During early recovery, you may experience changes to your sleep as the drugs and alcohol are leaving your body. Sleep disturbances don’t affect everyone, but many recovering people are affected by sleep changes. Getting a good night’s rest is incredibly important to your recovery, your mood, and your overall well-being.

Make a bedtime routine and stick with it. Life gets busy and sometimes you have to work late or meet obligations. However, making a bedtime routine can help you get quality sleep.

An example of a bedtime routine is as follows:

• Pick a bedtime
• Lower the lights
• Avoid electronics
• If you need a sleep aide, consider tea or warm milk and honey
• Go to bed when you are ready for sleep

Avoid the lights if you can. Research has shown that having the lights of a television, tablet, or phone can seriously impact your sleep and not in a good way. In fact, lights disturb your sleep so much that your REM cycle could be impacted. If you lose REM sleep, you will wake up groggy and fatigued.

Don’t eat heavy meals before bed. Heavy meals right before bad can negatively impact your digestive system. Your body is not able to fully digest the meal if you eat right before bedtime.

If you do have a case of the midnight munchies, consider snacking on these items:

• A handle full of nuts
• An apple
• A few crackers
• One piece of sprouted toast
• A piece of dark chocolate

Your bed has a lot to do with your sleep. Your mattress, your blanket, and your pillows affect your sleep. If you are in an uncomfortable bed with a scratchy blanket, you just won’t get your best night’s sleep.  There is no harm in splurging on a top of the line bed, bedding, and pillows.

Clear your mind, mindfulness is key. You will find it difficult to get to sleep with racing thoughts and anxiety. Mindfulness is about staying in the here and now. During bedtime, your present reality is sleep. When it’s time for bed, think of night-time thoughts, not about work or other obligations for the next day.

Quality sleep is important to your recovery and better mental health. Sleep deprivation can impact your mood and increase your cravings to use. At The Kimberly Center, we care about your physical and emotional health, and this includes your sleep. Call us now at 855-4-KCENTER. We are committed to putting you and your recovery first. At the Kimberly Center, you are in safe hands.