Our bodies change as we age, and so do our sleep needs. Snoring, newly diagnosed sleep apnea, and nasal congestion can cause you to experiment with different sleeping positions. Recovering from an injury or pregnancy could be another reason.

Reasons to change how you sleep

<ul><li>Side sleeping is ideal for back or neck problems, GERD and sleep apnea.</li><li>Snorers may benefit from turning over onto their side.</li><li>There is also some evidence to suggest sleeping on your left side is better for circulation, particularly during pregnancy or for anyone with high blood pressure or circulatory disorders.</li></ul>

Side sleeping

<ul><li>Sleeping on your back relives pressure points and is orthopedically more stable. You may want to sleep on your back if you are struggling with shoulder, hip or knee pain.</li></ul> <ul><li>Stomach sleeping works well for those suffering from sleep apnea because your airways are more likely to stay open.</li><li>The free-fall stomach position, with your hands above a supportive pillow, is the best sleeping position for digestive issues like indigestion and heartburn. However, it can be difficult to align your spine and potentially result in muscle and neck pain.</li></ul>

Back and stomach sleeping

<ul><li>Use a tennis ball. Side sleep training was traditionally done by taping a tennis ball to the back of the pyjama top. When a person turns on their back, the ball makes it uncomfortable, so they turn on their side again.</li><li>Put a pillow between your knees. Sleep with your knees drawn up slightly towards your chest. Or, place a pillow between your knees to help your spine correctly align.</li><li>Using a device. Sleep backpacks and belts are designed to help you sleep in a particular position.</li><li>Build a pillow buffer: Use pillows to provide proprioceptive reinforcement to sleep on your side.”</li></ul>

How to switch to side sleeping

Try putting a soft pillow under your stomach to make it more comfortable. It is easier to adjust to a new position if there is a strong incentive such as a tennis ball keeping you from your desired position.

Adjusting to stomach sleeping

Starting out on your back: Try to fall asleep on your back, then turn back if you wake up on your side. Buying an adjustable bed: Some beds allow you to put your body into specific positions, like zero gravity. Sleeping on an incline can make your bed mimic lying back in a recliner chair.

To learn to sleep on your back

Stashed ideas

How To Change Your Default Sleeping Position To A New One

<ul><li>Securing good sleep is essential for physical and mental health.</li><li>Most adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep to feel sufficiently rested, though the exact duration needed vary from person to person.</li><li>Insomnia can have a serious impact on a person's quality of life and day-to-day functioning.</li><li>It can affect performance at work, relationships, and motivation to exercise and keep a healthy diet.</li><li>People with insomnia often stop doing the things they enjoy as they no longer have the energy or drive to do them.</li></ul>

Insomnia Is Awful, But Treatable

<ul><li>Identify behaviors that could be fuelling your insomnia.</li><li>One of the main culprits behind insomnia tends to be going to bed early in an attempt to give yourself more opportunity for sleep.</li><li>Drinking coffee or consuming other forms of caffeine in the afternoon or evening poses a risk to sleep.</li></ul>

The Solution To Insomnia

Another strategy that people sometimes turn to when they are desperate for a good night's sleep is drinking alcohol.Sleep myth: it helps you to sleep.Sleep truth: it might help you fall asleep more quickly, but it wreaks havoc on your sleep quality as the sleep you get is less restorative, your heart is working harder, and you're more likely to wake up in the night and have fragmented sleep.

The Myth Of Drinking Alcohol To Get Good Sleep

Have a 60- to 90-minute winding down routine before you go to bed every night. This means doing things to help your body and mind feel relaxed and calm, and avoiding anything that overly stimulates the brain. Reading, light exercise, meditation, listening to relaxing music, having a bath, and self-care routines can all help. Avoid checking work emails, turn off notifications, don’t start planning or strategising, no gaming or social media. Think: gentle, relaxing, calm.

