The basics
What makes us sleep at night?
The sleep-wake cycle consists of 8 hours of nocturnal sleep and 16 hours of daytime wakefulness in humans. This is controlled by a combination of two things. Sleep homeostasis and circadian rhythms.
The circadian rhythms is the cyclical changes like fluctuations in body temperature, hormone levels and sleep that occur over a 24 hour period driven by the brains biological clock. This rhythm is affected by light and darkness. Basically this keeps us awake while the sun is out, but prompts us to sleep once it becomes dark. (Source)
The combination of these two things make us tired and want to sleep every night. Now there are activities you can do, that I list in this post, that will help you manage your homeostasis and circadian rhythms so that sleep is in your control.
There are six different aspects of your day that can be tweaked for a better night sleep.
- Bedroom Environment
- Daily Habits
- What You Eat
- Nightly Habits
- In Bed Techniques
Want to learn more? Below I go into full detail with steps you can take to have a better night sleep and fall asleep faster.