How can you fall asleep quickly?

We all wish to quickly fall asleep after going to bed in the evening and to wake up fresh, rested, and ready for the new day in the morning. Unfortunately, reality often looks different. Many long to be able to fall asleep better. Instead, problems falling asleep and staying asleep (insomnia) are a common occurrence, especially at night. According to the Health Knowledge Foundation, this occasionally affects about one-third of the population in Germany.

However, the clinical condition of insomnia applies to only about 6% of people in this country. In these cases, you should definitely see a doctor, as with other sleep disorders ranging from sleep apnea to narcolepsy to agrypnia. But even if sleep disturbances occur only occasionally, many people are prescribed tranquilizers like flurazepam, diazepam, temazepam, or triazolam to help them fall asleep better. But what alternatives are there to fall asleep and stay asleep better? 

No afternoon nap: Preparations for going to bed start at noon. Here, you should avoid a long afternoon nap and limit it to a short nap of up to fifteen minutes at most.

You will generally also fall asleep more easily if you maintain a regular, moderate exercise routine. However, at least 2 hours should pass between your last physical activity and bedtime.

You should have your last meal of the day no later than about 2 hours before going to bed.

In the evening, avoid heavy foods. These can burden digestion and cause problems falling asleep as well as restless sleep. Also, keep portion sizes moderate in the evening.

Alcohol may help you fall asleep to some extent but worsens sleep quality. Therefore, it should be avoided about 2, preferably 3 hours before bedtime.

You should avoid caffeinated drinks starting in the afternoon to be able to fall asleep well.

Nicotine is generally stimulating. If you quit smoking, the likelihood of falling asleep better increases. At the very least, you should not smoke in the evening.

From 8 p.m. onwards, it’s better not to use smartphones, tablets, laptops, or similar devices. Their screens have a high blue light content and are very bright. This prevents the body from preparing for sleep time.

Prepare yourself for bedtime with an evening sleep ritual. Slow down the day, for example, with calming music, a relaxing bath, a hot cup of milk, an evening meditation, or a journal entry where you leave behind what’s on your mind.

Create a pleasant sleep environment: Make your bed really cozy. A high-quality mattress and blanket as well as a comfortable, possibly orthopedic pillow are part of this.

Darkness is one of the best tricks to fall asleep better. It triggers a strong release of the sleep hormone melatonin.

Turn off Wi-Fi and put your smartphone in airplane mode when going to bed. Ideally, leave the phone in another room. Use as few electrical devices as possible in the bedroom. Of course, the TV should also be off.

The ideal bedroom temperature is usually between 16 and 18 °C. This is pleasantly cool yet warm enough for muscles to relax. To ensure enough oxygen in the room, ventilate well before going to sleep.

To regularly fall asleep better, another method is to set your alarm clock to ring at the same time every day. This supports your day-night rhythm.

But how can you fall asleep quickly when all preparation and organization in the bedroom don’t help? Can herbal sleep aids really help in such cases? After all, synthetic sleep medications can be associated with significant side effects and risks of dependency.

Studies actually indicate that some traditional herbal medicines can help with sleep disorders. The Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC), the expert panel of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), also concludes that some herbal remedies can be used for certain sleep disorders. Where an effect cannot be proven, experts often find it at least plausible.

Particularly noteworthy is valerian root. But lavender, lemon balm, passionflower, and hop cones are also commonly used in naturopathy. The problem is that their active ingredients are usually extracted in alcohol. Alcohol is a substance many do not want or are not allowed to consume. Moreover, it has already been mentioned that alcohol reduces sleep quality. In a remedy that aims to answer the question of how to fall asleep and stay asleep best, alcohol really has no place.

Only very few products with extracts from valerian root, lavender, lemon balm, passionflower, and hop cones are made without alcohol due to very high-quality production. Calmina!(R)SchlafKraft is one of them, which is also gluten-free, vegan, free from genetic engineering, and made in Germany.