6 Tips To Have A Good Night’s Sleep

1. Love watching TV in bed, or answering your emails? Not a good idea as TV and computer screens emit blue light, similar to daylight. This tricks your brain into thinking it’s still daytime, thereby shutting down melatonin secretion.

2. Afraid of the dark? It does not have to be a complete blackout, but the intensity of light has to be at a certain level (different levels depending on the spectrum) to suppress melatonin production. Dark blonds and/or an eye mask will help and if you have either night-lights or a bright display on your bedside clock turn it down to minimum or put a cover on it that you can just slide aside to see the display when needed.

3. Keep cool. If you are menopausal you won’t need this next tip, but it is essential to keep your bedroom below 70 degrees F. We need to reduce the core body temperature as it is essential as a part of the sleep-initiation and sleep maintenance process. A room temperature that is too warm or too cool can prevent your core temperature from lowering to its ideal place for good sleep.

4. Take a hot bath or shower 30 minutes before bedtime. This may seem counterintuitive, but the heat increases your core body temperature, opening up the blood vessels in your limbs. When you get out of the bath, heat can leave your body easily (if the room temperature is cool), abruptly dropping your core body temperature, making you drowsy and ready for great sleep.

5. Move electrical devices away from your bed as they emit an electromagnetic field that disrupt sleep. Check your bedside table, for instance Keeping a phone by the bed is something that is very common but cell phones, cordless phones, and their charging stations should ideally be kept three rooms away from your bedroom.

6. Having low levels of progesterone can also increase sleeplessness, so check your hormone levels, increasing progesterone levels is reported by many women to have helped sleep at menopause.