Sleep hygiene tips to improve your wellbeing: featuring The Fine Bedding Company Spundown pillow review

If you’re wondering what the term sleep hygiene means then you’re in the right place.  In this blog post, we will explore what sleep hygiene is and how following some simple sleep hygiene tips can help to improve the quality of your sleep and in turn, improve your overall wellbeing.  This blog post features a pillow kindly sent to me by The Fine Bedding Company.  If you’re looking for a new pillow, then read on as I will review the popular Spundown Medium Support Pillow from The Fine Bedding Company.

Improve your sleep for wellbeing with these top sleep hygiene tips

Practising good sleep hygiene is so important for our well-being. It is essential for both our physical and mental well-being. Sleep helps us to stay healthy, boosts our immune system, improves memory and learning abilities, mood, weight management and also lowers the risk of chronic diseases.

We spend one-third of our lives asleep. Yet many people suffer from poor sleep habits that affect their daily life in different ways. One of the most common reasons for not getting enough sleep is stress. This can then cause a bad cycle to form as not getting enough sleep can negatively affect our mental wellbeing causing more stress and thus a bad cycle continues.

Poor sleep equals more stress. Stress equals poor sleep. If this sounds familiar then it’s time to put into action some positive sleep hygiene habits to break this cycle.

With all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it can be difficult to find time for a good night’s sleep. But as the saying goes – “You only have one body, so take care of it.”

The better the quality of our sleep, the better the quality of our life. This article will provide some great tips on how you can improve your sleep quality by following a few simple steps in your everyday routine.

What is sleep hygiene?

Sleep hygiene is the way in which we prepare for sleep to ensure that we get sufficient rest. It’s the practice of following habits that promote good sleep.

Sleep hygiene is crucial to maintaining health. It involves self-care behaviours before bedtime and in the morning to optimise sleep quality.

The two key components of sleep hygiene are maintaining a consistent sleep schedule and having a comfortable sleeping environment.

Do you have trouble sleeping? You might need to consider your sleep hygiene. Maintaining a consistent bedtime and waking time can help you stay asleep all night long. Ensuring that your bedroom is clean, dark, and quiet will also help you get the rest you need.

There are different methods of sleep hygiene and these include:

–Diet: The type of food we eat can affect our sleep quality. Some types of food such as caffeine, nicotine and alcohol all cause poorer quality sleep than other types such as complex carbohydrates, healthy plant-based proteins and foods abundant in vitamins and minerals.

–Exercise: Exercising before bedtime can help people fall asleep more quickly, but exercising too close to bedtime may make it harder for people to fall asleep.

–Stress: Stress can make it difficult for a person to fall asleep or stay asleep, so managing stress levels is an important part of ensuring good quality sleep.

Can a pillow improve sleep?  How often should you change a pillow?

When did you last change your pillow?  Pillows are an often neglected area that can have a profound impact on the quality of sleep.

Pillows should be replaced every 1-2 years according to the Sleep Foundation.  It’s something most of us don’t realise or think about until we start having a bad night’s sleep and we try to work out the cause of it!

Pillows may seem like a simple item, but they can actually significantly improve your sleep quality. A comfortable pillow is therefore essential for a good night’s sleep. Investing in a high-quality, well-fitting pillow can help you sleep better and wake up feeling refreshed.

It’s important to choose the right pillow to support your sleep position and movements. A pillow can make or break your night’s sleep! There are some pillows that require people to be able to move around more in bed; there are others that work best for side sleepers, and then there are those which give back support or neck support.

The most important thing is to do whatever feels comfortable for YOU! Whether that’s one pillow or two, a memory foam pillow or a fibre-filled pillow. Working out which pillow gives you the best night sleep personally will really aid your sleep hygiene and improve your overall wellbeing. 

Is The Spundown Medium Support Pillow from The Fine Bedding Company any good?

I was kindly sent the Spundown Medium Support Pillow with thanks to The Fine Bedding Company and I have been really impressed so far.  I have been sleeping solely on this pillow for the past week and I have no complaints.  My sleep has definitely improved thanks to this pillow as my old one had well and truly had it!

I desperately needed a new pillow, so it really couldn’t have come at a better time.  It was on my mental to-do list of things I needed to do… buy a new pillow!  But, with life being exceptionally busy right now, I admit, I hadn’t managed to get around to it.  This was a big mistake as the quality of a pillow can really affect sleep and it was negatively impacting mine.

I’d actually got to the point where I was waking up and throwing my old pillow on the floor, trying to sleep pillowless as it seemed comfier than trying to sleep on my old pillow!  Aside from it wasn’t really more comfortable, and I was tossing and turning and waking up several times.

The problem with that pillow was it lost all its shape and had gone very flat.  Therefore, it wasn’t offering my head, back and neck the same support that it once did, making it unpleasant to sleep on.  It wasn’t washable and I dare not try!  I have previously tried to wash pillows at home, resulting in a disaster of awful lumpy things coming out of the wash!

