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If you have a hard time sleeping, trying to do that in hot weather would make it even more frustrating. Experts have figured and explained why this happens.
It’s a fact that temperature plays an important role in you falling asleep, but many don’t know the stress people have to go through to sleep well in hotter temperatures.
Hot temperatures prevent the body from cooling off properly. Exposure to high temperatures with high humidity can drastically decrease the way the body lets go of heat. Therefore it would take you longer to sleep if it’s too hot. High temperature can make the body go through stress and a response to that from your body would disrupt your sleep.
The suitable bedroom temperature is between 60 to 67 degrees as stated by sleep experts. If you don’t have a conditioning system at home, this temperature is almost impossible to achieve. There are few recommendations by experts to help keep the body cool throughout the night in the remainder of the summer.
List:
Shower before going to bed.
Chances are that you are already soaked in sweat from the day’s work, and you consider taking a shower before sleeping, this is good as it can help you sleep. The shower doesn’t have to be a freezing cold shower unless you feel like it. Slow-wave sleep, the deepest stage of non-REM sleep, has been proved by experts to increase by warm showers and baths.
Perform light exercise.
If you can do it, a little exercise before bed would help you sleep. The former thought that performing exercise before bed will keep your body active, thereby making it harder to sleep is not true. Just make sure the exercise is not vigorous and would not make your body react by increasing your temperature, therefore, making it uncomfortable to sleep. You can try out exercises like an easy walking video, a 30-minutes yoga flow, or even a quick ab routine.
Use a fan.
If you don’t have a conditioning system at home, you might consider using a fan to keep you cool and provide the right noise to help you sleep. The noise produced by the fan helps to mask out other sounds that might wake you up at night or prevent you from sleeping. You should make the ceiling fan spin in a counterclockwise direction to push hot air out. You can add a bedside fan if the ceiling fan isn’t enough.
Drink enough water.
Do not take alcoholic drinks at least 4 hours before going to bed because it can make you dehydrated in the middle of the night. Drinking enough water in the day and having a glass of water before bed is required for healthy and restful sleep.
Pick the coolest room to sleep in.
Sleeping in a room at a lower altitude helps keep you cool at night. If that’s not an option, keep the curtains of the room down to reduce what it gets during the day. Also at night, try keeping the room as dark as possible because light creeping in the window can disrupt sleep.
Use ice packs or cold compresses.
Ice packs wrapped in a towel or cold compresses on pulse points like the wrist, ankle and behind the knees help cool the whole body temperature. You can also try slipping ice packs inside your pillows to provide more chill, just make sure the ice packs don’t leak out.
Do some breathing exercises.
Do not only focus on the heat and humidity while in bed, try doing breathing exercises to take your mind off the temperature and calm you down. You can do the 4-7-8 breathing technique which entails breathing in for four clients, holding your breath for seven, and exhaling for eight counts. Continue this until you fall asleep.
Do not use memory foam.
Memory foam can be insulating, therefore it would trap heat in your body. Try switching to a different mattress or remove your mattress pad for the remainder of the season, there would be a massive improvement in your sleep. Try out AirFoam, which is temperature neutral, unlike the memory foam which traps heat.
Nolah Mattress is one of the best mattresses out there for controlling temperature. ( it is currently on sale!)
Use the “cold side” of your pillow.
Few companies out there use heat technology to keep their fabrics cold, so you wouldn’t need to flip your pillow continuously to get the cold side. Nolah’s AirFoam pillow is a good pillow to test out.
Sleep Alone.
More people sleeping together generates more heat, so avoid sharing a bed on warm nights. If that’s not possible and your kid, pet, or partner insists on sharing a bed, one is sure to have the right bed and conditioning system or fan to make everyone comfortable.
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