7 tips to Make Room Conducive for Quality sleep.

When was the last time when you got a good quality sleep and awake feeling refreshed? Well, if you are unable to answer this question, then you are not alone. Today, due to hectic schedules and stressful life, good quality sleep has become rare and the recommended eight-hour sleep has become a dream for many. Good sleep has taken a back seat in our lives and has become the most ignored activity in our lives. This holds for more than half of the population of our country whose lack of sleep is directly impacting their health and well-being. This is giving rise to common ailments like insomnia, sleep apnea, and restless leg syndrome among others and these ailments are resulting in long-term health complications like heart diseases, high blood pressure and diabetes, depression, obesity etc.

As per the 5th edition of the Great Indian Sleep Scorecard (GISS) 2022 of Wakefit. co, one out of every four Indians felt that they had been suffering from insomnia. Typically 31 percent of women and 23 percent of men felt that they had lost their sleep. Nearly 50 percent of teens under the age of 18 years felt that they were suffering from some sleep disorder. These numbers seem to be alarming. However, what was more glaring from the report was the fact that almost 80 percent of the youth between 18-24 years felt that they did not feel fresh after getting up and nearly 50 percent of youth claimed that their bedroom sleep environment was affecting their sleep health.

Well, this brings us to the point that quality sleep depends on many factors including the bedroom sleep environment which assumes a lot of importance. So, if your bedroom is optimised for the light, noise levels, temperature and comfort among others, you sleep better. Thus, this makes it important that we enter and understand the World of Sleep.

The World of Sleep

World of Sleep (WOS) is a joint initiative by HGH India and the Indian Sleep Products Federation (ISPF) that primarily focuses on promoting good quality sleep by bringing together information and insights that can help people make better choices for better sleep. Like last year, this year’s WOS pavilion at HGH India 2022 too, gave visitors an insight into the technology-driven innovations that characterise healthy sleep products like mattresses, pillows, comforters, blankets, mattress protectors, sleeping bags, sleeping gadgets, supplements, sleep sprays, wake-up lights, smart bedroom gear, drapers, diffusers etc., to create the right mood and sleep environment in the bedroom.

Importance of bedroom environment for achieving quality sleep

Scientific studies and sleep researchers have found that the bedroom sleep environment has real and measurable effects on sleep quality. Further, since sleep quality and duration are directly tied to other aspects of human health, a bedroom environment that promotes sleep can also improve how you feel while you’re awake. Now, you may be wondering how to make your bedroom conducive to quality sleep. So, here are 7 tips:

  • Keep it light and dark: Light is one of the most important factors that affect sleep and greatly helps in creating good sleep environment. While mostly people know that it is easier to sleep in the dark, the relation between light and sleep is much deeper which we need to understand. Light has a dramatic effect on your sleep. It helps to regulate the body’s sleep-wake cycle and influences the release of the sleep hormone which is melatonin. As per the studies, exposure to bright and electrical light both before and during sleep suppress the production of melatonin due to which you are not able to have quality sleep and even wake up at the night. In addition, exposure to blue light before sleep also affects your sleep. Typically, smartphones, televisions and other devices with screens produce artificial blue light that can hamper your sleep to a very large extent. Hence, it is best to not see television, mobile phone or any other screen device before sleeping. So what should you do? Keep your bedroom as dark as possible to promote quality sleep. If you intend to read in bed before sleep, then you should keep your bedroom light levels as low as possible. Overall, ensuring that the bedroom has soothing lights helps you sleep peacefully. In this regard, many light manufacturing companies are offering innovative and unique sleep lighting solution with the sole intention of promoting good sleep, thereby leading to a refreshed tomorrow.
  • Colour it right:Colours can greatly affect the mood which can actually affect our sleep. As per colour psychology experts, some colours put us at ease while others make us alert. So what should you do? You should choose the right colours in the bedroom to ensure good night’s sleep. The best colours for sleep are yellow, green, silver, orange, and pink as these colours have a calming effect on the body and thus, reduce stress and soothe the nervous system. So, you should try to stick with neutral or pastel shades for a soft and welcoming atmosphere. You should save the bright and bold colours for other rooms of you house and choose subtle colours to make your bedroom a slumber oasis, so that you get a full eight hour sleep. From the colours of the walls to the colour of the furnishings and even wall accessories like paintings, you should pay attention to everything as all of these can contribute to a good sleep. Here again, prominent paint companies in India are focussing on providing best colour solutions to their customers to promote good sleep.
Women Experiencing a Good Sleep Environment in the World of Sleep
  • Keep it cool: Yes, you heard it right? Room temperature also affects your quality of sleep. Particularly, warmer temperatures result in a poor sleep. As per most of the sleep experts, the optimal temperature range should be between 60 – 67 degrees Fahrenheit (22-25 degrees Celsius). So what should you do? You should maintain an ideal room temperature by switching on the air conditioner, installing a ceiling fan, using an electric fan or opening windows when night time temperatures are cool. Simply put, you should ensure that the temperature in a bedroom is at a level where it gives maximum comfort and is neither too warm nor too cold. Companies like Daikin and Hitachi are constantly involved in creating optimal air and temperature for your sleep spaces. These companies are offering perfect solutions for creating the right sleeping environment in your bedroom.

