Sleep is important

One of the biggest harms to our mental health is not getting enough sleep at night. Not sleeping the amount of hours we need to sleep leaves our bodies and minds drained and can prepare us for struggling through the next day. In a study conducted by Aviva Insurance in 2016, Canada was reported to be the third most sleep-deprived country of those surveyed. If you find you are one of those who are struggling with sleep, here are five things you can try to ease your bedtime woes.

1) Take a hot bath: Relaxing in the hot water can help ease your muscles as well as the stress you built up during the day. You don’t have to stay in the water for a really long time either! Try to take a 20-30 minute hot bath two hours before bed and see if that helps you sleep.

2) Establish a night time routine: Completing the same actions before going to bed every night can help signal your body that it is time to rest. Doing things like laying out your clothing for the following day, preparing the coffee maker for the morning and brushing your teeth can help ease your body into sleep mode.

3) Limit the caffeine: Caffeine and other stimulants can be the worst thing to put into your body before trying to sleep. We may all know that drinking coffee and other caffeinated drinks before bed can put your good night’s sleep at risk but did you know that nicotine is also a stimulant? If you are a smoker, skipping that last cigarette before bed can help you get a more restful sleep.

4) Turn off the screen: One of the biggest harms to our sleep is the time we spend looking at an electronic screen. By turning off our electronics like cellphones, tablets and televisions an hour before heading to bed, we can gain more restful sleep and fall asleep easier. There are still options for entertainment without a screen such as reading a paper book, coloring a picture or having a bath that help our brains turn off and ease us into rest.

5) Don’t force it: If you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep, don’t stay in bed waiting for sleep to strike you again. Lying in bed and watching the clock tick down the amount of hours left in the night increases our anxiety and actually prevents us from getting more sleep. If you find you’ve been awake for more than 15 minutes, try getting out of bed and doing a quiet activity such as reading a book. While doing this, be sure that you keep the lights dim and those electronic screens turned off and hopefully you’ll be back to sleep soon!

Breanne Mellen is community helpers program coordinator for the Canadian Mental Health Association.