IF you’re one of those people that struggles to fall asleep fast, tossing and turning will be familiar to you.
The key to nodding off quickly is relaxing in the hour or so before bed, says the ‘Sleep Geek’ James Wilson.
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In fact, the sleep practitioner and co-founder of Beingwell said it doesn’t even matter what time you go to bed, as long as the body is wound down first.
He said this aids sleep quality, which is how effective your sleep is, and how satisfied you feel upon waking.
While there is an abundance of hacks out there to help, there’s one that James regularly advises his clients to do.
It doesn’t involve any effort and can be done while you’re watching TV in the evening.
James said to fill a hot water bottle with lukewarm water, then rest your bare feet on it while you chill out.
He told Central Recorder: “What that does is that it will raise your core temperature slightly. And then as you sweat a little bit, it will then drop your core temperature.
“Dropping core temperature is part of that process before we fall asleep. So it’s kind of like saying to your body that you’re ready for sleep now, and that helps the relaxation process.”
Lowering your core body temperature, as well as the heart rate, is key to getting in the sleepy zone.
James recommends using the hot water bottle hack while watching something trashy or chilled on TV that doesn’t require too much brainpower.
This will ensure that by the time you go to bed, both your body and mind are well-rested.
Avoid taking the hot water bottle into bed with you, because this could make your sleep environment too warm.
James said: “A bath or shower does the same thing [as warming the feet with a hot water bottle], but if you haven’t got time for that, it’s quite handy.
“Particularly in the summer, it works really well.”
A study investigated the theory with 15 adults who had sleep issues, finding that a 40-minute foot-bath reduced how often they woke up during the night.
Another study found no difference in “sleep quality” when 25 over-55s used a foot-bath for 20 minutes before bed.
But the trick did effectively increase the core temperature – the first stage in a process of dropping core temperature before bedtime.
If warming your tootsies before bed doesn’t help you, try wearing socks during the night.
In a paper published in the journal Nature, experts said warming the feet was the “best predictor for the rapid onset of sleep”.
It explained that dilation of blood vessels in feet that have been warmed up increases heat loss.
Another study in South Korea showed that those who kept their feet warm in a cool room during the night had a better night’s sleep.
It took an average of seven minutes less for men to get to sleep, they slept for half an hour longer and woke seven times less in the night than during a controlled sleep.
It comes after James gave a natural remedy that could help snorers.
James told Central Recorder: “You can take a spoonful of olive oil because it’s anti-inflammatory and that reduces the snoring.
“From experience, it’s not nice or tasty. It doesn’t stop it altogether, or for everyone.
“But for a lot of people, it gives your partner enough time to get to sleep before you start snoring.”