Think outside the box to reclaim your night-time rest.
AN INSOMNIAC FRIEND UNWITTINGLY HIJACKED MY sleep recently. i’d never had trouble staying asleep before, but my friend started texting at 2 a.m. to pass the time. i keep my mobile phone on my nightstand, so his texts disturbed me, even with the phone on vibrate—the buzz, accompanied by a lit screen, jolted me awake. eventually, i activated a do-not-disturb setting: my phone remained blissfully silent and dark when i received unwanted texts between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m., and my sleep returned to normal.
Mobile phone alerts, bathroom trips or other interruptions spoil many people’s nightly rest. International guidelines suggest that adults should sleep between seven and nine hours every night, but a 2016 University of Mumbai study found that 61 per cent of Indians sleep for less than seven hours.
Chronic sleep deprivation isn’t just making us groggy; it can harm our health: Research shows that adults who don’t sleep enough are more likely to be sedentary and obese, and are at greater risk of diabetes, heart disease, depression and common illnesses like cold.
“Sleep is so important to physical and mental health,” says Neil Stanley, a sleep researcher in Farnborough, England. “Anything that causes poor sleep on an every-night basis can have associations with risk factors for diabetes, obesity, depression and other problems. You have to look at things that you potentially can do to improve the situation.”
Fortunately, you don’t have to swear off coffee, rely on sleeping pills or buy a fancy mattress to get a good night’s rest. These offbeat tips may help improve the quality of your slumber:
Ditch your smartphone
Denne historien er fra June 2017-utgaven av Reader's Digest India.
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Denne historien er fra June 2017-utgaven av Reader's Digest India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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From the King's Table to Street Food: A Food History of Delhi
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The Best And Worst Diets For Your Heart
Dozens of diets are touted as ‘best’, but it’s easy to lose track of the fact that healthy eating needs to be about overall wellness, not just weight loss.
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Journalist Sopan Joshi has worked in a science and environment framework for nearly three decades. His book Mangifera indica: A Biography of the Mango (Aleph Book Company) synthesizes the sensory appeal of India's favourite fruit with its elaborate cultural roots and natural history. He writes in English and Hindi.
SWITCHED
In 1962, nurses at a small Canadian hospital sent home two women with the wrong babies. Then, 50 years later, their children discovered the shocking mistake.
ECHOES OF THE PAST
A VISIT TO THE ANCIENT BARABAR CAVES IN BIHAR REVEALS A SURPRISING CONNECTION TO A LITERARY CLASSIC
Fathers of the Bride
A young woman finds a unique way to honour the many men who helped her survive her childhood
Fiction's Foresight
British-Bangladeshi author Manzu Islam's works reveal startling parallels to recent political upheavals in Bangladesh, begging the question: Besides helping us make sense of our world, can stories also offer a glimpse into the future?
It Happens ONLY IN INDIA
The Divine Defence Picture this: A tractor in Rajasthan‘s Banswara district,a group of loan agents closing in to seize it and the defaulting farmer and his family standing by.
