Does sleep hygiene really work? Devin Burke, best-selling author of The Sleep Advantage, founder of Sleep Science Academy, and your coaching guide to a peaceful night’s sleep, answers this question.
Your habits, rituals, and routines regarding sleep form your Sleep Hygiene. You probably are already practicing sleep hygiene or have read a lot about it.
Sleep Hygiene comes in many forms, like a sleep bedtime ritual or optimizing your bed and bedroom with things like blackout shades. It might be sleep supplements or a slew of other things in attempting to manipulate your environment or your behavior in order to sleep.
Does It Work?
Counter to what you might think, if you suffer chronic insomnia, practicing sleep hygiene may be the thing keeping you from experiencing sleep; let me explain.
If you ask someone without insomnia what they do in order to sleep, they say nothing, even though they may watch TV and have poor sleep hygiene.
But ask a person with chronic insomnia the same question, and they will recite a long list:
- “I’m in bed by this certain time.”
- “I must take this supplement”.
- “I need to take a hot shower.”
Individuals with chronic insomnia have a whole list of things they need to do to sleep.
The result of this lengthy list of requirements for gaining sleep is that the more essentials you establish, the more these ideas don’t work, fostering a false belief you need something in order to sleep.
Let me rephrase that statement – The More things you try that don’t work, the more it reinforces your belief that you need to do something to facilitate what your body is designed to do, which is sleep.
On the other hand, Sleep Hygiene can be amazing for persons without chronic insomnia, who may not be prioritizing sleep and are only seeking better health.
The Reality
Practicing good Sleep Hygiene can help increase sleep quality, but it does not solve insomnia. There are times and situations for practicing good sleep hygiene successfully.
These practices can increase your deep sleep REM sleep levels, helping you awaken feeling refreshed. But for those enduring chronic insomnia, that opportunity is after they address the root cause of the stress and anxiety creating their insomnia and re-sync their body’s natural pattern.
These individuals must reestablish that the bedroom and the bed equate to sleep and understand the psychology creating the pressure or stress response not allowing them to sleep.
Final Thoughts
Creating an effective routine can help you achieve more and better quality sleep, but only after addressing the root causes of insomnia. The exact methods are for you to identify and establish your Sleep Hygiene best practices.
One of the best methods for making these determinations is the unique Sleep Science Academy multi-discipline sleep coaching program of Dynamic Sleep Recalibration (DSR) that empowers you to identify and resolve the issues causing insomnia or other sleep problems.
Would you like to learn more about good Sleep Hygiene practices and how you can achieve more restorative sleep?
Contact us today to schedule your complimentary sleep evaluation with a certified sleep coach to learn more about the Sleep Science Academy Difference and take your first step to better sleep and a better life.