Quality sleep is vital for your overall wellbeing. It can help you restore your energy, improve your memory, and heal the body. However, if you are busy, and constantly on the go, it can be difficult to incorporate good sleep into your life. Regardless of how crazy your schedule is, it's still important that you find ways to sleep. Below are some tips on how to make space and time for sleep in your busy life. Remember, sleep is a necessity, not a luxury.  

Nighttime Bites 

Eating at night is not something that we generally recommend because some foods can upset your stomach. Also, digesting food when you go to sleep can interrupt your ability to get a good night's sleep. 

However, if you are starving, then that can interrupt your sleep as well. Therefore, it's okay to eat at night, as long as the snack is small in portion, not upsetting, and something that won't spike your blood sugar.

Some great foods include: 

• Almonds - They contain melatonin and magnesium, two elements that are great for going to sleep. 
• Kiwi - It's unsure why, but in a study 42% of 24 adults fell asleep faster after consuming kiwi than those who didn't.

Herbal tisane 

Sometimes you need a bit more support to go to sleep, and this can come in the form of herbs. herbal tisane is a caffeine free tea that you can drink before bed. Some options include chamomile, lavender, magnolia, valerian, and passionflower. It's important to talk to your physician before adding these herbs into your regiment. However, they have a long history of inducing sleep across many cultures. 

Stretching and yoga 

Meditating is a great pre-bed activity that can help calm your mind before you go to sleep. However, it can be difficult for people whose minds start to wander. Therefore, other wind down options include stretching and yoga. Stretching is a great way to loosen up your muscles, especially for those who suffer from chronic pain. 

Yoga is a more structured form of stretching that also includes breathing exercises and mindfulness. Both of these activities are great for lowering your heart rate, and have great mental and physical benefits.

If you don't know what to do, there are many great guides on youtube that can guide you in a nighttime stretch or yoga routine. Moving meditation is also a great option that combines yoga with meditating.   

Journaling 

Rumination can be one of the biggest sleep killers. When your mind is just running over and over on the same thoughts, it can be frustrating and deleterious towards your sleep. Journaling provides an outlet for that. 

Journaling gives you a space to dump all of those intrusive thoughts so they are no longer bothering you. In the morning, you can look at those thoughts with a clear mind and probably have a better chance at overcoming those issues. This is also a mindful process that forces you to pay attention to your thoughts and feelings so you can be one with yourself. 

Lighting a candle 

Lighting a candle is the perfect way to engage your smelling sense. Activating this sense can be a great way to trigger your mind into getting ready for sleep. When you light the candle at a certain point of the night, it's like an alarm to your brain that it's about time to go to sleep. 

Lavender is a great scent for calmness and relaxation, but other scents are good to try too, like: 

• jasmine 
• sandalwood
• bergamot
• ylang ylang
• chamomile
• vetiver
• vanilla 

Lighting this candle can help elevate your environment for a better night's sleep. 

Making space and time to get the adequate rest that you need takes is vital for your overall wellbeing. Click the orange button below to take a free online sleep test and talk with one of our sleep health professionals as soon as possible. 

https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep/how-i-found-the-time-space-for-better-sleep-in-my-busy-life#candles