Wow – sleep – or lack thereof – has been keeping a lot of people up at night. *groan* ;0)

It doesn’t surprise me. What does surprise me is that the loveable insomniacs of the world simply don’t understand some of the reasons they’re not sleeping well. Yes, it could be a hormone shift, it could be stress, it could be acid reflux – it could be a whole lot of things going on. What you might not understand is that there’s way too much other stuff going on in your bedroom that keeps you from sleeping well.

Don’t hate me for speaking the truth – bedrooms are for sleeping and sex. 

Mic drop…

You know where I’m going with this, don’t you?

What’s Keeping You From Good Sleep?

I get a lot of people in my shop who say they can’t fall asleep or stay asleep on a regular basis. When I ask about their sleep habits and their bedrooms, I usually get a bigol’ eyeroll.

This is a sampling of what I hear:

• I have to watch TV in order to fall asleep
• My furbabies sleep with me and wiggle around
• I must keep my phone right next to me (at all times!) because something might happen
• When I can’t sleep, I read in my bed
• I eat breakfast in my bed while catching up on the news
• It’s my WFH headquarters

Do you see a common theme here?

Technology is the bane of insomniacs everywhere but you’re not connecting the dots as to why. The more distractions you have going on in your bedroom the less recuperative sleep you get.

“One of the biggest mistakes people make in their bedrooms is they try to cram too much in there,” says Gary Zammit, PhD, director of the Sleep Disorders Institute in New York City. “They use it as an office and as an entertainment room right up until the clock strikes 10, and expect to just hit the lights and fall asleep. But the brain doesn’t work that way.”

All the EMF’s (electromagnetic field) coming out of the TV, computer, tablet and cell phone are damaging to your sleep hygiene. Screen time exposes your eyes to blue light that can disrupt your circadian rhythm, and it can also activate your mind, making it harder to wind down for sleep.

When you have all these distractions, your body gets confused. And a confused body = a restless mind = poor sleep. And I just gotta ask: 

How do you boink get intimate with all that’s going on in your bedroom?

A Better Bedroom For Better Sleep

If you’re really struggling with a lack of sleep, maybe it’s time to take a hard look at your bedroom. Here’s some best practices:

• Cool. Your bedroom should be cool at night – no more than 71 degrees. When your bedroom is too warm, it disrupts your sleep.
• Quiet. Yeah, I know. You can’t fall asleep without the TV on or there’s too much noise for you to sleep. White, Pink or Brown noise can make all the difference in how well you sleep. I wrote a blog post on the different kinds of noises and which one helps the most with sleeping. 
• Smell. Yes, the smell in your bedroom is very important! Calming pure essential oils are perfect for diffusing in your bedroom to help you relax and unwind.
• Light. The darker your bedroom during sleeping hours, the better sleep you get. Blackout curtains make a big difference.

Of course, a good mattress and minimal clutter make a huge difference as well. And I’ll repeat: bedrooms are for sleeping and sex!

Still not a believer? Then try Sweet Dreams Synergy Blend in a rollerball to help you relax and unwind at bedtime. Initially, I created this for kids but it works very well for adults, too!

One thing I started doing for myself is putting my phone on airplane mode since I use it for my alarm clock. There’s no distracting noises and I set it far enough away that I have to physically get out of bed to turn off the alarm.

Y’all, better sleep and enough sleep means a happier person. A happier person makes the world a better place.

The world needs you to have good sleep!

Blessings,

Melissa