How many times have we told ourselves this at night and ended up getting the opposite result: more awake, more uncomfortable, and with great difficulty falling back asleep.

Getting restorative sleep and sleeping well is vital to enjoy good physical and psychological health; it is one of the pillars of our wellbeing that we must learn to take care of and make work properly.

It is very important to know how our brain reacts and what helps us sleep or leads us to have trouble sleeping.

If, for example, we are trying to sleep one night and can’t, we start to worry and think about everything we have to do the next day, how tired we’ll be, how bad we’ll feel, etc. What happens is that by thinking about all the bad things about not sleeping, our brain starts to get stressed and the effect is that melatonin (the neurohormone that tells the brain it’s time to sleep) starts to decrease while cortisol (the hormone that tells the brain it’s daytime and time to wake up) starts to increase. So, instead of falling asleep, we are increasingly awake.

What can we do to get restorative sleep and fall asleep as soon as possible?

We need to learn how our mind works to get better results and maintain good sleep hygiene, so that our mind becomes our ally at bedtime and not our enemy.

The Importance of Sleep Hygiene for Physical and Psychological Health

What is sleep hygiene? Why is it so important?

Perhaps some of us are not aware of the importance of good sleep and do not give it enough value. This is reflected in phrases like: “I can manage on five hours a night”, “Sleeping is a waste of time”, “I don’t have time to sleep, I have too much to do.” Sound familiar?

Nothing could be further from the truth. A very small percentage of people may be healthy with less than 8 hours a day, but the vast majority need 8 hours. What happens during these 8 hours is vital for maintaining our physical and mental health.

There are four sleep phases, repeating in four or five cycles each night as if dancing between REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and non-REM sleep.

(1) Non-REM Stage 1: light, drowsy sleep. Less than 5% of total sleep.
Non-REM Stage 2: intermediate, consolidated sleep. 50% of total sleep.
Non-REM Stage 3: deep sleep. 15–20% of total sleep.
REM Stage: paradoxical sleep. 20–25% of total sleep.

Of these stages, the physiological benefits of deep sleep (Non-REM 3) and REM sleep are most noteworthy. Deep sleep helps cleanse toxins accumulated during the day, removes unnecessary neural connections, and activates growth hormone, which aids child and adolescent development and helps the rest of us age more slowly. It balances hormones, improving the digestive and immune systems, which helps prevent obesity and various illnesses.

REM sleep is the phase when our eyes move rapidly, and the brain is highly active, similar to being awake—hence the name paradoxical sleep. Here, we dream, and our brain frantically combines past and present emotions, integrating new experiences with old ones. This helps us understand the world, generate new ideas, improve social skills, and adapt better.

Our emotional circuits are also adjusted; this is essential for healthy emotional intelligence. REM sleep occurs more in the second half of the night, so if we only sleep 6 hours, not only do we lose sleep time but also 70% of REM sleep—leaving us short on sleep and emotional health. We notice this when we wake up feeling irritable or anxious. In a way, having a full REM phase each night is like seeing a psychologist every night.

So, how do we get restorative sleep and our 8 hours each night? This is where sleep hygiene comes in. It is important to understand that we can’t just turn our brain off and on; it must disconnect slowly until we fall asleep. That is why having good sleep hygiene—habits during the day and just before bed—is essential.

Guidelines for Good Sleep Hygiene

Here are some tips for good sleep hygiene:

1. Have a positive attitude toward sleep and enjoy it as a real pleasure. Prepare for the day calmly to also arrive at night calmly—keep your day as stress-free and single-task as possible.
2. Stick to regular sleep hours, going to bed and getting up at about the same time—even on weekends, with no more than two hours’ difference from weekdays.
3. Follow a similar routine before bed every night, so your brain gets signals that it’s time to start winding down.
4. Try to get natural daylight (not through windows) for at least two hours a day.
5. Stay physically active with regular movement throughout the day, like walking, stairs, or squats, but avoid intense exercise at least two hours before bed.
6. Avoid caffeine or other stimulants for at least six hours before sleeping. This includes food or medicine with any stimulating substance.
7. Don’t drink alcohol from early afternoon onward. While it can make you drowsy short term, it ultimately disrupts sleep.
8. Don’t smoke at least two hours before bed. Despite popular belief, nicotine only excites and activates the body.
9. Eat a light dinner at least two hours before bed; heavy or high-energy foods make it harder to fall asleep.
10. Make your bedroom a sleep-friendly space: quiet, about 20°C, as dark as possible so melatonin can tell your brain it’s nighttime.
11. Keep your room tidy, comfortable, and safe—your personal refuge helps you feel calm and secure.
12. Avoid high-focus activities like studying or intense reading before bed, and avoid screens two hours before sleeping. Both boost cortisol and block melatonin.
13. Finally, trust your ability to sleep and let your mind do its work. Bring your mind to the present and think about how good you feel in bed and in your room.

We should be more aware of the great benefits of good sleep for overall health. Improving our sleep hygiene will exponentially boost our physical and psychological wellbeing.

This way, we can live longer and healthier lives, prevent both physical and mental illness, and be responsible for our children’s sleep by giving them the time needed for optimal development.

Good sleep should be as essential as any other healthy habit, like diet or exercise. Preparing our days for good nights and preparing our nights for good days is crucial—manage stress during the day so you go to bed in good shape. If you’re not doing this yet, start as soon as you can.

Every night, restorative sleep is an act of self-love: a promise to wake up stronger, brighter, and calmer.

In the silence of restorative sleep, the soul is mended, the body heals, and time is kind.