By Dr. Omiete Charles-Davies┃Posted: May 28, 2019
Sleep is an important state of rest and rejuvenation for the body. Adequate sleep is very important: when you’re asleep, your brain wave frequencies change, and neural firing decreases. However, sometimes we might notice that our sleep patterns become scattered for many reasons.
In this article, we will be discussing steps you can take to restore a healthy sleep schedule and live better. Before we start, let’s first take answer a big question about how much sleep you actually need.
How much sleep do you need?
The hours of sleep a person needs vary based on factors like age, daily activity, and the health status of the body.
Age
Newborns (0-3 months): 14-17 hours
Infants (4-11 months): 12-15 hours
Toddlers (1-2 years): 11-14 hours
Preschoolers (3-5): 10-13 hours
School age children (6-13): 9-11 hours
Teenagers (14-17): 8- 10 hours
Younger adults (18-25):7-9 hours
Adults (26-64):7-9 hours
Older adults (65+):7-8 hours
Daily activity
Increased activity improves the quality and quantity of sleep. Let your body decide the extra time it needs to feel restored in case of increased activity levels.
Football players who slept for 10 hours daily for 7-8 weeks had improved sprint time, more stamina, and less daytime fatigue, according to a study conducted at Stanford University.
Health status
In case of compromised health, your body needs extended periods of sleep for its repair.
How to find out if your sleep pattern needs a change
Your daytime energy levels and output determine whether you need to adjust your sleep pattern or not. Here are some checkpoints that might indicate that you need to prioritize better sleep:
A daily need to hit the snooze button several times
Feeling drained and unmotivated to get through the day
Becoming irritable or lethargic easily
Decreased social skills and communication abilities
Reduced creativity and work output—both mental and physical
Excessive sleepiness during the day
Frequent infections and diseases
Poor motor coordination and increased incidence of accidents
Lower sexual drive
Increased appetite and weight gain
Increased stress levels and an inability to cope
Sleeping extra on weekends (which won’t help to cover up the sleep deficit of the week)
If you recognize any of the symptoms above, you must identify your habits leading to poor sleep and rectify it. Your health depends on it!
How To Correct A Bad Sleep Pattern
When you are sleep-deprived, your brain performs just as poorly as it would under the influence of alcohol. Here are some tips you can follow to ensure better sleep:
1. Have a regular sleep schedule
Go to sleep and awaken around the same time each day. There shouldn’t be a deviation of more than one hour, including on weekends. Doing this regularly will train your circadian rhythm to act independently of an alarm clock.
Try aligning your sleep-wake cycle with the sun, unless you are a night shift worker. Having adequate daylight exposure has been shown to improve sleep in people with sleeping disorders. If you live in an area of the world where your days vary greatly in length, make sure to avoid blue light (like computer screens, phone screens, etc) in the evenings, and favor yellow lamplight light instead.
2. Eat a good dinner
Avoid eating a big meal at dinner, so that your body isn’t hard at work digesting when it should be preparing for sleep.
It is recommended to maintain a gap of 2 to 3 hours between dinner and bedtime. Do not take too many fluids in the evening and avoid any fluids 1-2 hours before sleep. You don’t want to keep getting up to go to the washroom!
Eating a healthy, balanced diet can help immensely with your energy during the day and the quality of your sleep at night. An Ayurvedic diet is designed to follow the natural cycles of the body and the earth and is the best choice for a harmonious, nourishing system of nutrition.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Caffeine can elevate your energy levels for up to 6-8 hours. Alcohol increases chances of sleep apnea and snoring, and decreases the production of melatonin—the hormone that helps you fall asleep.
3. Create a suitable environment
Make sure your bedroom is at a comfortable temperature. Keep a good mattress and a clean bed to rest well. Keep your room dark, avoid noise and external lights.
Do not use your phones, play video games, watch tv episodes before you go to bed. Avoid screens and bright light exposure. You can download apps that prevent blue light exposure from laptops and phones in the evening.
You can also put scented candles and perform some simple relaxation techniques to make you ready for sleep. These may include taking a warm bath, meditating, or listening to calming music.
Reading books can help but it should be simple in content. You could also do breathing exercises.
4. Meditation and exercise
Doing 30 minutes of exercise for 5 days a week will significantly help you sleep better. It will help you get to sleep faster and will boost the quality of your sleep, too.
Meditation has also been shown to improve sleep: here’s a beginner’s guide to help you get started.
5. Avoid daytime naps
We all love a good nap, but make sure to indulge in no more than 20-30 minutes of napping during the day. It confuses the circadian rhythm. and can make it difficult to fall asleep at night. Instead of napping, try Yoga Nidra: a guided relaxation that rejuvenates you from within and provides a huge boost of energy. Here’s a guided Yoga Nidra meditation for you to try!
6. Quit Smoking
If you want a good night’s sleep, you need to stop smoking or using recreational drugs. Not only do they negatively affect your overall health, but they may also be one of the sole reasons for a troubled sleep pattern.
When To Approach A Doctor
Since a good night’s sleep has numerous health benefits, it’s important to take your sleep patterns seriously. In case you start to exhibit any of the following signs of sleep disorder, you should consider approaching a doctor to help you find a solution.
Excessive sleepiness during the day despite adequate sleep at night
Loud and frequent snoring
Breathing difficulties during sleep, or gasping for air at night
Medications that affect your sleep cycle can include antidepressants, dopamine agonists, amphetamines, steroids, beta-agonists, theophylline (asthma), and/or anti-hypertensives—talk to your doctor if these side effects arise
Sleepwalking: during the REM stage, the usual paralysis or limited movement of the body is not present, causing the dreamer to interact with their environment in sometimes dangerous ways
Frequent jetlag
Limb movements – abnormal movements during sleep, or the inability to move limbs after waking up (sleep paralysis)
Bedwetting
Abnormal behaviors such as teeth grinding, tongue biting, excessive sweating, or intense nightmares
Depression / unmanageable stress
To learn more about meditation in general, you can attend this free breath and meditation session online called Beyond Breath, with an instructor- live!
Want more to read? Check out: Sleep Restfully All Night Using this Meditation Sleep Guide.
Sleep well and be more restful. The more restful you are, the more resourceful and vibrant you will be.
Dr. Omiete Charles-Davies is a licensed medical doctor who graduated with a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Lagos in 2012. He loves to spend his time educating people about their health in ways they can easily understand. For fun, he loves to travel. Find Dr. Charles-Davies on Instagram at @charlesindavies.
