn off a few of those extra calories. It will help you crash when your head finally hits the pillow!
- Ditch the stress. The last thing you want to do before bed is read or look at the news, have a conflictive, discuss or think about the crap from work. Try to keep your mind clear of anything stressful before bed. Keep it light and uplifting. Keep your thoughts/prayers before bed on the side of gratitude. In other words count your blessings before you sleep. :)
- Eliminate distractions from sleep. Electrical interference in your bedroom can disrupt your sleep. Charge your phones in a room other than your bedroom. Also, animals can be very disruptive to a peaceful nights sleep. If there is any way you can possibly arrange it, allowing your animals to sleep in a kennel or in another room and it could help to get those extra Zzzz’s you are needing.
Let’s try our best to keep the world a more beautiful place by getting our restful regime in place.
Do you have a trick or tip that always helps you to get to sleep and stay to sleep? We would love to hear all about it. Please leave a note in the space below so we can all learn from your tip. Know a friend that needs to hear this message. Please feel free to share or forward this information to them.
Thank you for stopping by my blog,
Hope you have a fantastic week and make the most of your week.
Take Care,
Michon :)
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