US scientist Nick Obradovich warns that “Too little sleep increases susceptibility to disease and chronic illness and harms psychological and cognitive functioning”. Obradovich conducted a major study on the effects of climate and temperature at night on sleep. His findings – that increases in night-time temperatures exacerbate sleeping problems – come as no surprise. Yet they urge us to get prepared to withstand the expected increase in tropical nights (i.e. nights when temperatures never drop below 20° centigrade)

DAIKIN Air Conditioning has introduced Emura range of products to address this challenge. It offers not only constant temperatures, it is also whisper quiet, comes with a silver allergen removal and air purifying filter. “Of all the factors affecting sleep, temperature plays an integral role”says Alexander Dalinger, General Manager – Marketing & Corporate Communications at DAIKIN Central Europe. “Especially for elderly people and children, a good night´s sleep is invaluable. But the same applies to everybody else. DAIKIN’s solutions and products lower the negative effects of tropical nights, both in homes and in hotels.”

Similarly, another Air condition provider Hitachi offers the new airHome range, which integrates air conditioning technology to fulfil healthy air and temperature needs. The airHome 400 model features key characteristics that check many of the boxes for optimal sleep quality: precise temperature control, air-purifying features for better IAQ and odour elimination… For example, its SleepSense function uses smart technology to automatically detect when the room occupants are sleeping, adjusting to the ideal temperature to prevent the room from getting too cold, contributing to a more comfortable sleep without disturbances.

  • Focus on fragrance: Smell is one of our most potent senses and directly impacts how we feel while going to sleep. Further, certain smells create a physical change in the body and help you to relax. For example, Lavender lowers your heart rate and decreases your blood pressure, therefore putting you in a more relaxed state. In addition, Vanilla, Jasmine and Rose also promote good sleep quality. Hence, using aromatherapy can come as handy to create a pleasant and comforting environment in a bedroom to achieve quality sleep by relaxing your mind and body. So, what should you do? You should try and introduce ways of inviting the scents in your bedroom through sachets made of the scents, a diffuser that uses essential oil or applying scents on your bedding and the like. All of this can result in good sleep.
  • Make the right noise: While noise in the bedroom can lead to poor sleep, soothing music or sound can help in sleeping well. This is in lieu of the fact that the brain processes sounds, not only while we are falling asleep but even when we are asleep. Thus, soft and soothing music can greatly help in promoting good sleep. As a matter of fact and based on various studies, music helps in the regulation of hormones including the stress hormone cortisol whose elevated levels can increase alertness and thus lead to poor sleep. Listening to music decreases levels of cortisol. Music can also improve sleep by calming parts of the autonomic nervous system leading to slower breathing, lower heart rate and reduced blood pressure. Further, various night-time noises like noise from roads, aeroplanes or neighbours can also be subdued by soft and soothing music. So, what should you do? Simple, make it a routine to listen to soft and soothing music before sleep to ensure that you sleep right and tight.
  • Accessorise it right: Mattress protectors, plush mattress covers, good quality bed sheets and pillows allergen-proof mattress and pillows, if you have dust or mould allergies and moisture absorbing bedsheets, among others are all the factors that have a significant effect on the quality of sleep. So what should you do? You should pay attention to these in your bedroom to ensure a good night’s sleep.
  • Quality mattress is the key: For quality sleep, the right kind of mattress in a bedroom also plays a pivotal role. You spend 1/rd of your life on a mattress; hence you should make it a point to opt for the right mattress. So, what should you do? You should select a branded mattress that addresses all your needs. Ideally, a mattress should not only offer comfort at varying levels but it should also provide the right ergonomic support. Further, you should keep on checking the mattress for any wear after every few years.

In addition, you should eliminate any clutter in the bedroom to ensure a good sleep. To sum up, a cool, dark, relaxing, cosy and distraction-free bedroom can lead to quality sleep and a refreshed tomorrow.