Let's Talk Sleep!

As a caregiver, it is very important to achieve a restorative and quality sleep so that you can rest and recharge. Lack of sleep or a poor quality of sleep steals away at your focus, robs you of your patience, and impacts your health and mental well-being.

If you find yourself battling insomnia, waking up tired, or waking up a lot during the night, you might consider meditation. Or many other tricks to achieve a solid sleep. I've rounded up some ideas to help you achieve a better night sleep:

Sleep Tip One - Meditation:

At bedtime, many of us, especially caregivers find ourselves running over things in our head. Meditating before bed can help slow down that busy brain and let you get to sleep easier. It Lowers your cortisol levels which helps to improve your overall health as well.

Take a look at this article with The 9 Most Popular Meditation and Sleep Podcasts on Spotify

Sleep Tip Two - Your Environment:

It is said that many people sleep best in a slightly cool room (around 65° F or 18° C) with lots of ventilation. A bedroom that is too hot or too cold can interfere with your quality of sleep. You may also consider reserving your bed for sleep to trick your mind and to reduce all of the noise you can aside from that of a fan or sleep noise machine.

Sleep Tip Three - Remove Electronics:

The blue light that is emitted by your phone, tablet, computer, and TV is very disruptive. Try giving yourself a screen shut down time which is a couple hours before your bedtime to get away from all that blue light! If you're thinking that reading would be a great alternative, switch from reading on devices that have a backlight.

Sleep Tip Four - Keep Notes:

As a caregiver, you likely cannot avoid the brainstorming and pesky to-do list from entering your head. You may even wake up with a thought after you have fallen asleep with meditation. It comes with the territory so instead of trying to remove that sleep barrier altogether, keep a notebook by your bedside, jot down your thoughts and leave them for the morning. This action should allow you to remove the nagging.

Wishing you a restful sleep - and if these tips don't help, try and try again until you find what helps you!