How To Sleep Well Again: The Winding Down Routine

<ul><li>Make your bedroom a sleep sanctuary: get the best bedding and mattress you can afford, make sure it’s dark, use ear plugs if it’s noisy, and keep the temperature pretty cool.</li><li>If you wake up at night, do not check the time.</li><li>Stay hydrated during the day and avoid consuming too much liquid just before bed.</li><li>Get up at the same time every morning, even on non-working days. This will strengthen your body clock.</li><li>Get outside and soak up the daylight as much as possible, especially in the morning. Even if it’s overcast. If you can’t get outside, sitting by a window is the next best thing.</li></ul>

Better Sleep: Tips And Tricks

Stimulus control is all about keeping your bed and bedroom for sleep (and intimacy) only. If you have insomnia, that ideally means no eating, reading, working, watching TV, gaming, online banking, to-do lists and so on when you’re in your bedroom. This is because we want your brain to form a strong association between your bedroom environment and sleep.

Stimulus Control

<ul>
<li>Notice: what are my thoughts about sleep right now? How true do they feel?</li>
<li>Spot the trigger: what is happening right now that might be causing me to think this way?</li>
<li>Practise self-compassion: it’s understandable that my sleep problems would make me think this way.</li>
<li>Step back and question: am I willing to be wrong about this? Is there another way of looking at this?</li>
<li>Rebalance: what’s the actual evidence for this? When I’m feeling less tired/stressed/fed up, how would I be thinking about this?</li>
<li>Recognise your needs: what can I do for myself right now to feel a little better?</li>
</ul>

What To Do If Your Mind Keeps You Awake

Lots of people struggle with racing thoughts, where, as soon as they wake up, their brain suddenly switches on and their head is full of things they need to do, worries, memories and so on.  A strategy that can reduce the impact this has on your sleep is the ‘brain dump’ exercise – you might want to try doing this at least an hour or so before bedtime. Jot down everything that is swimming around in your thoughts. The idea is that getting it out of your head and onto something physical, like a notepad, can help to ‘declutter’ the brain, and can even give you new insights and perspectives.

Write Down Your Jumbled Up Thoughts In A Notepad

Progressive muscle relaxation is a great way to help the body relax. It’s a simple technique that you can practise when you first get into bed. Here’s how to do it:<ul><li>Get yourself into a comfortable position in your bed. </li><li>Close your eyes and breathe calmly for about 30 seconds.</li><li>While continuing to breathe calmly, imagine slowly scanning your body from the top of your head down to your toes. </li><li>When you find some tension in your muscles, focus your attention on that muscle group </li><li>Repeat this with the same muscle group, then continue your body scan, and move on to another muscle group.</li></ul>

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is usually provided by clinical psychologists and cognitive behavioral therapists, as they have the necessary skills and knowledge to help facilitate changeCBT-I helps deal with the root cause of the issue and the factors that are making it worse, rather than just managing the symptomsMake sure to ask about the therapist's credentials and any specialist training they have in sleep and about their experience and successes in treating insomnia

Getting Help From The Therapist

Insomnia is awful, but highly treatable. Look beyond pills and potions, and use these effective methods to get your life back

How to sleep well again | Psyche Guides

As often as we talk about the <a href="https://www.domino.com/content/good-sleep-tips-benefits/">benefits of sleep</a>, more than a third of Americans are <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0215-enough-sleep.html">not getting the proper amount of shut-eye</a>. Instead, we push aside our rest to complete more work, hang out with friends, or—let’s be real—binge another episode of Succession. But even though most of us are still yawning into our <a href="https://www.domino.com/content/caffeine-detox/">coffee cups</a>, taking a nap might be the cure to combat those midday crashes because of its health benefits.

The Premise

Taking a nap can enhance your sleep cycle, regulate your sympathetic nervous system, help you think and let go of things that are causing you stress, and be used as a circadian marker to help your body understand where you are in the 24-hour cycle. Like meditation, it can be used as a quiet time in the middle of a chaotic day.

Reducing Stress

Taking a midday nap doesn’t mean you can sleep the day away. To reap most of the benefits, you want to be mindful of the amount of time you plan to hit the hay. Note that some <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1433851/Daytime-nap-is-as-refreshing-as-a-nights-sleep.html">studies suggest</a> allowing yourself to go through one full sleep cycle (which is about 90 minutes) to receive the most benefits. Ideally, you should avoid waking up in the deep sleep stage.

90 Minutes Of Sleep

While you may want to sneak a small nap into your day, you might have a hard time getting a little shut-eye if it’s not something your body is used to doing. On your first day, you’ll probably have no trouble falling asleep at all, especially if you sleep less than eight hours a night. But once you wake up from napping, you may feel the first benefits—a clear mind and restored alertness.

