Do you know your healthy diet and strict exercise regimen may all be going to waste if you are sleeping wrong? Your brain and body needs adequate sleep for optimal performance. Our brain and bodily cells repair themselves while we sleep. Getting inadequate and low quality sleep may hamper our daily performance.
Several aspects determine the quality of sleep and all these factors should be kept in strict consideration to ensure you are sleeping right. We share with you some of the factors that will help you determine if you are sleeping wrong and how to alter these negative habits.
You do not track your sleep yourself
Learn to track your sleeping patterns yourself. You should feel fresh and energetic when you wake up every morning. A healthy sleep boosts serotonin levels in your body, leaving you feeling optimistic and happy. If your health practitioner says that you have sleep well, but you wake up feeling groggy every morning, you know who to believe.
The ideal amount of sleep for an adult is between seven to nine hours. This duration is enough for maintaining day time alertness and increasing productivity levels.
Do not use pillow only for your head
There is a misconception that pillows are only for the head. Whereas placing a pillow between your knees, if you sleep on your side, keeping one below your knees if you sleeping on your back and etc. These positions help keep your spine in a comfortable alignment, supporting the curvature of your body.
Do not sleep on your stomach
Sleeping on your stomach is the worst position to sleep in. Sleeping in this position can lead to the development of wrinkles and lines on your face in the long run. This position exerts pressure on your spine, flexing it, which leads to back pain. Since this position disturbs the natural alignment of the body, the individual may wake up with severe neck pain as well.
You drink before you sleep
According to research, alcohol may reduce the quality of your sleep drastically. The heavier you drink, the worse you are going to sleep and in some cases you may stay awake throughout the night. The drink may make you sleepy at first, but gradually as you continue drinking, you will start becoming active. If you cannot avoid alcohol, try consuming it earlier in the evening and reduce the quantity as night approaches.
You have irregular sleeping patterns
Regular sleeping patterns help the body to know when it’s time to sleep and when it’s time to wake up. It sets up the circadian rhythm. If you sleep at 9:00 pm on Tuesday and at 4:00 am the next day, do not expect to fall asleep as soon as you lie down, no matter how tired you are as your body will require time to identify the sleeping pattern.
You sleep too much on weekends
Over sleeping on the weekends to fulfill the sleep deficit may be a bad idea. Since you oversleep during the day, you may be unable to maintain regular sleeping patterns at night. This will also upset your circadian rhythm, and can mess up the quality of your sleep. Missing on sleep has also been reported to lead to permanent brain injury.
You sleep right after eating
Try to consume food at least three hours before you go to bed as it can increase the chances of heart burn and indigestion, which may not let you enjoy a deep sleep throughout the night.
You sleep on a hard mattress
A human being spends one third of his life sleeping. Make sure you sleep on a mattress with medium thickness; a hard mattress does not cradle your spine and can send painful sensations through your spinal column all night, reducing the quality of sleep and keeping you up all night.