Sleep can be a tough thing to get enough of in this day and age, especially when it comes to deep sleep. Deep sleep is categorized as the “stage of sleep you need to feel refreshed when you wake up in the morning. Unlike rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, deep sleep is when your body and brain waves slow down,” according to Healthline. It’s the type of sleep that’s hard to wake from, and if you do, you may feel pretty groggy. So what are some ways we can increase that deep sleep so we can wake up feeling amazing and ready to take on the day? We’ve listed seven tips for increasing deep sleep below. Keep reading for more!
Here are Seven Tips For Increasing Deep Sleep
1) Get a Little Warmer
According to Sleep Score Labs, it may be a good idea to get a little warm before you go to bed — it can actually help you fall asleep a lot faster. “Try spending time in a warm bath, hot tub, or sauna at night before getting cozy with a weighted blanket.” Perfect excuse to do a little online shopping, am I right?
2) Follow Your Circadian Rhythm
To get more deep sleep, you should follow a circadian pattern, according to VeryWell Health. Your internal clock helps you get more deep sleep earlier in the night. “When your sleep is irregular, that interferes with the timing of deep sleep. That can cause you to get less deep sleep. Keeping a regular sleep and wake schedule can help. This includes weekends. It can also help to get some morning sunlight as soon as you wake up. Sunlight can work as a cue for your circadian system,” says VeryWellHealth.
3) Try a Plant-Based Diet
According to Whoop, their users saw increased sleep when they switched their diets to one that was more plant-based. Even the National Library of Medicine reports that a plant-based diet “may lead to increased levels of the amino acid tryptophan, leading to increased melatonin and serotonin metabolites, enhancing sleep quality and quantity, and thus reducing cardiovascular risk.” Plus this type of nutrition plan helps save our planet? Sign us up!
4) Work Out Daily
According to Casper, those who work out during the day “tend to fall asleep faster than those who don’t work out at all. Researchers also found that those who work out 150 minutes a week are twice as likely to get a good night’s sleep. However, make sure to avoid intense workouts right before bed as these can raise your heart rate — leading to interrupted sleep.”
5) Try Listening to Pink or White Noise
According to Casper, sound has a key role in your ability to fall and stay asleep. If you hear a lot of noise at night in your neighborhood, try “using white noise to block any sound that may be keeping you from falling and staying asleep. Those looking to increase deep sleep may benefit from listening to pink noise. Pink noise represents calming nature sounds like steady rainfall or waves crashing on a beach. This type of noise has been found to increase deep sleep and improve memory in older adults.”
6) Avoid Caffeine at Least a Few Hours Before Bed
For all of my coffee addicts, I know this is a tough one but … we have to do it. Caffeine is a stimulant, so it keeps you alert, awake, and prepared to take on the day. But we don’t want to take on the night! And if you really need that kick, we suggest taking it down to decaf — you’ll still get the same great taste but none of the effects that can halt your sleep!
7) Magnesium
Because it helps to subdue any stress in the body, soothing your parasympathetic nervous system with magnesium can be a stellar way to increase deep sleep so you don’t wake up in the middle of the night. Taking this supplement orally before you sleep should be a staple in any sleep sufferers arsenal. Studies have shown that magnesium helps to increase sleep efficiency, awakening, and overall feeling of rest. We love taking the Magnesium Breakthrough by BiOptimizers because it offers the full spectrum of all seven types of magnesium specially formulated to reach every tissue in your body to provide maximum health benefits and reverses low levels which could be causing health issues. If you’d like these benefits listed above, we recommend this product because it helps massively with making sure you hit every magnesium target you want to keep.