Effects On The Body And Mind: After One Day

Make sure you don’t oversleep. Sleeping more than the recommended time on the first day can backfire and make you feel groggy and tired. The recommended nap duration is 20 to 30 minutes.If you sleep beyond that on your first day, you are likely to wake up to the opposite effect, which may discourage you from ever continuing to take consistent naps

Don't Oversleep

This period is going to be the hardest, as you will have to constantly adjust your regular schedule to fit the naps in. Your body may have a hard time getting used to this new activity, too. The good news is, once you figure out the ideal schedule to incorporate a daily 20- or 90-minute nap into your routine, you’ll begin to notice the benefits almost instantaneously.

After One Week

One month of napping can make a huge difference in your professional and personal life. When taken the right way, naps can improve memory, boost creativity, and enhance emotional control and stamina. All of these things can help you achieve more in your career and build healthy personal relationships.

After One Month

Basically, adding a nap into your daily routine will give your body a major health boost. After six months, the long-term benefits of napping kick in. O<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021200626.html?noredirect=on">ne study on Greek adults that found</a> a short nap during the day reduces the risks of dying from heart disease and regularly getting more rest may increase your sex drive. Overall, napping can help you get on a more consistent schedule, and <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/consistent-routines-sleep-daily-habits_n_4532150">research finds</a> the consistency to be extremely beneficial for your sleep.

After Six Months

Curious about the benefits of napping? Here's everything to know after one day to six months down the line.

What Happens to Your Body When You Take Naps Every Single Day?

It's quite normal to wake up during the night. Waking up during the night does not necessarily mean you have insomnia. People will often return to sleep without realising that they have ever been awake. Reasons for night-time waking include being too hot or cold, needing the loo, having a nightmare, or medical (disordered breathing such as sleep apnoea or nocturia: excessive night-time urination).

Nobody sleeps the night through

Waking as much as five or seven times a night is not necessarily a cause for concern. It's more important how you feel 30 minutes after waking in the morning. Lifestyle changes can make a big difference: <ul><li>Stop caffeine consumption by 2 pm or 3 pm</li><li>Reduce water intake during the day</li><li>Alcohol can help you fall asleep but it causes spikes in blood sugar and cortisol levels, disrupting sleep.</li><li>A "pro-sleep" bedtime snack or an "anti-inflammatory" diet has been shown to improve sleep apnoea.</li></ul>

Lifestyle changes can make a big difference

<ul><li>For many, bedtime might be our first opportunity of the day to be alone with our thoughts. It’s connected to waking in the night because we haven’t had any processing time during the day.</li><li>Managing stress and anxiety during waking hours and learning how to relax body and mind are key to a good night’s sleep.</li><li>People might have this belief that they are a ‘bad sleeper’. A mindset change may be what’s needed. Accepting that you could wake up hours before dawn might be the first step towards good sleep.</li></ul>

Fixating on eight hours can make it harder to achieve

You eschew caffeine after lunch, have stopped drinking alcohol and eat healthily. But you’re still staring at the ceiling in the small hours. Here’s why

Shuteye and sleep hygiene: the truth about why you keep waking up at 3am

Sleep procrastination—also known as bedtime procrastination—is exactly what it sounds like: the decision to put off going to bed when there's no external reason to. (When we say external reason, we mean injuries, illnesses, and emergencies that might keep you up later than intended.)Sleep procrastination can take the form of a few minutes or several hours. And while these isolated incidents may leave you feeling tired the next day, over time, they can contribute to sleep deprivation.

Staying Up Late

Most of us understand the value of a good night's sleep. Sleep supports everything from physical health to proper brain function. And it can help us boost our immune systems, reduce our risk of certain chronic health problems, and otherwise keep ourselves in tip-top shape.Many of us want to get the CDC's recommended seven hours of sleep each night. The problem is that temptations like Instagram and Netflix keep us from pulling it off!

Sleep Is Important, But So Are Other Temptations

The easiest way to ensure you get enough sleep each night? Have a set bedtime and a set wake-up time that you stick to. If specific times feel too rigid, you could always give yourself a bedtime and wake-up window. It is very important to keep a consistent sleep schedule.Of course, it is nearly impossible to go to sleep at the same exact time each night. But keeping within a one- to two-hour window for both going to sleep and waking up is the most effective. Just be sure not to use the flexibility as an excuse to indulge in some sleep procrastination.

