Sleeping Beauty

Ever wondered why some people sleep well like a baby?

And others seem to toss and turn before getting to sleep?

Can’t function properly because you haven’t had a good night’s sleep?

Need a bit of a helping hand to get to sleep at night?

Sleeping Beauty from her bedside brings you some top tips on how to sleep well at night.

Don’t drink caffeine
As everyone knows caffeine is a stimulant and pepping yourself up by drinking lots of coffee during the day will not help you get a good night’s sleep.  Be aware of how your body responds to drinking coffee.  Some people can drink lots of coffee and not affect their sleep. Whilst others are so sensitive to drinking coffee that even one coffee can start to get their heart racing.

Coffee is known to stimulate your heart and respiratory systems. Consider drinking alternatives to coffee. Tea also contains caffeine but does not contain as much caffeine as coffee. Try non caffeinated alternatives like decaf coffee and tea, herbal teas, and relaxing teas like camomile and peppermint tea.

Don’t have caffeine products
It’s not just the coffee that could affect a good night’s sleep. Don’t forget other caffeine products like chocolate, cocoa, soft drinks, high energy drinks and over the counter pharmaceutical products like pain relievers, stimulants, cold remedies and weight control aids.

Try and avoid consuming caffeine from the early afternoon onwards as this will be the crucial time when it may have an affect on your sleep for the night.

Don’t eat before you go to bed
It’s not a good idea to go to bed on a full stomach. When you are sleeping, your body takes longer to digest your food as it is just sitting in your stomach. As you are sleeping, you won’t be burning up too many calories.

Try to have an early dinner so that by the time you go to bed most of your food has digested. Sleeping on a full stomach doesn’t help your waistline either!
So eat early, get some beauty sleep and wake up feeling trim and healthy without adding to your waistline.

Relax, relax, relax
You have hopped into bed but your mind is still whirring away with a million thoughts from the day’s activities.  Try to relax before you go to bed. This might be listening to relaxing music, counting sheep or doing some sort of relaxation meditation to still the mind. The more relaxed you can get, the better your chances of falling sleep.

Other Sleeping Beauty articles

How to sleep well Part 1

How to sleep well Part 2

Things to avoid before you go to sleep