Get More Restful Sleep With These Sleep Aids

Your quality of sleep is essential for your physical and emotional health. You cannot achieve a consistent quality of life without having mastered sleep hygiene. Ironically, as the world gains more extensive knowledge of research about the importance and necessity of sleep, the amount of restful sleep that each individual gets per night is rapidly declining. Research indicates that the modern lifestyle has contributed to the rapid decline of people's quality of sleep. Studies suggest that roughly 10-30% of people living in developed countries experience chronic insomnia. Conversely, less than 2% of the population of studied hunter-gatherers report experiencing chronic insomnia. This information compels scientists to believe that people living in developed countries are beginning to experience the inception of a global sleep deprivation epidemic. 

Thankfully, there are many gadgets and lifestyle changes that can mitigate most of the effects that the modern lifestyle has on the quality of your sleep. 

Honor Your Circadian Rhythms 

Researchers believe that one of many reasons for the influx of sleep disturbances results from poorly managed circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythm is the term used to describe the human body's 24-hour internal clock. Daylight and darkness trigger your body's natural mental and physical systems. Sunlight and bright lights can trigger wakefulness within your body. Similarly, darkness and the absence of light can trigger sleepiness. When your body experiences inconsistent light patterns, it will dysregulate your body's circadian rhythm. 

For instance, it is unnatural for your body to be exposed to bright lights after the sun has set. An exposure to bright light after sunset can impact the balance of your body's circadian rhythm. When your circadian rhythm becomes dysregulated, your body can develop problems with its sleep-wake system. If you suspect you have a dysregulated circadian rhythm, health practitioners recommend that you habitually expose your body to morning light after waking and darkness just before and during sleeping hours. Here are products that help you have properly regulated light exposure to help you to wake up and fall asleep during appropriate daylight and darkness hours. 

• Light Therapy Alarm Clock - Clinical studies have shown that people who use light therapy alarm clocks have healthier and more consistent sleep-wake cycles. These alarm clocks imitate sunlight and can wake people up from sleep similar to how sunlight can help people wake from rest. 

• Blackout Curtains - These curtains help individuals that need to block light pollution from entering their bedroom at night. Blackout curtains have extra layers of fabric that prevent light from flowing through the fabric. 

• Sleeping Mask - Your body's receptors for light are behind your eyes. If your body cannot receive light input through its eyes, then your body will not sense or respond to light exposure. Wearing a sleep mask can block unwanted light from getting to these receptors. 

Regulate Your Body Temperature 

Similar to how bodies react to light variants, the surrounding environment temperature can influence your body's circadian rhythm. Healthy bodies experience a biological function called vasodilation when falling asleep. This biological phenomenon lowers the body's core temperature because your body sends higher volumes of blood to your extremities. If the body cannot regulate its temperature, people can either feel over or underheated. People can experience insomnia when their body is above or below an optimal temperature range. Thus, your body prefers to exist within a range of body temperatures. Here are some products that can help you regulate your body to a preferred environmental temperature for sleeping.

• Cube Sleep System with Chilipad™ Cool Mesh™ - If your body tends to feel overheated during sleeping hours, this product can help you keep your core body temperatures cool.

• chiliBLANKET™ - This is a multi-use blanket that can keep your body at cooler temperatures in the summer and warmer temperatures in the winter. 

• OOLER® Sleep System with Chilipad™ Cool Mesh™ - This is a multi-use mattress pad that can keep your body at cooler temperatures in the summer and warmer temperatures in the winter.

• Heated Blanket - If your body tends to feel too cold to fall asleep, then you should consider acquiring a heated blanket that can help keep your bed and body appropriately warm throughout the night. 

• Heated Mattress Pad - If your body tends to feel too cold to fall asleep, then you could also consider acquiring a heated mattress pad. Many people prefer heated mattress pads compared to heated blankets because the power cords remain under the bedsheets. Heated mattress pads can help keep your bed and body appropriately warm throughout the night. 

Stimulate Your Senses with Aromatherapy 

Preliminary research suggests that when your body's olfactory receptors interact with certain chemicals from essential oils, your brain activates certain sleep responses. Consider purchasing a diffuser that can vaporize essential oil into the air as you sleep. Here are scents believed to support a good nights' sleep:

• Lavender - A clinical study suggests that people can experience more restful sleep and reduced anxiety when exposed to the scent of lavender. 

• Cedarwood - An important compound in Cedarwood essential oil called cedrol has been shown to help people fall asleep and stay asleep longer. 

• Bergamot - Over 50% of individuals that participated in a study reported better sleep quality when using Bergamot in their aromatherapy diffuser during bedtime. 

Start a Journaling Practice 

There are two ways that journaling can become a method that will help people sleep better at night. 

1. Journal to Track Your Sleep - You can track your sleep hygiene and quality of sleep using a sleep journal. Routinely tracking your sleep will help you identify where you can adjust and change your lifestyle to optimize your sleep quality. 

2. Journal to Resolve Emotions Keeping You Awake - Some people experience insomnia because they have high-stress levels. Consider journaling more frequently to help you organize your thoughts. 

Take Sleep Enhancing Supplements 

There are many over-the-counter sleep-enhancing supplements you can buy online or at a local grocery store. You could benefit from taking one or many of these supplements to help encourage your body to enter a state of deep sleep. Before taking over-the-counter supplements, it is encouraged that you read the instructions for each supplement to ensure that you consume the substance with the correct dose and at the right time of day. 

• Magnesium. 

• Melatonin. 

• Ashwagandha. 

• Valerian Root. 

• L-Theanine. 

• 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan). 

• GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid).