A restful nights sleep can work wonders.
It gives you a totally different outlook on life, it makes everything look brighter, your quality of life will increase, you will feel renewed and have so much more energy.
All of these benefits are so powerful and will help you tackle the social anxiety issues.
Lifestyle changes and habits make an enormous difference in the quality of your nights sleep.
So these five steps are the basis of optimizing your sleep and giving you the energy required to make an amazing difference.
So, what are these changes that will result in restorative sleep and actually how much sleep do you actually need? Everybody is different, therefore what lifestyle change works for one person, may not work for another.
Plus some people require more sleep than others and visa versa.
However, as a general rule most people require about eight hours quality sleep every night.
One: Adopt A Regular Routine.
Listen to your body and keep even at weekends to a regular routine.
This does not just mean going to bed at the same time every night, but also waking and getting up at the same time every morning.
Keep to this, consistency is very important, develop a body clock.
If for any reason you need to make up for lost sleep, or just one of those times that you feel really tired and washed out and need to therefore 'grab' some sleep, then it is better to take a nap during the day.
This way you will not be breaking your night time pattern, which as stated above is very important.
If you do not do this and opt to change your night time sleeping pattern, this will upset your regular pattern and it will take some time to develop this routine again.
Try and keep the nap to a short time, say half or possibly one hour and take it early in the afternoon.
By doing this you are less likely to effect your night time sleep, by not feeling tired and or having too much energy.
If the opposite situation effects you and you feel tired in the evening before your normal sleep time, then you must fight it.
Avoid falling asleep, do something mildly stimulating, like make a phone call to a friend, go on the computer, or even some housework.
Two: Develop A Relaxed Environment Before Retiring For The Night.
If you make this effort and relax and unwind before going to bed, then you will sleep much more soundly.
How to do this? Sit and relax, keep the lights low, as bright light does not assist with relaxation.
Listen to soothing music, read a light hearted book, try meditation.
By doing this you are reducing the brain activity.
Television is not a good idea as this actually stimulates the mind, has flickering lights, noisy if not jarring at times and therefore will not necessarily bring on a state of relaxation.
Relax in a warm bath, try some aromatherapy oils in the water like lavender, which is recognised for its soothing, healing and relaxation qualities.
Please remember, this is just to relax both your physical and mental state.
It is not safe to fall off to sleep in the bath.
Try some 'winding down' exercises like gentle stretching.
Three: Eat Yourself To Sleep.
There are obviously certain foods to stay away from in the evening before you retire to bed, that will greatly increase your 'digestive activity'.
These tend to be the heavier foods, like red meats, pies, puddings, heavily spiced, heavy sauces and greasy food.
It is better to consume lighter foods which will give you the important nutrition you need and also eat sufficiently, so you do not keep awaking throughout the night with hunger pangs.
If it is possible with your daily routine, try to have your evening meal earlier, allowing time for your body to digest the food and therefore not going to bed full and possibly with that bloated feeling.
It is also important to mention, stay away from alcohol.
Why?..
..
An alcoholic drink might make it easier to fall asleep, however, alcohol will bring on much lighter sleep than normal, so this will make it more likely that you will have a disturbed nights sleep.
The same will be experienced if you take other stimulants like caffeine, tobacco and lots of sugar.
It is worth noting with regards to caffeine, which includes drinks like coffee, tea and energy drinks, that the stimulant can stay active in your body for up to twelve hours.
So, it may be an idea to keep these sort of drinks to the mornings only.
If you do fancy a coffee or tea, do not make your life miserable, why not have decaffeinated coffee and herbal teas that do not include caffeine.
Four: Change Your Environment.
Sleep is not all about numbers.
It is the "Q" rule, it is about having both sufficient Quantity and Quality of sleep.
So, if you are waking in the morning and still do not feel totally rested then you need to change your environment.
This is a very important factor in how well you sleep.
How comfortable is your bed, does it support you sufficiently, is there anything you need to change, even the bed itself? You will not be able to sleep soundly or otherwise if you are not comfortable and happy with your environment.
Your bedroom should be kept at an even temperature, cool is best and with ventilation for fresh air.
