Sleep Hygiene
Makena Wood, BSc Neuroscience student
If sleep hygiene is a topic you’re interested in, chances are you’ve likely struggled with sleep before. Our previous blog post titled “Sleep for All Ages” discussed sleep as it relates to brain development and function, and highlighted benefits for the brain, such as learning and restoration, and how these are negatively impacted by a lack of sleep. Sleep hygiene refers to strategies that can be used to improve your quality and/or quantity of sleep through changes in behaviour. If trouble sleeping is a constant for you, and it seems there is no combination of sleep hygiene strategies that seem to help, consider reaching out to a healthcare professional who may be able to assess if there is an underlying issue affecting your sleep. To find out more about how to implement sleep hygiene for yourself, read on as I will discuss various lifestyle areas that can be addressed using a sleep hygiene approach.
Sleep hygiene behaviours
An assessment of sleep hygiene behaviours by McAlpine et al. (2023) discusses the variety between different sleep hygiene indexes and the merit of their associations with sleep quality.
Some significant behaviours discussed in their review were:
- Being in a negative emotional state before bed
- Being hungry or thirsty before bed
- Sleep medication use
- Worrying about sleep during the day and while trying to fall asleep
- Conflicts before bed, such as having an unpleasant conversation or perseverating over unresolved issues
- Sleep timing (going to bed and waking up at different times and/or spending different amounts of time in bed each night)
- Waking up in the night and checking the time
- Lack of natural light during the day
- Lack of exercise during the day
- Napping during the day
- Not taking time to wind down before bed
Some significant environments discussed in their review were:
- Ventilation
- Having an uncomfortable mattress or pillows
- Using the bed for activities other than sleep (eating, working, watching TV, etc.)
Believe it or not, all of these things can affect your sleep! If this list feels like a lot to take in, that’s okay. Try starting by addressing one or two items in your life at a time and understand that all of these may potentially happen in your day whether you intend them to or not. Many of these factors can exist outside of your control, but the importance of sleep hygiene is that you’re actively setting yourself up in the best way possible to account for and buffer unpredictable disruptors of sleep.
Take some time to identify which of the sleep associated behaviours or environments are most prevalent in your life and try to come up with solutions that you can act on. To help you out, I will address some of the broader themes across the behaviours and environments sourced from McAlpine et al., with suggestions from Sleep Foundation’s article on sleep hygiene.
1. Exercise and time spent outside:
o Set a goal to exercise daily and spend at least 15 minutes outside. These can be done together if you go for a walk outside. Together, they play a role in circadian rhythm and making it easier to fall asleep at night.
2. Protecting your sleep space:
o Make sure you have a comfortable mattress, pillow, and bedding.
o Calming scents like lavender in a spray or diffuser can also help optimize your sleep space.
o Restrict activities not related to sleep to outside of your bedroom to help strengthen the connection in your mind between sleep and your bed.
3. Establish a nightly routine:
o Aim to complete this routine, as well as going to bed and waking up, at roughly the same time every day, if possible.
o Schedule at least 30 minutes as a “relaxation period” before bed; try mindfulness or other relaxation techniques.
o Try not to eat any large meals or consume stimulating substances like caffeine or nicotine too close to your bedtime.
4. Keep a clear mind:
o Avoid tossing and turning. If after 20 minutes you still haven’t fallen asleep, instead of continuing to worry about falling asleep, try doing a calming activity like reading or stretching in low light before trying to sleep again.
o Consider trying journaling if you tend to ponder unresolved issues before bed. Journaling can help clear your mind and can also be another way to relax before bed.
Practice makes perfect!
Even though each person’s ideal standard of sleep will look different, everyone can take the time to optimize their environment and behaviour to achieve the best quality sleep, and therefore invest in the best outcomes for their brain health. Begin by assessing your own sleep hygiene based on the sleep hygiene aspects I’ve outlined above, or take a sleep quiz, such as the one on sleepfoundation.org. Once you have an idea of the quality of your sleep hygiene, you can begin to take steps to address the areas that you feel have room for improvement and keep track of any changes (good or bad) that you notice for your sleep. Happy sleeping!
References
McAlpine, T., Mullan, B., & Clarke, P.J.F. (2023) Re-considering the role of sleep hygiene behaviours in sleep: Associations between sleep hygiene, perceptions, and sleep. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-023-10212-y
Suni, E., and Rosen, D. (2024, March 4). Mastering sleep hygiene: Your path to quality sleep. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene