Health & Wellness
Although science cannot answer everything, it definitely can answer the woes of all those sleepless nights we’ve faced quite sometimes in our lives. Time is something that should be given the utmost value in our lives. Even the slightest disturbances in our sleep cycles can lead to the loss of so much time in our lives by giving us sleepless nights and disturbed mornings. Hence, it is important for us to know how we can use science to set our sleep cycles straight to make our lives better.
Dropping your bedroom temperature to 60 to 67 degrees F results in the most sleep-friendly conditions according to Harvard Medical School and the National Sleep Foundation. Bedroom conditions play an integral role in helping you fall asleep. It is important to surround yourself with darkness as it leads to the formation of melatonin that signals the body that it is time to sleep, thereby inducing sleep.
Taking your tensions and worries to bed definitely wouldn’t help you fall asleep. But that is the state of mind with which most of us get into our beds. In order to relax your mind, it is suggested that you immerse your face in ice cold water for 30 seconds which activates a phenomenon called the Mammalian Dive Reflex. This method reduces your heart rate and blood pressure, thereby soothing your system which will help you get better sleep.
Dr. Andrew Well designed a technique called the 4-7-8 method that helps you fall asleep in less than a minute. Start this method by pressing your tongue against the upper surface of your mouth, right behind the teeth, and exhale completely through your mouth. Closing the mouth, inhale on a mental count till 4, hold for a mental count till 7 and exhale through your mouth to a count of eight. This cycle should be repeated 3 more times. This technique is known to increase more oxygen into your blood flow, slow the heart rate while letting the carbon dioxide out of the system and helps you fall asleep soon.