The room should be dark, so turn off any television or computer screens.
Not only does the light from these devises disturb you, but the sound will as well.
As said before, everybody is different and that is the same in the sensitivity to noise, generally though you will sleep better when the environment is quiet.
You cannot necessarily block out all every day noise, those general living noises, but you can mask them.
Try listening to music, not upbeat or uplifting music, but soothing and gentle music, or 'white noise' like running or trickling water, waterfalls, the sea, so as to deepen your state of relaxation.
This will allow you to drift off to sleep and have a full and quality sleep, so you awake refreshed and in turn this will help with the social anxiety.
Five: Exercise.
Studies have proven that regular exercise helps with sleeping and will help with social anxiety.
Possibly the most important gain, is the mental as opposed to the physical gain.
That is an increase in your self esteem.
Exercise increases the blood flow, therefore the blood flow to your brain will increase allowing mood enhancing endorphins to be activated.
Generally, this allows a person to feel better about themselves, brighter and generally happier with the world.
Physically, regular exercise strengthens the heart, providing of course that the exercise or exercises are within your own limits and capabilities.
You do not want to over do it, which could lead to physical injury or worst still a heart attack! However, keep within comfortable limits and it can work wonders, gradually over time strengthening your heart and reducing the heart pounding in anxious situations.
Look at exercises that you can comfortably do or take part in, that both you and your physical make up are comfortable with.
Remember, do not try and stress yourself, this should be fun so start off slowly and build up.
Look for an activity that you do or think you would enjoy, giving you both stimulation and the feeling that you have accomplished something.
How about looking at walking, hill walking or going for long walks in the countryside? Swimming, Tennis or Golf? Gym workouts or Yoga? Make sure that you exercise in the morning or early afternoon.
Exercising too late in the day actually stimulates the body, raising its temperature.
That is the opposite of what you want in the evening, because a cooler body temperature promotes sleep.
So, there you are, five ways to obtain restful sleep and help with social anxiety.
These lifestyle changes really take very little to implement and yet in very little time your quality of life will increase, you will feel renewed and have so much more energy.
It gives you a totally different outlook on life, it makes everything look brighter, your quality of life will increase, you will feel renewed and have so much more energy.
All of these benefits are so powerful and will help you tackle the social anxiety issues.
Lifestyle changes and habits make an enormous difference in the quality of your nights sleep.
So these five steps are the basis of optimizing your sleep and giving you the energy required to make an amazing difference.
So, what are these changes that will result in restorative sleep and actually how much sleep do you actually need? Everybody is different, therefore what lifestyle change works for one person, may not work for another.
Plus some people require more sleep than others and visa versa.
However, as a general rule most people require about eight hours quality sleep every night.
One: Adopt A Regular Routine.
Listen to your body and keep even at weekends to a regular routine.
This does not just mean going to bed at the same time every night, but also waking and getting up at the same time every morning.
Keep to this, consistency is very important, develop a body clock.
If for any reason you need to make up for lost sleep, or just one of those times that you feel really tired and washed out and need to therefore 'grab' some sleep, then it is better to take a nap during the day.
This way you will not be breaking your night time pattern, which as stated above is very important.
If you do not do this and opt to change your night time sleeping pattern, this will upset your regular pattern and it will take some time to develop this routine again.
Try and keep the nap to a short time, say half or possibly one hour and take it early in the afternoon.
By doing this you are less likely to effect your night time sleep, by not feeling tired and or having too much energy.
If the opposite situation effects you and you feel tired in the evening before your normal sleep time, then you must fight it.
Avoid falling asleep, do something mildly stimulating, like make a phone call to a friend, go on the computer, or even some housework.
Two: Develop A Relaxed Environment Before Retiring For The Night.
If you make this effort and relax and unwind before going to bed, then you will sleep much more soundly.
How to do this? Sit and relax, keep the lights low, as bright light does not assist with relaxation.
Listen to soothing music, read a light hearted book, try meditation.
By doing this you are reducing the brain activity.
Television is not a good idea as this actually stimulates the mind, has flickering lights, noisy if not jarring at times and therefore will not necessarily bring on a state of relaxation.
