10 Tips For A Good Night’s Sleep

Sleep like a baby. Don’t we all wish we could? Experiencing that kind of peaceful deep sleep that our body needs to rest, repair and rejuvenate is important.

A good night’s sleep makes us feel energised the next day, puts us in a better mood which generally results in better productivity. However, not all of us are able to achieve that level of quality sleep. Some of us can’t even get a wink of sleep at night, while others struggle to reach the stage of REM sleep.

If you’re suffering from insomnia, insufficient sleep or have difficulty falling back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night, you’re not alone. Common reasons for sleepless nights include sinus allergies, sleep apnoea or asthma; other physical conditions like arthritis or chronic pain; as well as mental issues such as stress, anxiety and depression.

So, what are some tips to help improve our quality of sleep? If you’re looking for alternatives to melatonin and popping other sleeping pills, check out our tips to help you sleep better.

Use a Memory Foam Pillow to Improve Your Sleep Posture

Do you wake up with tension in your neck or often have neck pain after a night’s sleep? The importance of a good pillow cannot be emphasized enough. The Plushopedic™ Adjustable Memory Fluff Pillow is a favourite that combines the best of both worlds - adaptive support of a memory foam pillow and the plush comfort of a classic pillow. 

The Plushopedic™ Adjustable Memory Fluff Pillow was created because it was found that most sleepers prefer a plush pillow that they can poke, prod, and fluff over rigid, awkwardly-shaped 3D pillows, yet would be better served with memory foam support for the neck. The magic of the Plushopedic™ comes from its innovative filling – Memory Fluff, which is made of miniaturized memory foam blocks.

The problem with most fibre-filled pillows is that their firmness causes heads to flex upwards and place a lot of tension on the neck, which is why many people wake up with neck pain. In contrast, the Plushopedic™ pillow’s Memory Fluff is viscoelastic, which means that it acts like a viscous liquid – kind of like a fluffy marshmallow! 

The Plushopedic™ Adjustable Memory Fluff Pillow selectively softens where the load is greater, which redistributes supportive pressure from the temple and cheekbones to the neck, where it is needed. This conforming property allows it to adapt to back-sleepers, side-sleepers, and combination-sleepers. Like down pillows, the filling of the Plushopedic™ can be massaged around to achieve your desired shape too. 

The luxurious, feathery-soft protector, made of natural bamboo lyocell, serves as a barrier against secretions and dirt. What’s more? The super-breathable pillow protector allows airflow throughout the pillow, keeping you cool and fast asleep throughout the night. Finally, because memory fluff is made for repeated load-bearing, it maintains volume and support for years and years – unlike traditional fibre fillings – and even re-fluffs itself!

Snuggle Up With Comfy Sleep Accessories - Silk Eye Mask

Can’t sleep unless it’s pitch dark? Look forward to bedtimes again with the luxurious softness of the Luxiere™ Eye Mask. The extra-wide design of the seals out light around the edges ensuring complete darkness. 

DreamWeave™ technology makes the silk weave impenetrable to light for longer deep sleep phases while retaining the natural fibre’s luxurious softness. The Luxiere™ Eye Mask, made from mulberry silk, prevents facial wrinkles and reduces fine lines by keeping your skin hydrated. Even as you sleep on your side, the supple fluffiness of the mulberry silk weave feels just like a bed of feathers. 

Thin, adjustable dual-straps maximizes comfort while keeping the Luxiere™ Eye Mask in place all night, even as you toss on your side. They even provide complimentary high-density earplugs that mould to your ear canal and seal out all noise!

Take the Aid of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

TCM aids sleep quality in many ways but it is important to first understand the root cause. Could your sleep quality be compromised be due to poor appetite or excessive food intake which can result in spleen deficiency and blood stagnation? Or perhaps you are suffering from depression and anxiety which can lead to worrisome nights?

We typically struggle to fall asleep, stay asleep or achieve deep rested sleep, driven by stress and an overactive mind. A detailed consultation with a trusted TCM physician can help uncover these underlying issues and imbalances that can then be corrected through various TCM remedies.

