It's World Sleep Day; here are tips for better sleep
CHICAGO (CBS)-- It's world sleep day!
Sponsored by the World Sleep Society, the theme this year is "quality sleep, sound mind, happy world."
CBS 2' s Audrina Bigos turned to an expert from Northwestern Medicine to ask, how do you improve your sleep?
Dr. Justin Fiala said consistency is key and so is listening to your body.
"If you body is falling asleep at a certain time, it might be that is its natural bed time," Fiala said. "From that standpoint you don't really gain anything from staying in bed and hour beforehand."
He said if you are reading or distracting yourself before bed to wind down, that's okay. He said sitting and "stewing" is what creates the issue.
He also recommends various forms of meditative practices like yoga as it relates to sleep. He said both high intensity and low intensity yoga can benefit your drive to sleep at night.
Dr. Fiala says getting into good sleep habits is a lot like starting a workout routine.
It takes a lot of time and care to get to where you want to be.
He also recommends trying to clear your mind before bed. He said one way to do that is to carve out time during the day to write out things that are worrying you.
It will help you process them and not take them to bed with you.
Also, keep naps brief.
More than 30 minutes could put you into deep sleep and you'll be groggy not refreshed when you wake up.
And take it easy on devices that tell you how you're sleeping. They can be too much pressure.