Relax in a warm bath, try some aromatherapy oils in the water like lavender, which is recognised for its soothing, healing and relaxation qualities.
Please remember, this is just to relax both your physical and mental state.
It is not safe to fall off to sleep in the bath.
Try some 'winding down' exercises like gentle stretching.
Three: Eat Yourself To Sleep.
There are obviously certain foods to stay away from in the evening before you retire to bed, that will greatly increase your 'digestive activity'.
These tend to be the heavier foods, like red meats, pies, puddings, heavily spiced, heavy sauces and greasy food.
It is better to consume lighter foods which will give you the important nutrition you need and also eat sufficiently, so you do not keep awaking throughout the night with hunger pangs.
If it is possible with your daily routine, try to have your evening meal earlier, allowing time for your body to digest the food and therefore not going to bed full and possibly with that bloated feeling.
It is also important to mention, stay away from alcohol.
Why?..
..
An alcoholic drink might make it easier to fall asleep, however, alcohol will bring on much lighter sleep than normal, so this will make it more likely that you will have a disturbed nights sleep.
The same will be experienced if you take other stimulants like caffeine, tobacco and lots of sugar.
It is worth noting with regards to caffeine, which includes drinks like coffee, tea and energy drinks, that the stimulant can stay active in your body for up to twelve hours.
So, it may be an idea to keep these sort of drinks to the mornings only.
If you do fancy a coffee or tea, do not make your life miserable, why not have decaffeinated coffee and herbal teas that do not include caffeine.
Four: Change Your Environment.
Sleep is not all about numbers.
It is the "Q" rule, it is about having both sufficient Quantity and Quality of sleep.
So, if you are waking in the morning and still do not feel totally rested then you need to change your environment.
This is a very important factor in how well you sleep.
How comfortable is your bed, does it support you sufficiently, is there anything you need to change, even the bed itself? You will not be able to sleep soundly or otherwise if you are not comfortable and happy with your environment.
Your bedroom should be kept at an even temperature, cool is best and with ventilation for fresh air.
The room should be dark, so turn off any television or computer screens.
Not only does the light from these devises disturb you, but the sound will as well.
As said before, everybody is different and that is the same in the sensitivity to noise, generally though you will sleep better when the environment is quiet.
You cannot necessarily block out all every day noise, those general living noises, but you can mask them.
Try listening to music, not upbeat or uplifting music, but soothing and gentle music, or 'white noise' like running or trickling water, waterfalls, the sea, so as to deepen your state of relaxation.
This will allow you to drift off to sleep and have a full and quality sleep, so you awake refreshed and in turn this will help with the social anxiety.
Five: Exercise.
Studies have proven that regular exercise helps with sleeping and will help with social anxiety.
Possibly the most important gain, is the mental as opposed to the physical gain.
That is an increase in your self esteem.
Exercise increases the blood flow, therefore the blood flow to your brain will increase allowing mood enhancing endorphins to be activated.
Generally, this allows a person to feel better about themselves, brighter and generally happier with the world.
Physically, regular exercise strengthens the heart, providing of course that the exercise or exercises are within your own limits and capabilities.
You do not want to over do it, which could lead to physical injury or worst still a heart attack! However, keep within comfortable limits and it can work wonders, gradually over time strengthening your heart and reducing the heart pounding in anxious situations.
Look at exercises that you can comfortably do or take part in, that both you and your physical make up are comfortable with.
Remember, do not try and stress yourself, this should be fun so start off slowly and build up.
Look for an activity that you do or think you would enjoy, giving you both stimulation and the feeling that you have accomplished something.
How about looking at walking, hill walking or going for long walks in the countryside? Swimming, Tennis or Golf? Gym workouts or Yoga? Make sure that you exercise in the morning or early afternoon.
Exercising too late in the day actually stimulates the body, raising its temperature.
That is the opposite of what you want in the evening, because a cooler body temperature promotes sleep.
So, there you are, five ways to obtain restful sleep and help with social anxiety.
These lifestyle changes really take very little to implement and yet in very little time your quality of life will increase, you will feel renewed and have so much more energy.