What Is Sleep Hygiene? Why is it important?
What Is Sleep Hygiene? Why is Sleep Hygiene Important?
Sleep
What is Sleep Hygiene? Why is it important?
A year ago I was asked to co-facilitate a presentation where I covered sleep hygiene as a form of self-care at the NYSBOTC's Inaugural Virtual Conference themed Ubuntu ( translated I am because we are).
Sleep hygiene is the practice or habits to promote sleeping well and sleeping regularly.
I can’t provide the entire presentation in this blog article but I’ll be happy to share a few tips that resonated with many attendees.
What Is Sleep Hygiene?
Sleep hygiene is the practice or habits to promote sleeping well and sleeping regularly.
Normally when the term hygiene is used it is not normally associated with sleep.
Why Is Sleep Important for Mental Health?
Sleep hygiene is important because it is a fundamental need for us to function. Getting sufficient rest impacts our emotional state. It also assists our body with resting while allowing our cells to reproduce and function efficiently.
On a more personal level, when I don’t get enough sleep, it impacts my ability to process information to perform my job well. Or I may become easily frustrated which can lead to lashing out to those whom I care about. Can you relate?
Sleep Hygiene appears to be an ongoing issue as statistics show that 1/3 of all adults have significant sleep complaints.
Here are three areas you may need to reevaluate and see if there is any room to improve your sleep hygiene.
statistics show that 1/3 of all adults have significant sleep complaints.
3 Tips For Sleep Hygiene
1) Nutrition
Nutrition can play a major role in our sleep hygiene. For instance, stimulant foods like (caffeine and sugar) can lead to an inability to sleep well. It can also reduce our ability to be productive.
Remember those goals you were hoping to accomplish yesterday? Did you accomplish them? If not, take a look back at what you consumed. If you’ve consumed stimulant foods recently and were not as productive as you’d had hoped, it may be due to experiencing a crash from stimulant foods and beverages. This section is only a small part as to why nutrition can be beneficial to your mental health. To learn more, be sure to view a previous article that provides tips to start living a life of less processed foods.
2) Physical Activity
Physical activity is a low-cost way to promote sleep. Research indicates that there is a bidirectional relationship between a person’s ability to sleep and their exercise routine. This means that those who exercise see improvement in their sleep, those who sleep see improvement in their energy to exercise.
Sleep Tips Infographic
Pin graphic for easy future reference.
3) Concentration
Sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality are associated with high levels of stress. Research shows individuals who obtain less sleep also have difficulty with concentrating. Addition, these same individuals are quicker to respond more negatively and have a low stress tolerance threshold.
Conclusion
In conclusion, sleep hygiene is a way to incorporate habits into your life to obtain sufficient sleep. Research shows that one third of all adults reported concerns with their sleep pattern. Sleep hygiene is important as it helps us to function, it also assists in our mental health and physical health. Three tips to address sleep hygiene is to explore your nutritional intake as some foods can be highly stimulating, incorporating physical activity that has a bidirectional relationship with sleep and lastly, improving your ability to concentrate can help improve your tolerance to difficult situations throughout your day.
Additional Resources
Looking for other ways to improve your sleep naturally? You can read a previous article 6 Simple Habits to Improve Your Sleep Naturally. You may also like using the Worthy of Royalty: Self-Care Card deck. In this card deck, there are 52 self-care techniques that are low cost, take less than 15 minutes to complete and address all areas of wellness including sleep hygiene. Lastly, if you are a business and would like this information provided to your staff feel free to complete my Speaker Booking Form so I can support you and your staff in this area of wellness.
What have you noticed about your sleep patterns? I’d love to read your helpful sleep hygiene tips in the comments below.
Written By: Reynelda Jones, LMSW-C
CEO and Lead Therapist at A Solution B
If you're in need of working through some issues and feel you would benefit from a holistic therapeutic approach, Contact me today for a session.
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Alotaibi, A. D., Alosaimi, F. M., Alajlan, A. A., & Bin Abdulrahman, K. A. (2020). The relationship between sleep quality, stress, and academic performance among medical students. Journal of family & community medicine, 27(1), 23–28. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfcm.JFCM_132_19
Jones, R. A. (2020, February 24). 6 Simple Habits to Improve Your Sleep Naturally [web log]. Retrieved June 7, 2022, from https://www.asolutionb.com/chat-trap-blog/ways-to-improve-your-sleep.
Zhao, M., Tuo, H., Wang, S., & Zhao, L. (2020). The Effects of Dietary Nutrition on Sleep and Sleep Disorders. Mediators of inflammation, 2020, 3142874. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/3142874
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