High Quality Sleep Improves How You Feel and Look

• Prepare the sleep environment. Keep your room as dark as possible, even soft lights upset your body’s natural circadian rhythm which controls sleep patterns. Lowering your room’s temperature at night can also trigger a sleep response. Make sure your bed is comfortable – that will create a zone that you can’t help but fall asleep in.

• Early to bed, early to rise. If you feel exhausted every morning, it’s probably because you’re not catching enough Z’s. Go to bed by 11:00 PM every night and get 7-9 hours of sleep. Waking up at the same time each day is the most effective way to maintain a stable sleep schedule and get a deep sleep during the night, so resist the temptation to stay in bed beyond the required 7-9 hours.

• Use the bed only for sex and sleeping. Watching TV, reading or working in bed can make it more difficult to fall asleep at bedtime. The benefits of sex and sleep can be compounded if both activities are performed sequentially (sex before sleep, of course!)

• Soften your wake up call. Waking up suddenly could be causing you sleep inertia – that’s the groggy fog you get when you’re jarred from a sound sleep. Try a soothing alarm clock – there are alarms on the market that use a combination of light and sound to gently wake you up.

• Don’t eat or drink before going to sleep. Coffee, tea, some sports drinks and even chocolate have caffeine. Avoid eating or drinking anything with caffeine after 5:00 PM and don’t eat a large meal before trying to hit the hay.

• Go back to sleep if you wake up. Normal sleep patterns might include short periods during the night when you wake up. Don’t get out of bed if this happens to you. Simply close your eyes, relax and you should be able to fall asleep within a few minutes.

• Treat your dark circles under eye properly. Sleep is critical to looking your best. In times when you can’t get enough, you might experience puffy eyes and dark circles under eyes. Use an effective eye cream with vitamins plus anti-inflammatories to diminish and control dark circles and puffiness that leave you looking burnt out and rundown.

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