With the Sleep Genius app as a cornerstone to a healthy, natural sleep strategy, this is the second of several posts on other things you can do to get the most out of your sleeping hours at night. See the previous post here.
The Sleep Genius sleep app can be the cornerstone of a successful sleep routine. Here’s a colorful comment from another satisfied Sleep Genius user:
“Yo this [app] is tight sun! Word to the mother ship. Birds are my friends. So to wake up to them is like receiving lectures from ancient gods you know? I like playing piano too so it’s tight that pianos in there cause i get down. On another note. My favorite thing to do is sleep. Sleep sleep sleep sleep. Sleep. Zzzzzzz”
To help you get to sleep more easily, here are a few other things you should consider making part of your bedtime routine:
Power-Down Before Laying Down
America’s favorite past-time used to be watching television in bed. Now it may be surfing the internet on a tablet in bed. Watching entertaining videos and light reading sound like perfect winding down activities but there’s a catch.
These types of activities can actually stimulate the mind rather than relaxing it. What’s more, the electronic light emitted by TV’s, computer screens and tablets has been shown to actually reduce your brain’s production of melatonin–a naturally occurring hormone critical to restful sleep.
Rather than reaching for the remote or the iPad at the end of the day as you curl up in bed, consider listening to music or a book on tape at low volume. Talking with a partner about the day can help prepare your brain for sleep. Or get a reading device that isn’t backlit that you can read by lamplight.
Otherwise, that show or article will still be there online in the morning for you to enjoy.
Turn Down the Noise Before
Turning Down Your Eyelids
Sleep Genius can be a critical tool in quieting your mind for sleep. The “Pink Noise” in the Sleep Genius programs blocks out distracting noises and relaxes you by slowing down your breath rate and heart rate.
If you live in a place, like a city, where outside noises are beyond your control, you can even consider getting a pair of soft earphones or a headband with speakers in it to play your Sleep Genius programs while you sleep.
What else do you do to get ready for sleep? Let us know what you do in the comments below…
Next time: Setting the stage for sleep…
