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Whenever you have trouble sleeping, you probably blame it on your hectic lifestyle and with good reason. You may go to sleep but your body won’t be resting especially when your mind is full of troubling issues. The words sleep and rest are not synonyms when it comes bedtime. Sleep is generally seen as that total time in hours spent in bed. Rest is what you get when you “go to sleep” and let your body revitalize itself.

There are basically two types of sleep. These are rem (rapid eye movement) and non-rem. Rem sleep is know as the dreaming state. Non-Rem is referred to as the quiet sleep. In rem sleep the brain is active. This is when you can observe the eyes moving rapidly. Rem sleep helps to restore your mental functions. Non Rem sleep is more of the deep sleeping and helps to restore body immunity and other processes.

People’s lives are busy, which can interfere with them getting the rest they need to recuperate properly. Studies were conducted on the interference of electronics on sleep and it found that televisions, computers, smart phones, video games and more tended to interfere with the brain’s need to slow down and rest during bedtime.

Be mindful of what you drink and eat before bed. Any drinks or foods that are caffeinated must be avoided. This means you’ll need to avoid sports drinks, coffee, soda and chocolate. If you enjoy tea before bed, read labels to ensure that it is not caffeinated. If you find that it is, consider switching to decaffeinated.

Another reason for bad sleep is a non-active lifestyle. Regular exercise is very important and can improve a person’s sleep. If a person hasn’t exercised in some time or not at all, they should look into hiring a personal trainer to help them get started. By getting help from the beginning, the person won’t waste their awake and sleep time with the wrong type of exercises.

One great idea is to take inventory of your bedroom. What is it’s purpose? Is your bedroom a media room? The bedroom should not be used for reading, watching television or using computers. Keep it an area designated for low stress and rest.

If you sit in the bed reading or watching television, your body recognizes the bed as no more than a sofa. By keeping these activities out of the bedroom, you will be training yourself to go into the bedroom in order to rest. Repurpose your bedroom if necessary. It may be a difficult task, but it does work.

Recognize the amount of stress you are under. Increased amounts of stress can lead to depression. In fact, one of the signs of depression can be the inability to sleep. Ask yourself what do I think about when I am sleeping? If you have an answer to this question you are probably under a lot of stress or pre-occupied. The reasoning being that you should not be thinking and sleeping at the same time.

Here are some tips to getting good nights sleep. In addition to repurposing your bedroom, develop a “nite-nite” ritual. Do the same tasks every night before going to bed. Give yourself the gift of a half hour wind down. This will signal your brain and body that you are ending the day and preparing for bed.

This can be reading (not in the bed) and sitting down with a cup of herbal decaffeinated tea. Peppermint tea works great. Try using candle light instead of lamps. One of my favorites is drinking herbal tea and listening to the radio or some good conversation by candle light. The scent of lavender has also bee shown to have a relaxing effect.

As with everything, change is challenging. To improve your sleep you need to change your patterns. It can be difficult be it is achievable. Customize your own wind-down ritual and have a good night’s sleep tonight!

About the author: Dr. Robert Simmons is a charlotte chiropractor using applied kinesiology technique. We regularly hold free charlotte chiropractic nutrition lectures and exciting classes.