How to sleep well come Summers

Yes you’d have started experiencing the rise in temperature and the fluctuating weather preparing you for the next season. This is also the time your body clock is starting to adjust to the onset of summers.

The good news is once summer is here, the increased sunlight will mean more Vitamin D that helps in sleeping better. Though summertime can make one feel fatigued, Vitamin D is known to combat not only tiredness but also any depression and restore well being. As the sun light helps strengthen bones and nerves, it is very helpful in relaxing one’s body and mind and ensuring a good night sleep.

As light pattern changes, our sleep cycle will also slowly begin to readjust as the melatonin in our body will start ensuring we sleep earlier and rise accordingly. We will begin to feel sleepier before time with the sun lighting up the sky in the wee hours of the morning. The long days also bring back the allure of a nap as most people crave one and the siesta culture is more adhered to come summer.

Here are some sleep hacks to stay cool once the season is here:

• Control the humidity in your room
  Once it is humid, sleep of course suddenly needs a lot of props. As the sleep control centre in the brain is highly temperature sensitive, the need for a cooler room with more air kicks in. Same time some amount of humidity is even important, so try and keep your bedroom’s humidity level at 50 percent throughout the year. You could consider having a dehumidifier in summer and humidifier in winter, to ensure the right amount of moisture needed for the body to achieve deep, peaceful sleep, given you already have the best mattress for the money.
• Stay hydrated
  Drinking enough water is very important for sound sleep. It replenishes the body’s salt level, uplifts mood and helps keep headaches at bay. On the other hand sleeping on time and not waking up before completing sleep helps release the hormone vasopressin (also called antidiuretic hormone) that is responsible for maintaining the body’s natural water levels. Vasopressin also plays an important role in maintaining the circadian rhythm,  the sleep-wake cycle that is repeated almost every 24 hours.
• Cool your bed
  Never mind if your AC is not working, replace your hot water bottle with an ice pack as temperatures rise. During summer, you could fill cool water and put the bottle in the freezer to create a bed friendly ice pack that makes your bed stay cool for long.
• Go Cold feet, literally!
  Our toes have points connecting to nerves of the rest of our body. Wash your feet with cold water before sleeping and also keep a bucket of icy cold water near your bed, so anytime you feel hot during the night wake up and dunk your feet and watch how it cools the whole of you.