How to Optimise Deep Sleep?
Do you feel physically and mentally tired, even when you get enough sleep? You may be lacking in deep sleep. Indeed, it’s not enough to simply sleep for eight hours a night—your rest also needs to be of good quality. To help you regain your energy and spirits, Embrin sheds light on this crucial phase for your well-being and explains how to achieve restorative sleep by optimising deep sleep.
What is deep sleep?
A night’s sleep is made up of several cycles. During each cycle, different phases of sleep follow one another: light slow-wave sleep, deep slow-wave sleep, and finally REM sleep. It is the second phase that interests us here, when your muscles relax, your heart rate drops, and your brain activity slows down.
During the deep sleep phase, the brain clears out metabolic waste, consolidates memory, strengthens immune defences, and recovers from physical fatigue. This sleep phase occurs mainly at the beginning of the night.
When you lack deep sleep, your body and mind suffer the consequences. You may feel persistently tired, more irritable, have trouble concentrating, and experience a general drop in energy. But that’s not all: in the long term, a lack of restorative sleep can weaken your immune system, increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, disrupt your metabolism, and even affect your mental health by encouraging anxiety and depression.
So, how can you improve your deep sleep?
How can you sleep better? Don’t worry, there’s no need to see a doctor or take medication. Before resorting to such drastic solutions, you can try some healthier, more natural methods that are easily accessible to everyone. Let us guide you step by step: Embrin explains how to achieve deep sleep and how to optimise it!
1: Go to bed as soon as your body asks for it
You’re comfortably settled in front of the television, wrapped in a blanket, yawning, your eyes start to sting, and your eyelids are drooping? That’s your body’s way of telling you it’s time to go to bed.
A tip: listen to your body within 15 minutes of these first signs. If you miss this window, you’ll have to wait for the next sleep cycle to begin, which is roughly 90 minutes later.
On the other hand, if you’re not tired, don’t force yourself to sleep. You’ll only end up tossing and turning, getting frustrated, and as a result, struggling to fall asleep.
Sleep is a finely tuned mechanism: the more regularly you go to bed at a set time, the more deep and effective your sleep will be. Try to keep the same bedtime and waking hours during the week and at weekends to avoid disrupting your rhythm.
2: Ban screens from the bedroom
Computer, tablet, television, and mobile phone screens emit blue light. This slows down the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, making it harder to fall asleep and reducing the quality of your nights, including your deep sleep.
The only solution: avoid all screens at least 90 minutes before bed. Never mind, you can watch the next episode of your favourite series tomorrow! And to avoid waking up during the night, put your phone on silent, or better still, on airplane mode. Also, keep any sources of noise or light out of your bedroom. You should sleep in complete silence to encourage deep sleep.
3: Find comfortable sheets
To sleep well, you first need to feel comfortable on your mattress and in your sheets. Good bedding is essential for quality deep sleep. For this, linen bed linen is your best ally!
To help you fall asleep, your body temperature needs to drop. This process is essential, as a temperature that’s too high can disturb your sleep and cause you to wake up in the night. This is where linen stands out.
A true thermoregulator, linen creates an optimal sleeping environment. In summer, it absorbs moisture and allows air to circulate, preventing overheating. In winter, it retains body heat while remaining breathable, so you won’t get too cold.
Thanks to its lightweight texture and pleasant feel, linen offers unparalleled comfort and helps you enjoy deeper, more restorative sleep. An ideal choice for anyone seeking both well-being and quality sleep!
At Embrin, our linen bed linen is eco-friendly, 100% French, and Oeko-Tex certified: everything you need for a better night’s sleep!
4: Exercise during the day
Taking part in physical activity during the day helps you sleep better. Exercise triggers the release of endorphins, the feel-good hormone, which has a positive effect on REM sleep quality. But be careful not to exercise just before bed, or you may struggle to fall asleep.
The benefits of exercise go beyond the immediate; they last over time! Regular physical activity acts as a true sleep regulator, helping you fall asleep more easily and extending the deep sleep phase, which is essential for physical and mental recovery.
By doing two to three exercise sessions a week, you’ll start to notice positive effects on your sleep after a few weeks. Your body gradually adapts, reducing stress, balancing the production of sleep hormones like melatonin, and stabilising your circadian rhythm.
Physical activity improves blood circulation, reduces muscle tension and releases endorphins, the feel-good hormone. To maximise these effects, opt for daytime or late afternoon exercise, as intense activity just before bed can actually delay sleep onset and disrupt your deep sleep.
5: Stop smoking and drinking
Are you a smoker? Unfortunately, this habit has a direct impact on the quality of your sleep, especially deep sleep. Nicotine acts as a stimulant on the nervous system. While it may give you a temporary sense of well-being, it actually increases alertness, speeds up your heart rate and disrupts the production of melatonin, the hormone vital for falling asleep.
The result: your sleep is lighter, more fragmented, and the deep sleep phase—crucial for physical and mental recovery—is reduced. In the long run, smoking disrupts your biological clock and can even worsen issues such as insomnia or sleep apnoea.
Good to know: nicotine withdrawal during the night can cause unconscious micro-awakenings, further disturbing your rest.
Alcohol also plays a part in the quality of your nights. It may help you fall asleep, but it disrupts your deep sleep. Drinking one or more glasses before bed stimulates brain activity and often leads to waking up in the night. As a result, you wake up tired because you haven’t slept well.
6: Eat light in the evening
To improve your sleep quality, avoid eating in the two hours before bed. Favour foods rich in fibre and vitamin D, slow-release carbohydrates, fruit, and vegetables. On the other hand, avoid red meat and proteins, as they are harder to digest. Digestion uses energy and raises your body temperature, which is not conducive to falling asleep.
To maximise your chances of restorative sleep, avoid coffee after 5pm. Stimulants such as coffee, but also tea, fizzy drinks, and energy drinks, can disrupt your REM sleep, in other words, your deep sleep.
7: Relax!
How to achieve deep sleep? By relaxing. Don’t try to constantly analyse your sleep with apps and trackers—you’ll only put more pressure on yourself. The more you focus on your difficulty falling asleep, the harder it will be to drift off. Let go, close your eyes, and think of something positive!
To help you unwind, read a good book, listen to gentle music, or enjoy a warm bath about an hour and a half before bed. When you get out, your body temperature drops, which triggers the release of melatonin. That’s why it’s best to keep your bedroom nice and cool, between 18 and 20°C!
There you have it! Now you know how to achieve deep sleep and how to optimise it. Listen to your body, watch out for bad habits, pay attention to your meals, get moving, limit screen use, and treat yourself to a duvet cover, sheets and a linen pillowcase. That’s the secret to better sleep!