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30% off sitewide! Sale ends soon. -dsktp
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Written By: Emily Spring
It’s no secret that a healthy sleep routine is integral to maintaining your overall wellness. Rejuvenating your body with 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night can help your body fight disease and increase your brain function, among a host of other health benefits.1
But not all sleep is created equal. Restless sleep—even for a duration of 7 to 9 hours—can have you waking up feeling groggy and unrested. And if you don’t reach REM sleep, which is characterized by vivid dreams, it may have a negative effect on your mental and physical functions.
That’s why it’s critical that you achieve deep sleep throughout the night. With some lifestyle changes and possibly the help of a sleep supplement, you can regain restful sleep. In this guide, we’ll detail how to get better deep sleep to revamp your sleep schedule and refresh your day.
Although the precise connection between exercise and sleep isn’t clear, the positive effects that physical fitness can have on your sleep schedule is. It’s believed that engaging in a light workout during the day can improve your sleep.2
According to the results of one survey, participants who exercise three or more times a week reported:
Compared to participants who didn’t exercise daily, the first group was also less likely to develop diagnosable sleep disorders.
You don’t have to run a mile or hit the gym seven days a week to improve your sleep through physical activity. If you’re wondering how to get a better deep sleep, unrolling your yoga mat and striking a few poses may be able to help.
Studies show that yoga is a useful treatment for managing the symptoms of some common sleep disorders.3 Furthermore, yoga may improve your sleep because it:
When it comes to sleep and yoga, the best results are seen among people who make a long-term commitment to the exercise and incorporate it into their regular workout routine. That said, even doing light yoga a few times a week can help.
Your diet plays an important role in how well you sleep. Like exercise, the exact nature of the food you consume and your sleep isn’t clear. Still, numerous studies have linked certain dietary choices with improved sleep.
For example, there’s stronger scientific evidence that suggests that increasing your fiber consumption can help you sleep. For example, a 2016 clinical sleep study successfully linked fiber-rich diets with deeper and more restful sleep.4
On the other hand, there are also foods you should avoid if you’re wondering how to get a better deep slow. Foods that are known to prevent deep sleep include those that are:
While a light, sleep-friendly snack, like nuts, kiwis, or tart cherries, is okay before bed, you should try to limit your food consumption for the three hours leading up to bedtime.5
You can also incorporate reishi mushrooms or reishi mushroom supplements into your nightly snack. This fungi may help reduce feelings of stress, lessen fatigue, and support a more restful sleep.
Wondering how to get on a better sleep schedule? Avoid large amounts of caffeine. There’s a reason coffee is such a popular morning pick-me-up—caffeine is a powerful stimulant that perks you up and energizes your body almost instantly.
That said, it’s not the best ingredient if you’re looking to fall into a deep sleep.
Experts recommend that you refrain from consuming caffeinated beverages about seven hours before bedtime. In fact, according to one study, caffeine intake within six hours of bedtime can shave an hour off your total sleep time.6 Otherwise, the caffeine coursing through your system can:
But it isn’t just caffeine that you have to look out for. If you’re someone who enjoys a stiff drink before bed, you might want to rethink your habits— alcohol can also come between you and deep sleep.
On the face of it, you might not think that alcohol could be so detrimental to sleep. It’s a suppressant, after all, and even a nip or two is enough to make most people a little drowsy. That’s why it’s so common to drift off into a deep sleep as soon as you lay down after a few drinks.
Even though alcohol might help you fall asleep when you first lay down, it can complicate your sleep quality throughout the rest of the night.8 Alcohol can impede your sleep by:
Additionally, drinking excessively on a regular basis is likely to contribute to prolonged sleep issues that may become chronic. Even moderate consumption too close to lights out can disrupt your sleep. For that reason, experts suggest not imbibing within four hours of bedtime.
A time-tested late-night trick is building a nightly ritual around going to sleep. Just as bedtime routines help young children get ready for bed, having a set of activities that you perform every night can help settle your mind and prepare your body for a restful sleep.
Perhaps the most crucial aspect of a bedtime routine is going to bed at the same time every night, which can help reset your circadian rhythm. What is circadian rhythm? Basically, it’s the body’s internal clock that guides it when performing tasks throughout the day. The most crucial stage of the circadian rhythm is the sleep-wake cycle. This helps your body expend the correct amount of energy during the day and begin the necessary functions and processes when it knows bedtime is near.
Messing with your circadian rhythm has consequences, such as being tired but can’t sleep at night, which can affect your sleep quality and sleep pattern.
What the rest of your bedtime ritual looks like is up to you, just as long as everything you do promotes better, quality sleep.9 Many people choose to take a warm bath, listen to calming music, or enjoy a cup of caffeine-free tea. Others opt for restful activities like:
While you’re crafting your bedtime routine, why not redesign your bedroom so that it’s the sleep sanctuary you’ve always dreamed of? Transforming your bedroom into a sleep-positive space may be able to help you get on a better sleep schedule and improve your sleep hygiene.
But how should you design your bedroom to promote deeper sleep?
Like your sleep routine, this mostly comes down to personal taste. Essentially, you want your bedroom to be a calming, stress-free environment where you feel comfortable, relaxed, and at ease.10
That said, here are some general tips for improving your bedroom:
If you’re wondering how to get better deep sleep but you haven’t looked into a noise machine, you could be missing out on an incredibly simple solution.
Noise machines are small devices that play a variety of sounds on a loop. They’ve long been used by the sleepless as a way to sleep easier.
There are many different noise machines on the market. Your best bet is to go for one that offers the following sounds:
If you find yourself tossing and turning throughout the night, CBD and CBN may be the nighttime duo you need.
When ingested, cannabinoids interact with your body’s endocannabinoid system to help regulate homeostasis. While CBD may promote physical and mental relaxation, CBN has sedative properties that may promote better sleep.12
You can add a few drops to your nightly cup of tea or incorporate cannabinoid capsules into your nightly routine.
If all else fails, consider consulting with a sleep specialist because there are some causes of sleep deprivation that are harder to diagnose.
Exercising regularly, eating and drinking responsibly, and curating a cozy bedtime routine can promote more restful sleep.
If you’re not sleeping deep enough or you’re wondering how to get on a better sleep schedule, Plant People has the solutions you’re looking for.
We’re your go-to source for plant-based sleep remedies that promote a more restful slumber.
At Plant People, we believe that Mother Nature knows best when it comes to your health. Our line of doctor-formulated, plant and mushroom supplements can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and get the deep sleep you deserve.
Written by Emily Spring
Emily Spring is the Director of Marketing at Plant People. A longtime proponent of balanced living, she has enjoyed over 8 years driving growth in the lifestyle, health and wellness sectors with deep experience in functional solutions for optimizing anyone's everyday life.
Reviewed by Gabe Kennedy
Co-Founder of Plant People, Gabe Kennedy is an acclaimed chef and entrepreneur. Growing up in a house of healers and herbalists, he is passionate about the power of food as a tool for health, and actualized this passion and belief system into his company, Plant People. Named to Forbes 30 under 30 Gabe has shaped menus and cooked his way around the world with his mission to promote a more communal, green and healthy world.
Gabe is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. You can learn more about his work at his website.
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