It’s only three hours to bed, but you’ve just gotten home from work. What do you do? Reach for your phone and get under the covers, of course. Wrong. You just missed the window to getting the sweetest sleep of your night. As tempting as it is to reclaim your ‘me time’ past midnight, you’re going to be dragging your feet to work the next day, with coffee in hand. It’s a lose-lose situation.
Start prioritising your sleep. Forgetting where you parked the car and nearly nodding off behind the wheel are all causes for concern. Dr Upasana Gala, a Neuroscience PhD holder and founder of mental wellbeing centre Evolve Brain Training in Dubai, says continuous lack of sleep can even lead to Alzheimer's disease, a brain disorder that gradually destroys memory.
We promise, getting a good night’s rest is not rocket science. After speaking with sleep specialists and bedtime routine enthusiasts, Gulf News has compiled the ideal do’s and don’ts list for uninterrupted, quality rest.
‘Sleep is for the weak’
You might throw that around in good fun – ‘sleep is for the weak’ – after pulling an all-nighter, not realising that your brain and organs were up with you, working overtime. Dr Gala tells Gulf News that the brain flushes out toxins when we’re asleep. Any toxin build-up can lead to serious disorders.
And you’re not forgetful; it’s most likely that you haven’t allowed your brain sufficient time to recall the day’s events and process them during the night, adds Dr Mohammed Al Houqani, consultant in respiratory and sleep medicine at Sleep Disorders Specialised Clinic in Al Ain and associate professor at UAE University.
Adults (aged 18 to 60) need at least six to seven hours of sleep – seven is the best average.
To add to that, if you find yourself catching a cold more often, then think about how well you’ve been sleeping. Probably not too well.
“Quality sleep boosts your immunity, so people who are sleeping less are more prone to catching viral infections,” Dr Al Houqani added. “Adults (aged 18 to 60) need at least six to seven hours of sleep – seven is the best average. Studies show that sleeping any more or less can put you at risk for cardiovascular diseases.”
Do not rage against the dying of the light
Since the dawn of time, humans have been waking up and sleeping with the sun. It’s the best way to ensure that you are in melatonin’s good books, the sleep-inducing hormone that naturally increases once the sun is out. The light from our screens? It is very good at fooling the brain into thinking that it’s still daytime.
“The best time to go to bed is between 8 to 12pm; beyond midnight we go into the REM (rapid eye movement) stage, so it’s not a good time,” said Dr Gala.
When asleep, we go through something called sleep cycles. Each cycle is made up of two stages: REM and NREM (non-rapid eye movement). Our deepest shut-eye comes during the latter period. We need at least four to five cycles, says Dr Al Houqani, but less hours means less instances of deep sleep stages.
Pamper yourself before bed
For Maitha, her nightly routine is the only thing she has down in life. A few minutes of yoga, skincare ritual and a dab of lavender oil behind the ears tell her brain she is ready to catch some sleep. The Emirati university student shared with Gulf News that she even leaves her phone to charge in the kitchen to avoid checking it first thing in the morning.
What Maitha has in place is a steady sleep routine, one that solved years of interrupted rest and mild insomnia. She said: “I began taking care of my health at the start of 2021, so I started eating better and exercising, including having a night routine to fix my sleep.”
This step-by-step process before bed helps train the body sleep on time. For 22-year-old Fatma, a 30-minute leisurely walk at the local park before bed calms her down. The Dubai expat follows this up with a hot shower, moisturising and leaving her phone at a good distance – after switching off the Wi-Fi.
“If you create a bed routine for 30 minutes, and you keep doing the same thing over two to four weeks, there is a trigger to the brain like, ‘Oh, we’re winding down now. It’s time to go to sleep’,” added Dr Gala.
If you create a bed routine for 30 minutes, and you keep doing the same thing over two to four weeks, there is a trigger to the brain like, ‘Oh, we’re winding down now. It’s time to go to sleep’.
These are highly personalised. For instance, our Living in UAE editor, Huda Tabrez, shared that giving her three-year-old daughter an oil massage for 15 minutes before bed is an essential part of her routine. Knowing her child will be sleeping well naturally helps her rest better.
To draw up one of your own, just do what makes you relax best, granted no electronics are involved.
6 tips by experts to sleep better
Dr Al Houqani and Dr Gala share some sleeping tips that will have you waking up refreshed, through and through. All you have to do is commit.
1. Make your room comfy
Light sleepers, Dr Gala wholeheartedly sympathises with you. As a fellow sensitive sleeper, she ensures her room is completely dark before bed, with her ears plugged, if necessary. Your room should neither be too cold or too warm. You will need absolute silence.
Some have told us that they light candles for a drowsy, warm ambience; others like to leave their white noise playlists rolling. If faux Nature sounds like rain shower help you calm down, try falling asleep to it.
2. No screens for two hours
Banish your phone and laptop from thy bed. Dr Al Houqani says if you are a bedtime reader, pick up a boring paperback. This is because nothing should ‘excite’ your brain before bed, which blue light from screens tends to do.
It is a type of light that actually alters your melatonin levels and triggers beta brain waves. Beta waves, generated when you’re on high alert, are not exactly ideal for relaxing.
So keep your phone hidden and out of sight before bed for at least two hours. Though, even the flashy billboards you pass by at night are another blue light source.
3. Don’t sleep on a full stomach
“People should avoid sugar at night and caffeine for six hours before bedtime,” said Dr Al Houqani. “Do not have dinner just before, have it at least two hours earlier.”
4. Don’t look at the time
The mortal fear of oversleeping also keeps us from resting well. If you’ve woken up in the middle of the night, Dr Al Houqani says you might be tempted to check the time – don’t.
“We panic when we look at the time, so your alarm device should be away from the bed,” he added.
5. Wake up at the same time, every day
We’re so focused on sleeping on time that we let our morning schedule go, especially during the weekend. We cannot expect to develop a fixed body clock if we keep up with our midday ‘mornings’.
Say you wake up at 7am for work during the weekday – stick to it during the weekend as well.
“A huge mistake is that we wake up late during our days off and stay up through the night, then expect ourselves to fall asleep early on weekdays. It does not work like that,” added Dr Al Houqani.
6. Get enough morning sunshine
A low-effort hack to quality sleeping? Yes, please. Dr Gala said: “During the day, the more you expose yourself to sunlight, the faster you will sleep at night.”
Morning sunlight is a surefire way of letting your internal clock know that it is day and that you will need melatonin later at night.
What if you feel tired despite everything?
You’ve got down seven hours of sleep every night, but you’re still drowsy in the mornings. Dr Al Houqani says this is enough cause for a visit to the doctor’s. Exhaustion and sleepiness during the day could be signs of a potential sleeping disorder.
Tossing and turning in bed isn’t something to be dismissed, either. He said: “If your quality of sleep is poor, see a sleep physician. This could be anything from sleep apnoea to restless sleep syndrome.”
If your quality of sleep is poor, see a sleep physician. This could be anything from sleep apnoea to restless sleep syndrome.
When we procrastinate sleep
At 1am in the morning, we often find it hard to resist clicking to the next episode of our favourite Netflix show, but do it anyway. Rather than an addiction, we’re trying to earn back control over our free time. Not letting yourself quickly unwind by catching up on shows or your Twitter feed could mean an endless cycle of work. So we refuse sleep, on purpose.
Break the habit by reminding yourself that on an average we spend about one-third of our lives catching up on sleep because it’s that important. As Dr Al Houqani puts it, we should understand that there is a time to sleep and then time for everything else. Make changes to your lifestyle without sacrificing that shut-eye.
