Reading Comprehension – How to sleep better

Hello there!

Remember we spoke about how long you should nap for? Well today we are going to look at some more tips to sleep better, at night.

Sleeping is so very important, especially if you are studying, because your brain needs to rest so that it can keep up the good work the next day. But often we do not sleep enough and are tired. When we are tired, we don’t want to study.

So let’s look at some ways to make sure we have a good night’s sleep, yes? This post was inspired by Zen Habits.

How to sleep better

1. Exercise

A good hard workout or run, bike or swim will get you nice and tired. Even if the workout is early in the day, your body will be tired and so it will sleep better. Don’t workout right before bed though! After you work out your body becomes activated so if you exercise at night it will be difficult to sleep.

2. Establish a bedtime ritual

It takes time to unwind the body and mind. At least an hour before bedtime, start slowing down. Turn off the computer. Floss & brush your teeth. Put away things you were using in the evening. Lay down and read a book (not on your laptop).

This kind of ritual helps establish in your mind that it’s time to sleep, and your body takes this cue and begins to prepare itself.

3. Keep your room only for sleeping

Don’t eat, watch TV, use your computer, or do other kinds of activities in your room. Keep those activities in the living and dining rooms, so that when you go to bed, there’s just one thing to do. Be sure to make the room dark when you go to sleep too — your body reacts to light.

4. Focus your attention

Once you’ve done your bedtime ritual and unwound, and your body is nice and tired, you need to quiet the mind.

One way of doing this is meditating or reading a book.

5. Change slowly

Be patient with sleeping changes — they are difficult, because when we are tired, our mind doesn’t have the discipline to stick to changes. Our body and mind want to do what they’re used to doing.

But keep going and soon you will be sleeping like a baby!

Vocabulary

Workout – a period of physical exercise that you do in order to improve your fitness, ability, or performance.

Unwind – o relax and stop thinking about work, problems, etc.

Floss – soft silk or cotton thread used for sewing.

Ritual – a formal ceremony or series of acts that is always performed in the same way.

Establish – to cause (someone or something) to be widely known and accepted.

React – to behave or change in a particular way when something happens, is said, etc.

Quiet – to make (someone or something) quieter, calmer, or less intense.

Discipline – control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders be obeyed and punishing bad behavior.