Winter and laziness always go together, but many of us start to realise that the chilly weather also disrupts our sleeping habits because of reasons we didn’t notice at first.
We all like to cosy up in the winters but keeping the house too warm for too long can be quite bad for your slumber. “As we sleep, our body acclimates to the room temperature; if we lower our body temperature a little bit in a cooler room, we tend to sleep better”, says Dr Michael Decker. So, all those heaters and blowers in your bedroom are not a good idea if you want to get a good night’s sleep.
However, keeping the room too cold isn’t suitable either, you might be saving up on the heating bill but the cold atmosphere will be uncomfortable and ineffective for a nice sleep. The key is to keep the room at a comfortable temperature; not too cold and slightly warm.
Perhaps one very important reason for sleep disruption is the lack of light in the house during the day. Our bodies tend to react to brightness; if you’re in a room with good sunlight and lighting, you’ll be more alert and vigilant. Since winter days are not very sunny, there’s no light signalling the body to stay alert, and we end up feeling lazy and sleepy. “The body doesn’t feel like it’s time to go to bed because you’ve been half asleep during the day,” Decker explains.
What’s the one thing many of us do in this weather? It’s eating heavy meals; most of us like to munch on our favourite foods in the winters. From Barbeque to freshly baked pizzas, we want it all because they go great with the cool weather. After a heavy meal, your body gets lazier and doctors suggest having dinner four hours before sleeping; which isn’t easy in this season. The heavy food makes your body work harder in digesting, and this can actually keep you awake in bed.
Talking about laziness, how many of us feel sluggish in the winters and give up on the exercise? The late night walks or early morning runs in the summer seem torturous to do in the cold, cold winter. Studies show that exercise and excursion are great for sleeping better at night, as your body uses up a lot of its energy; however in winters our bodies don’t use that much energy because we’re too lazy to do most activities.
Oversleeping on the weekends is major reason too; we have trouble getting out of bed for school or work on the weekdays and from Monday, we start thinking about how much we’ll sleep during the weekend and just stay in bed all day. However, oversleeping is the reason, we can’t get proper sleep on the later days and that affects our entire routine.
While we can’t do anything about the conditions in winters, we can make a few changes in our bedrooms and living rooms to get better sleep. Keep the lounge simple; making it too warm will make you lazy and sleepy, and you’ll end up taking naps on your sofa at the most unsuitable hours, which will make you slow and distract you from most activities. Just put a light throw near the couch, in case it gets too chilly; otherwise a fireplace can keep the room comfortable and cosy.
For the bedrooms, a good mattress will do; something relaxing and comfortable, preferably memory foam. The guys at Dolce Vita have great and affordable options for spring mattress with supporting memory foam on top layers. A nice mattress is the key to good slumber in all seasons. Pillows will be great for better sleep too they’ll make your neck and head cosier and more comfortable and hence, ease up the body for a great sleep. With Diamond Foam’s recently launched brand Dolce Vita Home — Pakistan’s first luxury and sleep store, it’s a one stop solution to any bed-related buying; their products have a great standard, availability and they come with reliable warranties and guarantee a good night’s sleep for years to come.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2014.
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