Why You Should Nix Midnight Surfing
Surfing the Web before bed may seem like a relaxing, low-key activity.
But it could rob you of something very important (hint: it’s not your identity).
We’re talking about sleep. In a group of people who reported spending up to 2 1/2 hours a night browsing sites on the Internet, over one-third of them also had some kind of problem with their sleep. Here are some better bedtime rituals.
Sounder Sleep
It appears that high-excitement media inhibits drowsiness (watching late-night TV made sleep time less productive, too, in a recent study). The light your body is exposed to via TV screens and computer monitors seems to mess up your natural sleep/wake cycles and rhythms.
Here are better ways to ease your body into sleep mode.
Love your routine. Your body clock runs best when, like a baby, you get yourself on a regular sleep schedule. So aim to get up at about the same time every day — whether you have a full day of work or a full day of cartoons ahead of you. On weekends, try to rise within an hour of the time you get up during the week.
Do some gentle stretches every morning. So if you have trouble falling asleep, trade in the tossing and turning for a simple, gentle, daily stretching routine instead. Women who regularly stretch out their knots and kinks fall asleep more easily than nonstretchers do.
Put on a pair of warm socks. In addition to having a quiet, dark room to sleep in, having warm feet also may help trigger sleepy feelings, research suggests. The body naturally dilates blood vessels in the hands and feet and releases heat from these extremities in preparation for sleep. Warming your feet with socks and then removing the socks would mimic this sleep preparation process.
Feeling Drowsy?
If you’re sleepier than usual, the end of daylight saving time may be throwing off your ZZZs. Sticking to your regular sleep schedule will help you adjust faster.
Look around www.encouraginghealth.com for more healthy tips.
internet, surfing, sleep
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