Your bedroom environment is essential in helping you achieve quality and consistent sleep. To create the ideal bedroom environment for sleeping better, you should consider the following factors:
Light
Light and dark are strong cues in telling your body when it’s time to wake up or go to sleep. Melatonin (the hormone that helps regulate the body’s circadian rhythm and helps you drift off), is suppressed by light, and in today’s age, we are exposed to more artificial light than ever before. This disrupts our circadian rhythms – keeping us alert and feeling less sleepy.
Investing in blackout curtains is a great way to block out early morning light – but artificial light can also interfere with your circadian rhythms. Make the bedroom a TV and gadget-free zone!
Read more tips on how to reduce light in the bedroom.
Noise
Unsurprisingly, a quieter bedroom is more conducive to sleep than a noisy one and plays a huge part in creating the ideal sleep bedroom environment.
Noise tends to be most disruptive in the lighter stages of sleep when we are dropping off or at certain stages of our sleep cycle. But even if we are not fully conscious to be aware of it, noise that disturbs our deepest sleep can be the most damaging to our physical and mental health.
If you are unable to block external noises with double glazing or other factors that are outside of your control, ‘white noise’ and soft, steady sounds can be soothing.
Temperature
Whilst children and elderly people may require a warmer environment, the ideal bedroom temperature is around 16-18 degrees Celsius. This might sound cool, but our body temperature naturally drops to its lowest level about two hours after we fall asleep.
Clutter
A messy bedroom can affect you more than you might think. Research conducted by New York’s St. Lawrence University* revealed that a cluttered bedroom can lead to a poor night’s sleep and increased anxiety. The bedroom should be a place of relaxation – and not your office, gym or playroom.
Bedroom Décor
When decorating your bedroom for a calming sleep environment, choose wall colours that set the tone and mood for the entire space. You want to elicit warmth and calm but ultimately make it inviting for you. Colour does not affect how well you sleep but it does affect how you feel about the bedroom space. So, choose colours that make you feel calm.
Certain scents can also help you achieve a calm environment, particularly if used as part of a routine. Your brain will eventually associate a scent with bedtime.
Beds and Pillows
Many people recognise that a lack of sleep affects how they feel the next day, but many fail to understand that their sleep could be improved by getting a new mattress. A bed with the correct support, comfort and space will ensure you wake less, move about less, are less disturbed by your partner and are less likely to wake up feeling tired or aching. Quite often a mattress has worn out long before you realise it. That’s why we recommend replacing your mattress when it is no longer comfortable or supportive enough to sleep well.
Similarly, because pillows affect your sleeping posture and lie next to your skin and your nostrils, it is a good idea to invest in quality pillows and replace them at least every two or three years for a healthy sleeping environment. Read more about when to replace your pillows and how to care for them.
*Source: American Academy of Sleep Medicine. (2015, June 8). People at risk of hoarding disorder may have serious complaints about sleep. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 13, 2021 from www.sciencedaily.com
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