How to Stop Procrastinating and (finally) Go to Sleep: The Routine

If you already have a set sleep routine, figure out what's keeping you from it. What is it that's keeping you up at night? Is it work, TV, conversations with friends—or something else entirely? Once you understand what the problem-causers are, you can build boundaries around them.

Figure out What's Keeping You Up

Many of us know that <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/emres/longhourstraining/color.html">the blue light emitted from our devices</a> can disrupt our Circadian rhythms, affecting our ability to fall and stay asleep. But screen time may be affecting your sleep schedule in other ways, too. The activity you're procrastinating sleep for could be an app on your phone, a show on your TV, or even work on your computer, so consider setting boundaries around screen time. Rohrscheib recommends ending screen time at least one hour before bedtime, and Avena recommends keeping electronics out of the bedroom entirely.

End Screen Time 30 to 60 Minutes Before You Go to Bed

Good sleep starts with a good foundation: your bed. Knowing you have a comfortable, supportive and high-quality bed like the Sleep Number 360 smart bed waiting for you will finally make you want to dive into bed every night.

Get Yourself a Comfortable Bed

Make up a bedtime routine you can follow every night. You can read, meditate, journal, stretch, listen to some relaxing music, or engage in some other low-energy activity you love. You'll want to start this ritual about 30 minutes before bedtime. And while it may take a little getting used to, don't be surprised if you come to love it.

Build a Bedtime Ritual

One of the reasons you might keep pushing back bedtime? You want to feel like there's more time in your day. (This is called revenge bedtime procrastination.) But taking breaks earlier in the day can give you that same feeling of control and free time—without disrupting your sleep schedule—so try to carve out pockets of free time where you can.Set aside quality time for yourself early enough in the day that you don't have to cut into your sleep hours. And if you have a really busy schedule, look for places where you can save time.

Revenge Bedtime Procrastination and Break Times

One good rule of thumb? Keep your bedroom reserved for sleep and sex only.  <a href="https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/work-from-bed">Working in bed</a> can decrease your quality of sleep, because it will become more and more difficult for your brain to distinguish between workspace and rest space. So keep work out of the bedroom whenever possible. Worrying, working, and even not sleeping in bed is best avoided.

Dos and Don'ts of Sleep Hygiene for Less Sleep Procrastination: Not Working On The Bed

If stress is keeping you up at night, take steps to minimize your worries before climbing in bed at night. Make a to-do list of the things you'd like to achieve the next day so you don't stress about them at night,.The brain quickly makes associations between your actions and your environment. So keeping stress out of the bedroom can be just as important as keeping work out of the bedroom.


Don't Let Tomorrow's Stressors Keep You up Tonight

Remembering how great it feels to get enough sleep can make it easier to curb your procrastination habit.  It helps to track this, so you can see the outcome of getting more rest. Track your mood and energy levels throughout the day—about every two to three hours. And be sure to pay attention to how you feel in the afternoon.

Do Pay Attention to What Feeling Well-Rested Feels Like

Consistency is key. So try to keep a consistent bedtime and wake-up time—even on the weekends. Sleep specialists recommend that you keep a consistent sleep schedule even on weekends and holidays. This is because our brains thrive on routine. If you do need to change up your schedule, stay within one hour of your usual bedtime and wake-up time whenever possible.

Don't Change Your Routine on The Weekends

If you're having consistent trouble with sleep procrastination and it's affecting your quality of life, consider talking to a professional.  Sleep procrastination can be a difficult habit to break. Don't be too hard on yourself if you're having trouble changing your routine. But if you feel like you could use some extra help or guidance, remember that professionals are happy to provide it.

Talk to A Professional

Sleep procrastination might sound like a weird term. After all, who would want to procrastinate something as lovely as sleep? But sleep procrastination and revenge bedtimes happen—here's how to stop them for more sleep at last.

How To Change Your Default Sleeping Position To A New One

How to sleep well again | Psyche Guides

What Happens to Your Body When You Take Naps Every Single Day?

Shuteye and sleep hygiene: the truth about why you keep waking up at 3am

Sleep Procrastination Might Be Stealing Precious Hours of Rest From You—Here's How to Stop It

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