Jul
According to the National Sleep Foundation, an estimated 40 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders. Not getting enough shut-eye can cause physical and emotional changes to occur like irritability, fatigue, impaired memory and decision making and inability to multitask. There are many reasons that people don’t get enough sleep, so let’s talk about the 6 habits that cause poor sleep…
6 habits that contribute to sleep disorders
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- Stress – Stress is the #1 cause of short term sleeping difficulty. As we all know, it can come from anything including job, family, school and financial pressures.
- Irregular am/pm schedule – Not having a usual sleep/wake time can disrupt circadian rhythm. This can especially affect late night or shift workers.
- Alcohol and/or Late Night Eating – It may help you doze off initially, but it prevents you from getting more restful and restorative sleep.
- Environment – This includes room temp (cool is best), appropriate darkness, noise, interruptions from kids and family and habits of your sleep partner (do they toss and turn? snore?).
- Traveling – Many people travel for work. Jet lag and crossing time zones can negatively impact biological rhythms.
- Media – yep, I said it again! Turn off the news, unplug from TV, laptops, smartphones and all electronics. Bright flickering lights can be stimulatory to the body making it hard for you to slip into sleep.
Do what you can to identify and modify your habits and moods to prep your body and make your bedroom an ideal place to fully relax and get restful sleep.
If you’re still not sleeping, call for a 10 min free consultation to see if acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine could help you get the rest you need.
More sleep tips and information to come, subscribe to my newsletter and follow us on Facebook. Sweet Dreams!
