How to improve shallow sleep and easy awakening

When you sleep, if you have a shallow sleep, you will wake up easily. This is also an important cause of insomnia. It is easy to cause poor rest and affect the next day's work and study. Therefore, you should pay more attention to your health and learn some ways to improve it. First of all, you must have a better sleeping environment, develop a good life routine, pay attention to the combination of work and rest, and not overwork.

How to improve shallow sleep and easy awakening

1. Good sleeping environment

The "Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor" said: "When you are agitated, your mind will disappear; when you are calm, your spirit will be hidden." This tells us that it is easier to fall asleep when you are calm. Excessive physical and mental activity before bedtime may cause insomnia. Therefore, people in middle age and old age must have an open mind. Before going to bed, they need to eliminate selfish thoughts and focus all their thoughts on "sleep". This is called "sleeping the mind first". Only in this way can they fall asleep quickly, soundly and sweetly.

2. Have a regular daily routine

We must have certain rules in our lives. Modern scientific research has also proved that there is a precise "biological clock" in the human body, which constantly regulates the progress of human life activities. Traditional Chinese medicine also advocates that different daily routines should be arranged in different seasons. For example, in spring, the emphasis is on "sleeping at night and getting up early, and walking around the yard"; in summer, the emphasis is on "sleeping at night and getting up early, and not being tired of the day"; in autumn, it is required to "sleep early and get up early, and wake up with the roosters"; and in winter, it is advocated to "sleep early and get up late, and wait for the daylight."

Only if you develop the habit of going to bed on time can you fall asleep peacefully every time when it is time to go to bed. In addition, you should wash your face, brush your teeth, and rinse your mouth before going to bed. Washing your feet with hot water will especially help you sleep. Reading books or newspapers, drinking coffee, tea, smoking, etc. before going to bed can cause excitement and lead to insomnia.

3. Pay attention to the balance between work and rest

When a person lacks exercise and labor, it will be more difficult to fall asleep. On the contrary, when a person is too tired, it is difficult to fall asleep all of a sudden. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the balance between work and rest to ensure a good sleep. Especially after retirement, the elderly have less mental and physical activities, and often cannot sleep well due to improper work and rest. This requires the elderly to do some physical activity during the day, or take a 20-30 minute walk before going to bed, which can help sleep.

4. Correct sleeping posture

Cai Jitong of the Song Dynasty wrote in his "Sleeping Tips": "Sleep on your side and bend." This means that when sleeping, you should lie on your right side with your upper and lower limbs semi-flexed. This sleeping position has two great advantages: it does not put pressure on the heart; it is beneficial to gastrointestinal motility and helps digestion.

When sleeping on your side, curl up your limbs slightly and relax your muscles. This is very helpful in eliminating fatigue and promoting sleep. It is often said that “sleep high and be free from worries”, but sleeping high does not mean that the pillow is very high, but that people should be free from worries. In fact, a pillow that is too high or too low can affect sleep. Generally speaking, pillows should be moderately soft and hard.

In addition, the pillow core can be made of vanilla, wild chrysanthemum, buckwheat husk, or sun-dried tea leaves. It is moderately soft and hard, and has a pleasant fragrance, both of which help you fall asleep. In summer, it is not advisable to use kapok or foam plastic as pillow cores due to poor heat dissipation. For patients with hypertension, if they can use chrysanthemum and late silkworm sand as pillows, it can clear the liver, improve eyesight and treat headaches.

5. Avoid lying down for long periods of time

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that "lying in bed for a long time will damage Qi". This means that sleeping for a long time will affect the circulation of Qi in the human body, thus causing disharmony of Qi and blood, and even symptoms such as dizziness, vertigo, weakness in the limbs, mental depression, and loss of appetite. Even if the elderly suffer from chronic diseases and are bedridden for a long time, they should not lie in bed all day long. They should try to move their limbs or change their sleeping position. If you experience prolonged drowsiness, you should consult a specialist for a physical examination.

6. Take medication appropriately

Some people say that insomnia can be treated by taking a certain amount of sleeping pills to help you sleep. In fact, this approach is not advisable. Long-term use of sleeping pills can easily disrupt sleep rhythms and make people drowsy and sleepy during the day. Therefore, insomniacs can choose to take a small amount of sleeping pills moderately, but it is not advisable to use barbiturates that are harmful to the liver.