7 Ways to Prepare Your Bedroom For Solid Sleep

A plethora of studies make it clear: quality sleep is vital to our health and absolutely a priority if you have chronic pain, rheumatoid arthritis or another chronic illness. The term sleep hygiene is becoming mainstream as people are realizing the benefits of getting quality sleep each night. Many are choosing to pay more attention to how they sleep, and even monitor sleep with wearable devices. (I love my Oura ring!)

In my other blog articles I’ve addressed the importance of mornings on sleep that night and how daily routines can help improve sleep.  

What a lot of people may not be thinking about is how to set up their bedroom for better sleep. There’s a lot more going on bedrooms these days besides sleep … and I don’t just mean romance! Cheaper electronics mean that in many homes every bedroom has a TV. Mobile devices travel throughout the house including the bedroom, so often the bedroom becomes a place where people are browsing the internet or scanning social media. 

If your sleep is suffering, you may want to look at setting your bedroom up for sumptuous sleep. In this article, I am sharing seven ways you can prepare your bedroom to help you get solid sleep each night.  

7 Ways to Prepare Your Bedroom for Solid Sleep

1. Establish a New Bedroom Mindset. To help improve sleep, you want to send a signal to your brain that the bedroom is used only for 2 S’s: sleep and sex. When the bedroom is used for other activities, mixed messages are sent to the brain regarding the purpose of the space. Receiving mixed signals can negatively affect sleep. If you want to prioritize sleep, make a new decision about what the bedroom is for: the two S’s only. Making this decision will help you commit to the rest of the steps. 

2. Park Electronics Elsewhere. Now that you’ve made a decision that the bedroom is just for the two S’s, remove anything that  isn’t associated with sleep. That includes the TV, my friend! Many people claim that the TV helps them fall asleep, but the TV actually keeps your brain active at night. The same goes for mobile devices like tablets and phones.  If you absolutely must have a device next to your bed, putting it in airplane mode will help your brain relax for sleep. 

3. Remove Clutter and Tidy Up. Clutter in the bedroom serves as a distraction and can prevent your brain from shutting down. Tidy up the nightstand, put away clothes or other things that are lying around.  Making the bedroom a tidy and peaceful sanctuary will help your mind relax too. 

4. Darken the Cave. Whenever there is light, the body is wired to be awake. Even small amounts of light can be distracting when trying to sleep. Remove anything in the bedroom that emits light. Blue light, especially, stops the production of melatonin. So, remove anything that is emitting light. For light coming in through windows, invest in room-darkening curtains. If there is still ambient light in the room, use a sleep mask so your eyes are sheltered from the light. 

5. Keep it Cool. Our body temperature naturally lowers when we sleep so the bedroom should be on the cool side to ensure this can happen. The ideal temperature for sleeping is 15-19 ℃ (60-70℉). Keeping your sleep cave in this range helps the body regulate natural sleeping temperatures. Sleeping in the nude can also help the body self-regulate temperatures at night. Try different bedcovers to find what works best for you so you aren’t too hot or too cold. 

6. Keep it Quiet. We all know that noise can disrupt our sleep. More specifically, it’s changes in ambient noise that can wake us up. So, a humming fan may not wake us but a noisy truck driving by might. If you can’t control noises from outside or inside, consider having a sound machine to produce mellow background sound to help drown out sudden noises. Ear plugs are also an option. 

7. Try Aromatherapy. Growing research is showing that aromatherapy can help relieve stress and anxiety, thereby helping sleep. The sense of smell is directly connected to the brain’s centres of emotion. Among the oils associated with reducing anxiety are lavender, vanilla, rose, geranium, and jasmine. Mix pure essential oils with a carrier oil like coconut, or olive oil and apply to the soles of the feet, wrists, or palms before bedtime, or add oils to a diffuser in the bedroom.  

Are you inspired to remake your sleep sanctuary?  Establishing peace and calm in the bedroom can go a long way to improving your sleep and your health too.