10 Sleeping habits Ranked from worst to best

We can't do without sleep. Good night sleep is extremely important for healthy brain function, physical body and emotional well being. All fitness goals including muscle building and fat loss are directly related to the quality of the sleep. However due to fast and stressful life most people now sleep deprived. This lead to tiredness, low productivity and even long term chronic disease. If you are one of those who sleeps eight hours daily but still feels lethargic throughout the day, then you might be unintentionally doing something wrong. Here I wish to share with you what we should do and what we should not do to get the best sleep of our life each night. Here I picked up 10 most common sleeping habits and have have categorised them as worst sleeping habits and best sleeping habits.

Let us first talk about the worst sleeping habits that adversally impact the quality of our sleep. 

1. Irregular sleep timings.

Irregular sleep timings on a daily basis disturb a internal sleep clock system. Thie not only effect our sound sleep but also effect our mood, alertness, hunger and heart function. Hence it is always recommended to sleep and wake up at the same time everyday. The best time to sleep at night and wake up is 9 PM to 5 AM. People who sleep for hours in afternoon are bound to face so many issues sleeping at night. At most 20-30 min sleep is good enough. 

2. Wrong Posture.

If you are sleeping for 6 to 8 hours a day but still not feeling restfull. You might be sleeping in wrong Posture. Many people sleep in fetal Position which puts undue pressure on the back and neck muscles waking you up tired. 

The face down position causes to stomach increase in size and become round. 

The wrap it up position doesn't let you get proper oxygen. 

The head on arms position injured the tissues of your arm. 

These are not the ideal position for healthy sleeping.

Sleeping on back is helpful for people suffering from back pain as it keeps the spine straight.

Generally speaking sleeping in the left side is best position as it has numerous health benefits. It increases blood circulation, doesn't overload the liver, prevents heart burn and helps intenstine clean better. There is a reason to this, when we sleep on the left side our stomach is ideally positioned downward which doesn't let the acid move upward. So right is wrong and left is right.

3. Playing with snooze buttons.

Now matter how much sleep you get, it never feels like enough. Snoozing after your alarm goes off can actually increase the tiredness and makes you feel drowsy. This is because time between buzzes is so narrow it does not have enough time to fall into deep sleep. Doing this on daily basis confuses the brain and disturbs overall body clock. Our body responds best to the single clear rule, get out of the bed as soon as the alarm sounds. 

4. Consuming sleep inhibitors.

People who have babit of consuming 3 to 4 cups of tea or coffee daily are mostly likely to face sleeping problems. Specially coffe which is higher in caffiene should not be consumed 8 to 10 hours before bed time. Surely drinking alcohol will make you sleep faster but it negatively effects rapid eye movement waking you in the middle of night tired and nauseous. Eating too much in dinner or sleeping empty stomach both may disrupt the sleep cycle. Even drinking too much water at bed time disturbs your sleep. Of course you know why. Exercise may also act as sleep inhibitor if it is done close to bed time. This is because the mind and body gets exited after a workout session which may inhibit the sleep. No doubt exercise helps you sleep better but make sure you doing it 4 to 5 hours before bed time. 

5. Using Electronic Gadgets.

This one is no brainer but most people can't get over it. Blue light emitted from smart phone screen, laptop screen or TV screen adversally interface with your sleep cycles. Moreover using these gadgets before bed exites our brain making it difficult for us to sleep. Always better to stay away from gadgets at least before 1 hour going to sleep at night. 

So these were the 5 worst habits that affect the quality of our sleep. Let us know discuss 5 best habits promotes sound sleep.

1. Create Optimal Environment.

Create an optimal environment for a good night sleep. First of all wear loose cotton clothes as they are much more relaxing for the body than other fabrics. The right temperature of the room is just at important. 20 to 24 degree Celsius is considered to be an optimal temperature for sleep. Also make sure that your room is dark quiet and clean. It surely helps. The hardness or matress or pillows is also important. Make sure they are not neither too soft nor too hard. These are the small things which make huge impact. 

2. Sleeping in Best direction.

This is the one habit which is mostly ignored. Moreover there is a scientific reason why people living in India which falls in the northern hemisphere should never sleep keeping their head to the north. As we all know that earth is a large magnet with north and south poles. It has strong magnetic pull towards the poles. Living in the northern hemisphere keep our head to the north position for 7 to 7 to 8 hours then north pole put undue pressure on our brain. Direction other than north is ok to use. Keeping out head towards east direction is considered to be best in this culture. This may not affect you in the young age but always it is better to make good habits early in life.

3. Before bed Foot massage.

This is one simple accupressure technique helps a lot in sleeping faster and deeper. Just wash your feet before going to sleep. Dry them with a towel. Now take a few drops of mustard oil and gently massage your feet. There are many points on the human feet which are directly connected to the nerves to the brain. Massaging the feet relaxes the brain which helps in sleep better.

4. Proper bedtime routine.

A simple bed time routine will prepare your body and mind for a good night sleep. You can simply put an alarm before one hour before going to sleep at night so that you know now the time to make your room tech free zone. You can go for a bath to cool your body or just wash your feet. Wear something comfortable and in this time you can read any book, write something or just do nothing. Meditation is one of the best things to do before the bed as it relieves us from stress and calms the mind. The whole idea is to get a deep sound sleep. 

5. Learn to sleep in 60 seconds.

For those who are facing serious sleep disorders like insomnia. I want to share with you one simple technique which I personally have found to be very effective. It is called 4-7-8 breathing technique. Basically in this method you have to breath through your nose for 4 seconds. Then hold your breath for 7 seconds, then breath through your mouth counting 8 seconds. Do this just 4 times and you will start feeling sleepy. 

So get over the five worst habits and try inculcating five best habits to sleep like a baby everytime you fall on the bed.