Universitas Surabaya Maju Terus: best sleep

Make your room dark

Dim the lights while you get ready for bed, or turn off bright overhead lamps and switch to a soft, bedside lamp. Your body is programmed to sleep when it's dark, so you can encourage that rhythm by easing into nighttime.

Light inhibits the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that naturally promotes sleep. "Even if you doze off, light can be detected through your eyelids—and your brain won't produce melatonin if it's confused between night and day," says Joyce Walsleben, PhD, associate professor at the New York University School of Medicine. "You want as much darkness in your bedroom as you can handle without tripping over things."

Keep your room dark

Hide digital clocks and glowing electronics from view. Put a night-light in your hallway or bathroom in case nature calls at 2 a.m.; that's better than turning on a ceiling light, which would disrupt melatonin levels. And if street lamps or moonlight shines in from outside, consider installing heavy window shades or wearing a dark sleep mask.

Keep your room cool

Your body temperature naturally drops as you drift into sleep, so cooling down your bedroom can jump start the process and make it easier to doze off. Most experts advise setting your thermostat 5° to 10° lower than your average daytime temperature.

"It's different for every person, but your bedroom should probably be under 70°," says Walsleben. Menopausal women experiencing hot flashes—or those who like to bundle up in blankets—may want to aim even lower.

Keep your room quiet

If your bedroom is victim to unwelcome sounds of ambulances, catfights, or whipping winds, a thick rug and heavy blinds might help buffer the noise. If not, try a white noise machine or soothing CDs that can drown out disruptions, or even earplugs to muffle the sound completely. If you do fall asleep to music, use a player with a "sleep" function that can shut down automatically after 30 or 60 minutes, recommends William C. Dement, MD, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University and author of The Promise of Sleep. As your body transitions through different stages of sleep, unexpected noise may wake you during shallower cycles

Keep your room calm

After you've achieved these conditions, get rid of anything stimulating that distracts from the room's main purposes: sleep and sex. That means no treadmill, no television or computer, and no reminders of anything stressful. Adding personal mementos, calming color schemes, and soothing sights and sounds—like chronic pain patient Patricia Skiba's rock garden and water fountain, for example—will also make your bedroom a more inviting place to rest and relax.

posted by: Universitas Surabaya Maju Terus

Universitas Surabaya Maju Terus

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20306887_1,00.html

You’ve done all the obvious stuff—cut out late-night caffeine, made sure your bedroom is dark and cozy, avoided scary movies or struggling with your to-do list right before bed. So why are you still tossing and turning? “Certain habits you’re unaware of could be sabotaging your sleep,” says Kristen L. Knutson, PhD, assistant professor and sleep specialist at the University of Chicago’s Department of Medicine.

Say so long to sleep

And, as you may know, lack of shut-eye doesn’t just leave you foggy the next day: Chronic, long-term insufficient sleep ups your odds of diabetes, depression, cardiovascular disease, even weight gain. So what to do? Try these unexpected tweaks, and wake up feeling incredibly well-rested.

Halt your afternoon habit

It’s a no-brainer that drinking coffee or tea right before you hit the sack won’t do you any sleep favors. But you also need to watch your afternoon drinks, says Joan Salge Blake, RD, a clinical associate professor at Boston University. Love your 4 p.m. peach tea? It’s got caffeine, and so do some flavored waters and even orange sodas, Blake warns. Check the labels on your favorite midday drinks—any that boast energy-boosting benefits are likely culprits. Then, if possible, stop sipping them by 2 p.m., so there’s time for their effects to wear off. Naturally, coffee drinks pack a real wallop, so stay away from them after lunch.

Choose sleep superfoods

While it’s important to avoid a big, heavy meal right before bed (a full stomach will disturb your sleep), some foods may actually help you snooze, Blake says. If you’ve had a few nights of restless sleep, make a light whole-wheat-pasta dish with fresh vegetables, a little diced chicken breast, tomato sauce, and a sprinkle of Parmesan for dinner. This meal contains a snooze-friendly combination of protein and tryptophan, an amino acid that converts to sleep-promoting serotonin in the body.

If your stomach’s growling late at night, try a small bowl of cottage cheese with banana slices, another dish that serves up tryptophan. Other combos of healthy carbs and protein, such as milk and graham crackers or yogurt sprinkled with cereal, will also do the trick.

Sip wine sooner

Even though a nightcap may help you relax and fall asleep faster, it’ll make the second half of your sleep cycle restless and unsatisfying. Alcohol decreases deep sleep and increases arousals from sleep, says John E. Brown, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland. If you like a glass of wine in the evening, have it with dinner—around 6 p.m. rather than 11—and drink in moderation, so it’ll wear off by the time you lie down.

Take an early soak

Like to unwind in the tub before you snooze? Surprisingly, a hot bath might make it harder for you to drift off: Doing anything that raises your body temperature too close to bedtime may actually hinder you from falling asleep, because your body needs to cool to a certain temperature in order to reach a sound slumber, says J. Todd Arnedt, PhD, director of the University of Michigan Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program. That doesn’t mean you can’t soak after a rough day—when you get home from work, not right before turning in.

Stretch for sleep

Getting in a little gentle, restorative yoga before you hit the sack can help put your mind at ease, steady your breath, and reduce muscle tension without revving up your heart.

Try this restful Reclined Butterfly pose from Tanya Boulton, managing teacher at Pure Yoga East in New York City:

Lie on your back with the soles of your feet together and your knees bent and dropping toward the floor. Place your arms, palms up, by your sides, keeping your shoulders back and your chest open. Close your eyes and inhale through your nose while slowly counting to four, then exhale while counting back down to one. Continue for 10 minutes, or as long as it takes you to feel fully relaxed.

Set the mood for slumber

Keeping your room dark while you sleep is a great start, but bringing the lights down before bed is also important. “Bright light too close to bedtime can make it hard to fall asleep,” Arnedt says. That’s because dimness signals the biological clock that it’s time to wind down, while bright light says “daytime!” Swap out überbright bedroom bulbs for low-watt ones, or install a dimmer switch and keep it low. Like to read in bed? Do it in the lowest light that’s still comfortable.

Ban your BlackBerry

Need to send out one last e-mail before you “officially” turn in? Not so fast. Typing in bed can wind you up, so when you do unplug, it will be harder to fall asleep, Knutson says. “It’s possible that even the vibration of a BlackBerry could disturb sleep if a person is cued to hear or respond to it,” she says.

For tech-free zzz’s, disconnect an hour before bed, turn your smartphone off, and put any gadgets on an out-of-reach dresser or in another room so you won’t be able to grab it if you get the late-night urge. Also, invest in a real alarm clock (using your cell will only give you another excuse to keep it close)—and get ready to wake up feeling so refreshed that you won’t even need to press snooze.

posted by: Universitas Surabaya Maju Terus
Universitas Surabaya Maju Terus
Universitas Surabaya Maju Terus

http://living.health.com/2010/08/19/7-tips-for-the-best-sleep-ever/

By Leslie Barrie

From Health magazine