Use Your Five Senses to Help You Sleep

If you are like many Americans, struggling to get a good night’s rest, then you may need to pay closer attention to how your bedroom and your sheets, in particular, are affecting your five senses.  

Touch: How Comfortable Does Your Bedroom Feel?

 There are many ways that how your bedroom “feels” can affect your sleep. For instance, what is the temperature in your bedroom? Research shows that 65 degrees promotes the best sleep.



The feel of your mattress, your pillows, your pajamas, and especially your sheets can affect the quality of sleep as well. You are the best judge of how firm your mattress and pillows should be. However, aging mattresses and pillows will become lumpy and uncomfortable. It is a good idea to replace the mattress every seven to ten years and pillows when they are worn. This becomes more important as your body ages.

Choose pajamas and sheets that are made from cotton and other breathable fabrics. Cheap sheets can trap heat, making it difficult for you to sleep. Instead choose top quality sheets that may last longer in addition to improving the quality of your sleep.  

Sight: Do Your Room and Your Bed Look Inviting?

It might surprise you to know that how your bedroom looks can have an impact on how well you sleep. A clean and tidy bedroom is more conducive to a good night’s rest than a cluttered or unattractive room. Evidence gathered through research and polls conducted by a well-respected foundation shows that making your bed in the morning will affect your sleep and so will the comfortable feel of sheets and other bedding. Experts surmise that the connection lies in how you feel about the room in which you are sleeping.

 Your sleep can also be affected by the light of your cellphone, even the tiny lights that show the status of your electronics. About an hour before bedtime, dim the lights, turn off the electronics, and send your body a signal that it is time to relax.  

Smell: The Fresh Smell of an Inviting Bedroom

 The same source of research shows that about 75% of people feel better about sleeping when their sheets have a clean fresh scent. In order to achieve this, wash your sheets about once a week with a detergent smell that you enjoy. You can also wash your mattress cover and pillows to leave the bed smelling fresh.  

Hearing: Hush! Turn Down the Volume 

 Even when you have fallen asleep, your brain is still in action, processing the sounds that are going on around you. These sounds can distract you from getting the right sleep. The particular sounds that can affect your sleep quality are determined, primarily, by how you feel about those sounds. This is why you may be able to sleep through an alarm, but not through the sound of a crying baby. If there are toys in the bed or too much rustling, then you might find that your sleep is disturbed all night long.

 Taste: Don’t Eat the Sweets 

  When and what you eat in the last hour or two before you go to sleep can affect how well you sleep. As a final step, choose a light selection of whole grains with protein as a snack before you hit the sheets and your night should be more successful, as far as sleep goes. Just remember not to eat in your bedroom. This place should be reserved for sleeping (and other relevant activities.)