Live Like a Caveman, Sleep Like a Caveman

Being surrounded by technology in today's modern day has exposed us to numerous elements that impair our sleep. Adopting a more primitive lifestyle can possibly reduce your sleepness nights and ease out your daily sleeping routine.

Absorb sunlight

Now I'm not telling you shift your entire work desk onto an open field. But the fact here is that cavemen spent plenty of time out in the sun. How does this effect our sleep quality? You see, sunlight is nature's ultimate energy stimulant. It works better than Prozac in fighting depression. The intensity of incandescent lights you find indoors simply do not hold up the power of the sun. If you noticed, this is also why it's so easy for you to fall asleep after spending an entire day at the beach. Take little steps today to get more sunlight; it can even be as simple as taking a walk outside or opening the blinds.

Limit exposure to light

Light exposure after sundown limits melatonin production. Melatonin is the hormone produced by the brain that induces sleepiness by indicating to the body when its time to sleep. This can be easily avoided by simply reducing your exposure to light about an hour before bedtime. It may sound a bit silly, but there are people who swear by reducing the brightness and wearing sunglasses with your computer screen dimmed at night. If you're quirky enough, you may want to give this a shot!

Sleep in cool temperatures

Making your sleeping environment as comfortable as possible will definitely reduce the time it takes for you to fall asleep. Who can resist cool weather, right? Cavemen used to sleep outside in cool areas. Turn down the heat at night and open a window or two. A comfortable temperature is always optimal.

Eat like a caveman

If you aren't familiar with paleo diet, you should definitely read up a little more about it. The paleo diet has a significant effect on your sleep quality, which is known to protect you against cancer, diabetes, obesity, poor energy, depression, insomnia and even schizophrenia. The diet mainly consists of meat, fish, fowl, vegetables, fruits and nuts. That means grains, rice and refined sugars are not necessarily healthy. Adopting a paleo diet today may have its challenges, but certainly possible and the rewards are absolutely worth the effort.

Avoid caffeine

Cavemen never consumed anything caffeinated. Probably because it wasn't discovered then. But in all seriousness, caffeine keeps you awake and makes it difficult for you to fall asleep. It would be practically unreasonable to tell you to completely ban yourself from drinking coffee, but be wise and consume it in limited amounts. Typically you want to avoid it completely about 4-6 hours before sleeping. The earlier your last cup of coffee, the better.

Exercise

People have simply gotten lazy. Our days are practically occupied with beds and chairs and pretty much doing minimal physical activity. People in primitive times practically walked miles each day, and here we are sitting on our swivel chairs surfing the internet. Spending some time each day running, hitting the gym, or any kind of physical activity will always do some good to your body and your sleep quality. It also helps to tire yourself out for bedtime at the end of the day.

Now here comes the million dollar question: is going the caveman way really worth it? The road may be tough, and it will require a fair amount of discipline to alter your lifestyle. The perks don't just include better quality sleep, but also a better quality of life all around. Insomnian's recommendation is this: go for it! For the saying goes, nothing great ever comes easy.

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