10 ways to sleep better

First of all, there are many causes of poor sleep quality, most of which are related to daily habits, work environment, family and friends. Some things may seem complicated and difficult to solve, but there are actions we can take immediately in order to sleep better and in turn improve our health. Once changes have been made, the difficulties we faced may slowly disappear.

Reduce consumption of stimulating foods and beverages – Spicy foods, strong tea or coffee will enhance the body’s short-term excitement and affect the quality of your sleep. This is not to say you shouldn’t eat such foods at all, it would not constitute as good advice and would be too depressing. You can try to reduce the amount that you have, for example if you have 3 cups of coffee a day, try cutting down to just 1 a day. Likewise, if you have 1 cup a day, try drinking 1 cup every 3-5 days instead in order to avoid an excessive intake. However, it would not be good to quit completely, as the it would be depressing to have to suppress your desire to eat. By purposefully avoiding food, you might end up eating and drinking excessively as your desire to consume food and drink becomes stronger. Therefore, simply reduce portion sizes and the frequency of eating.

15 minutes of exercise a day – Find the right type of exercise that suits you. Many believe that they do not have time to exercise, or that they are often too tired and unable to lift themselves up. Simply begin with 15 minutes, you don’t need to push yourself to do more as 15 to 30 minutes is enough. It is likely that many would not be able to achieve the consistency of exercising daily if we tried to exercise for longer than 30 minutes. Your 15 minutes of exercise can be done at home conveniently, negating the need to even get changed to go out as the exercise can be anything, you can even start with simple stretching exercises first. There are many mobile apps or online channels to get you started, I have used a workout called X Minutes Workout (we cannot mention the exact name here). You can choose the settings according to your age, as well as intensity level (beginner, intermediate or advanced), we recommend something simple and easy to start with. Appropriate exercise can improve blood circulation, thereby improving the slow metabolism caused by poor sleep quality.

Exercise time – Try not to exercise right before going to bed. Exercise can make the body secrete dopamine, which is pleasant, but at the same time the body will be relatively excited and active. This may result in the body not being able to calm down in time to sleep and in turn, sleeping quality will also be affected.

Dining schedule – The stomach has a capacity of 50 mL-4 L and is generally emptied 4 hours after a meal. Pay attention to the timing of dinner, try to finishing it 4 hours before bed. In addition, it is not suitable to start work immediately after a meal. When you feel pressure or concentrated at work, the digestive system in the body will be suppressed, affecting digestion and absorption. Feeling too full or too hungry is not ideal for sleep.

Proper rest – The human body needs the balance of the autonomic nervous system and endocrine system to be healthy. The sympathetic system of the autonomic nervous system regulates the internal organs to cope with pressure and work. Simply put, when we cope with work or emergencies during the day, the sympathetic system is activated. When it is time to rest at night, the parasympathetic system will activate to regulate the internal organs and help the body enter a state of rest and digestion. If we don’t get proper rest, the suppression of parasympathetic nerves will weaken the body’s ability to digest. This results in indigestion problems, such as stomach pain, weakness, and constipation. Allow your body to get ready at a certain time and start to rest. For example, even if you are not sleeping at 10pm, do some relaxing activities: reading, watch TV, listen to music… Relax, and let your body unconsciously enter into a state of steady rest. Some will choose to inhale specific natural essential oils of floral, grass, and wood aromas before going to bed. The body will then be in a relaxed state and rest easily.

Separation of dining and work – As more and more people work from home nowadays, it becomes natural to simply grab a quick lunch at our workbenches. It is suggested that everyone should go out for lunch, even if you have lunch at home or at the workbench. Go for a walk outside for 15-20 minutes after eating, and then return to work. In this way, the body and mind will relax and enter a state of digestion before starting work. During the pandemic, many people have been working indoors for far too long. I found that eating and going out for a walk, enjoying the sunshine at noon, gives yourself some strength to continue to work. When working in a closed space for a long time, combined with the lack of interpersonal activities and outdoor sunlight, will gradually affect one’s mood. It may also lead to the habit of overthinking before going to bed at night, hence affecting the quality of sleep. Try to go outdoors and enjoy the sunshine more often, talk and interact with others, in order to regulate the busy pace of your work.

Make good use of aroma – Try asking a professional aromatherapist for tailor-made essential oils to diffuse at your work environment. Sometimes we may not be happy with our workplaces, but we have the power to improve it slightly. Inhale essential oils to bring yourself to a good mood whilst working. If your workplace does not allow aroma diffusion, bring your 100% natural essential oil inhalers along with you, and inhale it whenever you wish. Alternatively, wash your hair with our Lanuwa No.3 NOURISHING Shampoo (prevent hair loss, natural aroma formula) to eliminate the fatigue of your day when you come home after work.

Letting go – You may not be happy with your current working environment and the people around you. However, let’s remind ourselves of those who treat us well, whether they are our colleagues, family, or friends, try to only think about the good side, be grateful for what you have. Let go of what is not worth your time. Let go of the relationship, release the burden, this will allow you to have a good night’s sleep. It is never worth sacrificing your health for anyone.

Acceptance – Many people have a lot of different thoughts before going to bed: reflecting on what happened during the day, reviewing what was done correctly or not, what went right or wrong… overall a wide range of thoughts. These thoughts will manage to seep into our slumber, affecting the quality of our sleep. More often than not, the thoughts in our heads are self-destructive, as we constantly wonder how we can do better. Don’t be so hard on yourself! You are living as the best version of yourself, don’t feel the need to compare yourself with anyone else, it’s meaningless.