The Science Behind Better Sleep

*Remunerated Post*

Sleep is essential for well-being, but good sleep can be difficult to achieve. Between busy work schedules, relationships, family responsibilities, and the stress of keeping up with everything, sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day. And sometimes, even when we can make it to bed, our brains keep us up anyway. So even when we need sleep the most, we may lie awake worrying about something someone said or everything we have to get done tomorrow.

Why do we have so much trouble with sleep, and what can we do about it? Wellness professionals like the ones at BetterHelp can help us understand why sleep is so important and the scientifically proven ways to get better sleep.

What happens when we sleep? We often think of sleep as a time when we’re doing nothing. But science has shown that while the body is relatively still during sleep, the brain is engaged in many activities that maintain our quality of life. Sleep helps our brain and body restore their energy, and can even help with functions like learning and memory.

Sleep happens in four-stage cycles. In the first stage, we fall asleep. In the second stage, we sleep lightly as our body begins to regulate its breathing and temperature. The third and fourth stages are deep sleep, known as Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. This cycle then repeats, spending more time in deep sleep with each cycle. A person will generally go through four or five cycles in a typical night of sleep.

How to Get Better Sleep

It’s great to know why sleep works and how it helps us, but what most of us really want to know is how we can get better sleep. So how can science help us here? Based on what we know about how sleep works in our body, we can adjust a number of factors to give our body the best possible chance for a good night’s sleep.

Follow Your Body’s Natural Sleep Cycle

Humans have a circadian rhythm or a natural sleep cycle that is generally based around the cycles of light during day and night. Since humans can’t see very well in the dark, it makes sense for us to rest during this period. However, it’s easy to throw off this natural rhythm in modern society.

If your sleep schedule is all over the place, try getting into more of a routine. When the body knows certain times to sleep and wake up every day, it becomes easier to fall asleep according to those rhythms. By getting into a more regular sleep schedule, you can also maximize the amount of deep sleep you get, allowing your body to accomplish all the functions it needs while you’re asleep.

Create a Comfortable Environment

Your sleeping environment can also significantly impact your ability to sleep. One element of this is the light you take in at the end of the day. Our circadian rhythms respond to the amount of light we see around us, which means that too much light may be one of the reasons you have trouble sleeping. So make sure to turn down your lights at night, keep your bedroom dark, and try to avoid screens right before you go to bed.

Another reason we often have trouble sleeping is stress and worry. As humans, we are programmed not to sleep if we sense any sort of threat around us. In the modern world, we often respond to stressful or worrying situations as threats. One way to help change your thought patterns around sleep is to create a sleep environment that tells your brain it’s safe.

Think of things that make you feel relaxed, like a comfortable bed, pleasant smells, or calming music.

Clear Your Mind

It can also be helpful to address any of your worries you can before you go to bed. If you have a ton of things you want to remember to do tomorrow, try writing them all down so that you don’t have to focus on remembering them while you try to sleep. Or, if there are small tasks that are making you anxious, it may be helpful to just get them out of the way before you go to sleep.

There are also several mindfulness techniques that can help you clear your mind and slow down your thoughts. Consider doing a meditation, reading a book, or writing in a journal before you sleep. There is no one-size-all answer for everyone, but by experimenting with different strategies, you can find some that help you clear your mind.