Have you been struggling to get a good night’s sleep? Perhaps you’ve been waking up every day feeling just as groggy and frustrated as you did the night before. Or maybe you’re struggling to focus on your job throughout the day, leaving you behind on work and getting overwhelmed and stressed. Whatever the case might be for you, a poor night’s sleep can have massive consequences on our ability to lead a happy, healthy lifestyle – and we’ve summarised a few key things you should consider in this regard to help.
After all, we all deserve to live our best lives – but this shouldn’t be something that leaves you scratching your head. Fortunately, better quality sleep isn’t an impossible goal, and CBD might just help in this regard.
What is CBD?
Before we go any further, we first need to clarify what CBD is. CBD is short for cannabidiol, and this is a form of chemical compound produced naturally by cannabis plants.
Specific strains of cannabis – namely hemp – have been bred over the generations to provide high levels of CBD, while producing negligible amounts of THC (the psychedelic compound in cannabis responsible for making you “high”).
This allows high-quality, pure CBD (along with some other potentially beneficial cannabidiol compounds) to be extracted, purified, and bottled as oils and other supplements.
Notably, current scientific research believes that the structure of CBD compounds is very similar to many compounds produced by our own bodies. This feature may allow CBD to interact with receptors in our central nervous system (specifically in the endocannabinoid system). In turn, this can potentially help with several issues – sleep possibly being one of them.
A Personal Journey to Discover New Sleep Solutions
Everyone has their own experiences in life – and for Clifton Flack (founder and CEO of Provacan), poor quality sleep was something he had also struggled with over the years.
After failing to see benefits from many other “treatments” for his struggles, he decided to try something a little different – CBD, a supplement that (at the time) was still very much taboo. It wasn’t long before he became a regular user, finding that CBD helped improve his own sleep quality.
Since then, Clifton Flack has gone on to support heavily with research into CBD and its possible connections to wellness and sleep quality.
Will CBD Help Everyone?
There’s often a misconception that CBD is a miracle cure. However, this isn’t the case, CBD is a fantastic natural supplement that supports and manages many symptoms, such as promoting sleep, it is not a miracle cure so it is important to keep your expectations realistic.
Moreover, it’s well worth considering that everyone will respond differently. So, there’s no guarantee CBD will necessarily revolutionise your sleep, especially if there are other underlying issues.
Further Options to Boost Your Sleep Quality
At this point, we’ve outlined how CBD could potentially help you get a better night’s sleep. However, it’s crucial to keep in mind that CBD alone can’t fix a bad night’s sleep or insomnia. It may help you sleep better, but it’s not a miracle cure. This is why you should always take steps to improve your sleep quality, aside from just taking CBD supplements and hoping for the best.
Avoid White Light
First of all, it’s crucial to avoid white light before bed if you’ve been struggling to sleep. This is an often repeated mantra these days, but it can have a massive impact on your sleep quality (even if you don’t realise it). Indeed, white light inhibits the production of melatonin (the sleep hormone). In turn, you’ll likely feel more awake for longer when exposed to white light – making it harder to drift off.
Create a Nightly Routine
You may also want to set a nightly routine to begin getting your body into the right mindset for bed. Repeating a nightly routine before bed helps your body prepare for sleep, allowing it to begin slowing down for a restful night. Simple changes such as this can have a world of impact on your sleep quality.
Work With Your Body Clock
Moreover, you should try to go to bed at roughly the same time every night. Our bodies’ internal clocks are surprisingly powerful. It’s what influences when we wake up and begin to get tired – and so training your body clock to certain times can help you drift off.
By contrast, if you regularly switch between going to bed at 10 pm and 2 am, your body may struggle to keep up, making it harder to drift off reliably and enjoy a restful night’s sleep.
Create a Restful Environment
The final tip we can give here is surprisingly also the simplest: make sure your bedroom is restful and calm. One of the main reasons that many of us struggle with poor sleep quality is stress – often work-related. As such, ensuring your sleep environment is restful is crucial to help you drift off. While this may not fix your stress, it helps ensure that there aren’t further pressures preventing you from sleeping.
This means creating a dark environment. Invest in a comfortable, supportive mattress. Plus, if possible, you should try to minimise the amount of noise and disruptions where you can to help you drift off more soundly when you go to sleep at night.
Final Thoughts
Poor quality sleep impacts so many people in our modern world. In fact, it’s believed that fewer than one-third of UK adults get the recommended amount of sleep every night – and even then, there’s no guarantee it’s actually good sleep! This can have a hugely detrimental impact on your ability to lead a happy, productive life. However, it shouldn’t have to be this way, and there are numerous different ways you can boost your sleep quality for a better night’s sleep overall.
So, whether that’s a simple lifestyle change or if you think that CBD supplements might be a good option for your needs, be sure to have a chat with your doctor. They may be able to help you find the ideal solution for your own sleep quality.