Sleep is an extremely important part of your life. It is the time when your brain and your body rest and get all the energy needed for another day. So, what do you use to help yourself sleep well?
1. Sleep Sound Machine
It has long been proven that sounds around us affect our mind, especially when we sleep. For example, you have probably noticed, that when it is raining at night, you fall asleep much faster than when it is absolutely silent, so that you hear clock ticking. This is because your brain is not distracted by unexpected repeating sounds. It is not provoked and no reaction is needed, as the sound is always the same.
Basically, sleep sound machine uses this statement. There are different types of them, which we will discuss, but the purpose of each is representing a sound of some kind.
First of all, almost any sleep sound machine has a set of pre-recorded nature sounds.
The most popular ones are:
- Ocean waves. These sounds remind you about a vacation, when you do not need to do anything. They make your brain feel like you are lying on a beach or strolling by the seaside. Moreover, this sound has the most important feature (as all others do), and it is an unending light noise.
- Rain or thunder. Some people prefer a gentle rain and others like a thunderous storm. However, both are not disturbing at all. Even the second one is configured so that there were no harsh sounds.
- Summer night. This is a variety of sounds, represented by light wind blowing, birds chirping or insects flying. There is also no harshness, only calmness.
- White noise. This is just a noise, which is no use for you when you are awake. However, if you are trying to sleep, it helps pretty well. This sound is both continuous and light.
You can chose any sound you like, as long as it helps you relax, and turn it on overnight. Sleep sound machine will work all night, making sure you are not distracted. You can also set a volume and a timer, if you do not want it working for long.
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There is also one important feature – adaptive sounds. For example, you can find it in Homedics machines. This means that the sound will change in different situations. For example, if rain starts falling outside, the machine will increase volume.
Sleep sound machine is a nice thing to help you relax and rest well. It is very simple, yet effective indeed. This is the first thing you should use if suffering from insomnia.
2. Light Up Alarm Clock
Light up alarm clock is a logical extension to sleep sound machine. It is important not only to sleep well, but also to wake up steadily and calmly. An alarm, as we are used to imagine it, is an annoying thing, which makes disturbing noises so that you wake up rapidly. This might be effective, but not healthy at all. Let us discover why!
It has been scientifically proven that a nice wake up can set your whole day.
Even if you have not slept enough, when you wake up calmly, your day will probably be calm as well. As a result, at the end of it you will fall asleep calmly and so on.
Light up alarm clock has a built-in sound library. It is same to sleep sound machine. It plays gentle sound, which we have described earlier, instead of annoying beeps. However, it is not the only feature. Light up alarm clock is a big disk, which is actually a huge lamp. When the alarm time is coming, it slowly starts shining, imitating actual sunrise. This way your brain naturally reacts to the light and knows it has to wake up. With all these sounds (for example, birds chirping), you are not woken up rapidly, but calmly and nicely.
Even if you have to wake up before sunset, light up alarm clock will make it more natural. This way you will not feel like it is midnight.
The original idea of such alarm was made by Philips. They have a nice clock that looks exactly as we have described. There are, of course, many other brands who produce these alarms as well. It does not matter what you get. As long as you like, it will be useful.
3. Proper Bed Sheets
Waking up is truly important, as important as it is to sleep well. Sounds are not the only thing that can distract you. It is also overheating, itching of the body. This is a third aspect of sleeping well. Therefore, to make sure everything is fine about it, you need a proper bed linen.
Bed sheets are being made of many different materials. However, only a few of them are good enough for your body.
The best are silk and Egyptian cotton:
- Silk is well known to be the best material for any clothes. It is the lightest fabric, which does not constrain body heat exchange. That is why it is so popular and rather expensive, as it is also pretty hard to make.
- Egyptian cotton has almost the same properties as silk does, even though it feels rather different. It is also believed to absorb moisture better. That is why it is good to use it for bed linen, especially at summer.
Silky bed sheets are good for any season. They are so pleasant to the touch, your skin does not even feel it. Moreover, silk does not prevent breathing of your skin. This is really important for a nice night sleep, as your body needs to remove all the harmful substances through pores.
At summer, Egyptian cotton might be even better. If you sweat at night, it will rapidly absorb liquids so nothing can do a harm to your sleep.
Considering mentioned it is important for your body to maintain a regular temperature at night. Because if you are too cold or hot, sleep is distracted. That is why cooling bed sheets is a nice idea.
Cooling bed linen is a tube system that is put under mattress upholstery. It contains special liquid and the whole system is connected to a power source. When you turn it on, it starts cooling, adjusting to a temperature inside your home. At night, when you sleep on such linen, it changes the temperature of tubes to prevent your body from overheating.
4. Diffuser With Essential Oils
We have discussed hearing, visual and tactile parts of a good sleep. The only aspect left is olfactory. There is one thing that can help you sleep better, and this thing is a nice essential oil. There are lots of oils that can calm one’s mind and help relax. You just need to choose, which essential fits you best, and put it in a diffuser.
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Diffuser is a machine that controls the output of the oil in the air. It is convenient to use, as you can put as much oil as you need for a night, set a speed of diffusion and go to sleep. This way you will smell, for example, a nice aroma of lavender for the whole night.
It will not only help you sleep well, but make your bedroom a place of relaxation even by day.
Essential oils need to be treated carefully. Too much can result in allergy or disturbance. That is why a diffuser is a nice thing. It will release just enough oil at a time, so that the smell will remain, but the concentration will not rise.
To enhance the calming effect of an oil, take a warm bath before going to sleep. Put a few drops of oil mixed with honey in the water and relax.
There are many different diffusers in market. You will probably find the one that fits you best. By the way, if you do not know what essential oil is good enough for you, some diffusers have a mixing function. You can put several different oils in there, and they will be diffused one after another or together at the same time.
5. Essential Oils Humidifier
If you find the air in your bedroom too dry, you can use an oil humidifier instead of a diffuser. The technology is almost the same for this one. The difference is that essential oils are mixed with some water. Therefore, it works like a regular air humidifier, but with the aroma of some herbs.
Humidified air is good for those who suffer from allergies. And essential oil humidifier is good for its ability to soften the smell of an oil. You can set it to release a small amount of an oil at a time, so that you will not even feel it. However, such small amount will be enough for your brain to relax and rest.
If you like the smell of the oil you use, you can keep a humidifier turned on for the whole day.
However, you may get used to the aroma, and it will no longer affect your sleep. Therefore, it is better to use a humidifier without an oil by day and put some by night.
Make sure you do not over-humidify the air. It might be as harmful as a dry one. Use preset functions of humidifiers. This way you will make sure everything is fine without thinking about it at all.
Essential oil diffuser vs. humidifier
After all we have discussed you might think what is better: diffuser or humidifier. Well, you know all the functions of each so you can simply choose the one you like. Both diffuser and humidifier (if used with essential oils) will help you sleep better. If the air in your bedroom is wet enough, there is no need in humidifying it though.
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Nice sleep is one of the most important things for your health, which is good, because you can fully control it. Combine everything we have advised and you will 99% sure sleep better. And do not forget to tell us about your ways of improving the quality of sleep!