When was the last time you had a truly great night’s sleep, where you woke up easily, refreshed, and ready to take on the day? Unfortunately for many people, this is rare. Most people, at some point in their lives, find it hard to fall asleep, and then to stay asleep through the entire night. In fact, a recent survey found that more people are sleeping less than six hours a night, and up to 75% of us deal with sleep difficulties at least a few nights each week.

If this sounds familiar, we have you covered. There are many solutions out there for a better night’s rest. 

The first step in figuring out what will work for you is discovering what is causing your poor sleep in the first place. The following are everyday things that can get in the way of your having the best sleep possible:

Lack of exercise: Our bodies are designed to move, and move a lot! Our survival has depended on physical activity for thousands of years, and we’re simply not designed to be sitting for hours at a time. So even if you feel like you’ve been running around all day, if your heart rate hasn’t been elevated for a certain length of time or you haven’t broken into a sweat, your body will have a hard time shutting down at night. So 30 minutes or so of exercise will go a long way towards a good night’s sleep, and also help reduce mental stress at the same time. For most people, exercising earlier in the day is preferable, as evening exercise can be stimulating.  

Racing thoughts: Let’s face it, between work, family, friends, and even watching the news, our brains get quite a workout. All this activity can make it hard to settle our thoughts down at night, making it nearly impossible to fall asleep. To give your mind a break, write down your top five or ten stresses, both good and bad, before bed. This will help to relieve stress, and put your mind at ease for the night.

What you eat and when: These days sugar is everywhere, especially in processed foods. It’s hard to avoid, and causes a lot of health problems. It can also put your adrenal glands on a roller coaster ride, and bring your energy along with it. Other stimulants, like caffeine, or relaxants like alcohol, make it hard for our bodies to recognize patterns of rest and activity. These may be OK in moderation, but if you find yourself overdoing it, your sleep will be affected. For some, a morning cup of coffee can actually affect their night-time sleep! If you suspect this, avoid morning caffeine for a day or two and see how your sleep responds. Remember too that there is still a little caffeine left in decaf coffee. And tea contains caffeine too. 

Prescription drugs: Sleeplessness is a side effect of many prescription drugs, so talk to your doctor about your medications. Or look them up on-line, for starters. Even prescription sleep aids can cause problems over time. These drugs basically knock you unconscious, then rob you of your precious restorative REM sleep. They disturb your sleep in the long run and then you have to deal with a very challenging drug withdrawal – anxiety, tremor, sleeplessness, brain fog, and more. So if you can address these common causes, turn the television off, take a warm bath (and even better, with some relaxing, magnesium-laden Epsom salts and calming lavender oil) and top it off with a little warm milk nightcap (yes, it really works – contains lactium!) you should soon be sleeping soundly.

CBD & Sleep: If you still have issues, then there is CBD. 

I developed a Nighttime formula for CBD: Hemp Oil CBD Extract Night Terpene Infused Tincture. To promote a good night’s sleep, we suggest you try our Night Time Hemp Oil Tincture. It is a perfect blend of calming and relaxing terpenes to lull you into a deep and restful sleep, awakening refreshed. You can also add in our Hemp Oil/CBD Extract Melatonin Vegan Capsules for an even more sustained effect. You would take both at bedtime — the tincture for immediate onset and the capsule for a little later onset and longer-lasting effect. 

 We recommend that you consult your health professional before using this product, just as you should with any other nutritional supplement especially if you have a severe sleep disorder.