Snooze to Lose: Sleep Your Way to Stress-Free Living

Did you know that your body actually produces stress hormones when you don’t get enough sleep?  Your body  also produces hormones like cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine which increase stress. To keep your stress level low, it’s imperative that you get good quality sleep.  

Quality sleep includes several factors like how long you sleep, sleep stages and whether you sleep through the night.  But how can you get quality sleep when stress is keeping you up?  Here are a few tips to get better quality sleep. 

Get Active - Inactivity leaves your body feeling restless at bedtime, making it hard to fall asleep.  Moving more during the day can make a big difference in the quality and duration of your sleep.

No Screens Before Bed - It’s hard not to scroll on your phone before bed, but the blue light from your phone throws off your body’s circadian rhythm and tricks your brain into thinking it’s daytime. Turn off all your electronics one hour before you turn in.

Make Your Bedroom an Oasis - Your bedroom should be quiet, cool and dark. Use black-out curtains to keep out any unwanted light and turn the thermostat down. Consider falling asleep to white noise from a machine like a humidifier.  

Follow these tips and you’re sure to get better sleep and reduce your stress.