Many people do not have trouble falling asleep in winter as some vestigial creature within tries to force us into hibernation mode, and yet so many people struggle with insomnia all year round. And insomnia is the cruellest thing: leaving you desperately tired but unable to enjoy a refreshing nap when you lie down. Here are some tips to make sure your bedroom is ready for sleep time, whenever you are: insomniac or not!
Get on Top of the Problem
A poor mattress will not only prevent you from enjoying a deep and restful sleep: it can actually cause you physical pain, hurting your back, causing you to snore and generally making you wake up unrested, gritty-eyed and exhausted. Mattresses should be changed every seven years, so if yours is getting a bit saggy and old, it is time for a change, perhaps!
Cocoon of Comfort
Your bedding should be attractive – after all your duvet cover takes up a good proportion of the focal space in your bedroom, so an attractive bed can brighten and refresh the look of the whole room – but it should also be comfortable. Your duvet and sheets come into contact with your body for hours at a time, while you fully relax into sleep, and if they are at all scratchy, rough or unpleasant to the touch, you will not enjoy your rest as much as you should. Fortunately, sites like Soak and Sleep specialise in a wide range of beautiful bedding that feels even better than it looks! Why not have a browse and pick out some bedding sets to brighten your bedroom and refresh your sleep cycle right away? (They also have a great range of towels and bath mats so you can luxuriate in the tub just before bed to start the wind-down process!)
If Music be the Food of Love…
Having music playing quietly in the background can help some people to drift gently off into the land of Nod. For others, even the slightest sound is an asleep eradicating nuisance, and quite often no one knows which camp they fall into until they try it! While some people have thought that it sounds like a good idea, only to find themselves straining to listen to every note, others who hated the thought of any disturbance found that the right music had them snoozing mere minutes after their head had touched the pillow! Recommended music is generally very soothing, pitched low, and fairly repetitive. Other sounds you can try listening to are the sound of the sea, streams and rivers flowing, or soft rushing sounds, like grain being poured into a silo.
Which are you? Try it and see!
A Diffuse Essence
The smell is our most primitive sense and it is a very strong one. Many people can be surprised with a wave of emotion when they suddenly smell something that reminds them of their childhood – apple pie like their mothers used to make, for example, or the perfume favoured by a first girlfriend. Our sense of smell seems to reach right into the most primitive part of our brains, pulling up raw emotions: anger, fear, love, joy when a smell is re-experienced. Loading a lavender-scented sachet into your linen cupboard can help your bedding to smell of the fragrant plant, and it can also help you fall asleep quicker and sleep better and longer too. Diffusers work similarly, dispersing fresh waves of scent into the room so the smell remains fresh and welcome. Once again, like music, some people love having pleasant scents drifting around the room, while others do not – and the only way to find out which you are is to try it!
Perfect Room Temp
Researchers have found out something odd about bedrooms. While most of us love a cosy bedroom, cranking up the heating so that we are toasty warm even when getting up on a frosty day, it is actually healthier – and promotes better sleep – to have the room just a little too cold. They theorise this is because our body temperatures naturally fall during sleep, so having a colder environment means that we sleep more deeply. But it is also possible because there is nothing nicer than snuggling under a warm duvet on a chilly night!