The average person will spend approximately one-third of their life sleeping. The reason for this impressive percentage is due to how important sleep is for the body and mind. However, there are still many people who struggle with getting quality sleep, or that do not understand the significance of getting the right amount of it. If you struggle with either of these two topics, then here is an explanation as to why sleep is so important, and what you can do to improve it.

Why is sleep important?

Often people do not put much thought into what sleep is, or why it is so important. For most people sleep is simply something that just happens at the end of the day when they are tired, or a way to help them prepare for the following day. While this statement is true, there is also a lot more happening than you might realise. When you are asleep your body is able to decrease, or even shut down a large portion of your daily functions and processes that happen subconsciously when you are awake, allowing it to focus more on repairing and strengthening your mind and body. While you are asleep your body will be busy regenerating cells, balancing hormones, boosting your energy levels, and altering the chemicals within your body. If you have irregular, broken, not enough, or poor sleep quality, then the time that your body has to do all of this will be reduced and therefore have a negative knock-on effect the following day. This can generally be noticeable in how you feel, you will likely be more achy, unfocused, and irritable. However, the opposite will happen when you have a good night's sleep when you will often wake up feeling a lot more refreshed, in a better mood, and with the ability to think more clearly.

How to improve your sleep

If you are interested in improving the amount, or quality of your sleep, then there are several options available to you. Some of these options can help improve your sleep quickly and drastically, while others may take a little more time and effort. Where everyone is different, some of these examples may work better or worse for you, so it is important to give each one enough time before giving up on it. 

Create a healthy nighttime routine

Something that you can immediately incorporate into your lifestyle is to create a healthy nighttime routine. This will include doing things like stopping your screen time before you try to sleep. For example, instead of sitting on your phone or laptop while you are in bed, try something different such as reading, meditation, or breathing exercises. This will help your brain to start shutting off earlier, and you will find it easier to fall asleep faster. It may be something that is hard to do at first, but if you can consistently incorporate this into your nighttime routine then after a week or so you will find that it becomes natural, and a lot easier to do. There are other things to include in a nighttime routine such as going to bed at the same time, not eating or drinking too close to going to bed, and not lying in bed for too long before you plan to actually sleep.

The use of teas, and other natural remedies

When it comes to promoting effective, healthy, and natural sleep, one thing that many people will include in their lifestyle is the use of plants due to the many benefits they bring. You will most commonly see this done through drinking them as tea, however, there are also other options such as essential oils. Two of the most common plants used to help promote better sleep are chamomile and lavender tea as they are known for increasing relaxation throughout the body. There are a whole host of other plants or herbs available to try, and you could even consider contacting authorised cannabis prescribers for help and advice on how medical cannabis could help promote healthier and deeper sleep due to its relaxing properties.

Make alterations to your bedroom

You may need to consider changing your bedroom a little to help optimise the sleep you are getting. This could be done by swapping out your current curtains for black-out or darker ones, upgrading the type of mattress you have, or removing clutter and electrical equipment that may be making small noises throughout the night. There may be other factors to consider such as where your window is in relation to your bed. Some people will sleep better with a constant airflow, whereas others may find it disturbing. So, depending on what option applies to you, this is something to consider.

Reducing, and removing unneeded stress from your life

It may not always be easy, and sometimes it might not even be possible, but removing stress, worries, and negative thoughts from your life is a great way to effectively improve your sleep, along with a host of other benefits. It might be that you have unknowingly let a large number of problems build-up, in which case why not look at how you can manage or change these? You could start by creating a list of all the things that are negatively impacting your life, and then come up with a plan on how to overcome or change them for the better. A lot of people will use journalling or keeping a diary as a way in which to monitor and regulate these problems.

In conclusion, even if you are not aware of how important sleep is for you, or if you have various struggles when it comes to going to sleep or getting enough quality sleep, there is always something that you can try to help improve it. As a start, why not try out one of these examples, and see if you can help improve your quality and quantity of sleep?