Depending on the root causes identified, TCM physicians can customise herbal blends which aim to improve sleep quality and help with symptoms associated with insomnia like migraines, bad breath, poor digestion and obesity.

Herbal therapy can be complemented with Electro-Lymphatic Drainage Therapy (ELT) to further enhance the positive effects. ELT improves the function of the lymphatic system by reducing water retention and inflammation. As a result, many ELT users report reduced aches, pains, and better mobility and sleep.

Another TCM solution is acupuncture which physicians use to help balance your body flow of Qi. Thin needles that feel like ant bites are strategically placed in specific pressure points along meridians or Qi pathways to naturally stimulate blood flow by stimulating nerves and muscles. Each of our conditions is unique and hence, customised placement of the needles releases the blockages and improves our mind and body, helping us to rest better. 

Contact Oriental Remedies Group via WhatsApp at (+65) 8742 2163 for more information on how TCM can help improve your quality of sleep.

Use a Pillow Spray

To get your body and mind ready for a night of total relaxation, using a pillow spray is a pretty simple way and doesn’t require much investment.

Try The Body Shop Lavender Pillow Mist infused with lavender essential oil from Provence with its calming scents that remind one of being in the spa. Simply spritz a few times on your pillow before bedtime, close your eyes, and dream about purple fields of French lavender.

Listen to Soothing Sounds

Make falling asleep easier with calming and relaxing melodies. Sound healing therapy activates the parasympathetic nervous system which helps you to relax and reduces cortisol levels which reduce anxiety and promote deeper sleep.

Download the app A Soft Murmur which provides ambient sounds from nature such as rain, the wind blowing and crickets, as well as therapeutic sounds such as the singing bowl and gong bell. The calming sounds distract your thinking and reduce your brain activity, putting you into sleepy mode.

Practice Mindfulness

We know that there is a lot of uncertainty and panic with what is currently happening around the world. Do not underestimate the need to focus on mental health during these tough times. Practising meditation could be a simple activity to put your mind at ease and help you sleep better.

Popular meditation apps such as Calm, Headspace, Smiling Mind and many more offer meditation sessions from as short as five minutes up till an hour, even for beginners who require guided meditation.

Try Calming Herbal Teas

Fancy a cup of bedtime tea? Numerous herbal teas such as chamomile, ginger and peppermint have a calming, sleep-inducing effect.

The Night Time Pukka organic herbal tea is the perfect caffeine-free cup before bedtime to tuck you into a lazy slumber. Blended with organic oat flower, soothing lavender and sweet lime flower, it’s a best-seller.

Track Your Sleep

There are countless apps, smart wearables and a bevvy of fitness trackers which all claim to improve your sleep. Every night, your body performs the equivalent of modern health miracles - everything from improving memory to producing cancer-killing T cells. While you sleep, your body is sending a flurry of signals - heart rate, body temperature and more - to communicate your body’s progress as it prepares you for the next day. And night after night, you sleep through it.

Want to go deeper on getting more out of your sleep? The Oura Ring interprets these signals so you can wake up to the insights you need to take on the day.

Use Noise Cancelling Earbuds

Having difficulty getting to sleep because of a noisy neighbourhood or a partner that snores? QuietOn is the world´s smallest active noise-cancelling pair of earbuds designed expressly for ensuring silence and proper sleep hygiene. Due to their small size, the sleep aids fit well and comfortably in the ear and close the auditory canal to all potentially disturbing noise.

QuietOn is tuned by hand to cancel out low frequencies, which conventional foam earplugs cannot attain. It is equally useful at home or for tuning out the noise in a home office if you are continuing to work from home.

Breathe Better with an Anti-Snoring Device

Perhaps you want to nip the problem in the bud and stamp out the snoring altogether? There are numerous anti-snoring devices out in the market from nose clips and chin straps to waist belts.

You can try the Sleep Magic Smart Anti-Snoring Eye Mask which is able to detect your snoring by using its advanced bone conduction and sound recognition technology. Sleep Magic will then send out vibrations, in accordance with the intensity and severity of your snoring, that will signal your brain to relax your throat muscles, and open up your airways again. And this all happens while you’re sound asleep without any interference.