Review: Spundown Medium Support Pillow from The Fine Bedding Company

The Spundown Medium Support pillow from The Fine Bedding Company has solved many of my previous issues with pillows by being fully washable… even at home!  In fact, it retains its shape wash after wash with proven performance up to 20 washes.  It can also be fully dried in a tumble drier.

Having clean bedding, including the actual pillows themselves, really make for a more hygienic sleep.  Here’s the info from The Fine Bedding Company for this particular pillow:

“The Spundown pillow is a washable pillow that offers the ultimate in comfort and convenience. It will retain its quality wash after wash, and can even be washed at home for added convenience. Filled with advanced Smartfil® fibres, these highly compressible fibres recover and return to their original plump shape even after repeated washing. Our washable pillow is also ideal for allergy sufferers as it can be washed at a dust mite busting 60°C. All of this innovative technology is encased in a 100% sustainably sourced BCI cotton cover to give that extra layer of luxury.”

As you’ll note, the pillow is created using cotton sourced via the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) who ensure cotton is spruced in a sustainable manner, supporting both the livelihood of the cotton farmers and protecting the environment at the same time.  This is another plus for me for this pillow as it has some eco-friendly credentials.

The price point is great too.  It’s £21 per pillow which is actually a lot cheaper than I thought it would be.  The pillow feels much better quality than previous pillows I have purchased and with a washable feature and high-quality cotton cover, I expected it would be slightly more.  In comparison, I have once purchased pillows at £40 each expecting them to be amazing for the higher price, but they were hard and uncomfortable and not what we were expecting at all.

Of course, it probably matters how you sleep, so make sure you choose a pillow that suits your sleeping position. I sleep on a medium mattress and switch between back and side sleeping, so this medium pillow is a perfect fit for me.

So far so good with this pillow.  I haven’t woken up feeling the need to throw the pillow on the floor.  In fact, I can’t remember waking up at all over the past few nights once I’ve fallen asleep. 

Going forward I will be looking to The Fine Bedding Company when I need to replace more pillows in our family household. 

Top sleep hygiene tips for improved wellbeing

So you’ll now be aware that your pillow plays an important part in getting a high-quality night’s sleep. But what else matters? Here’s a roundup of some of the best ways you can improve your sleep hygiene and therefore your overall wellbeing.

• A healthy sleep schedule: Get up and go to bed at the same time each day, including weekends. Getting your body into a routine when it comes to sleep will ensure you get enough sleep and your body is aware of your sleeping pattern. Disturbing this too much can have a negative impact on your sleep health. Aim for 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night.
• A good sleeping environment: There are many things in our bedroom environment that can disrupt the quality of our sleep. Noise, light, temperature, air quality, to name a few – these things can make it difficult for us to fall asleep or stay asleep. This is why it’s important to have a good sleep environment to ensure that we are getting the best possible rest each night.
• A comfortable bed: Your mattress, pillow and duvet can all affect your quality of sleep. These items need replacing on a recommended regular basis, or when they no longer perform. Unfortunately, they don’t last forever. Opt for natural materials like cotton or linen over synthetic fibres like polyester for a better night’s sleep. Once you’ve chosen the bedding material, be sure to make it as comfortable as possible by choosing a supportive pillow, mattress and duvet. The more comfortable the bedding is, the more likely it is that you’ll stay asleep all night long!
• Reduce your exposure to blue light before sleeping: Blue light is a type of light that can make it difficult for your body to produce the melatonin needed for sleep. The main source of blue light is from electronics including TVs, computer screens, cell phones, and tablets. Exposure to blue light before bedtime will not help you sleep better and can even make you feel more tired in the morning.
• Get adequate exercise during the day: Being physically active during the day can help you fall asleep more easily at night. Exercise lowers your heart rate and helps you release stress-inducing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Exercise also boosts serotonin, which causes feelings of calmness, happiness, and well-being. If you want to fall asleep faster or stay asleep longer, try exercising every day! Some people do find they are more alert and struggle to sleep if they exercise right before bedtime, so make sure you do your cardio earlier in the day if it has this effect on you. If you want to exercise before sleeping then try something soothing like yoga or pilates.
• Eat a nutritious plant-based diet: There are some benefits to a plant-based diet that you might not know about. Going meatless can help you sleep better, among many other benefits. A plant-based diet is high in fibre, antioxidants and phytonutrients that support the nervous system and help to promote relaxation which can help you fall asleep faster. A plant-based diet can help you get more hours of sleep because it regulates your body’s circadian rhythm, which controls when you get sleepy. This type of diet also reduces inflammation in the body that can cause problems like heart disease and cancer. A plant-based diet also provides more fibre than meat or dairy products do which makes digestion easier…
• Ditch bad habits: Drinking alcohol can disrupt your circadian rhythm and affect your sleep. Smoking cigarettes before bedtime could also contribute to poor quality of sleep by affecting the blood flow through your body, as well as increasing your heart rate and reducing oxygen supply to your brain. You should also be sure not to drink anything caffeinated for at least four hours before going to bed. This will give your body time to process the caffeine from any drinks you have consumed throughout the day and then allow you to get a good night’s rest.

Final word

We all know that getting a good night sleep is important for our health, but more and more studies show that sleep deprivation can have a significant impact on our overall well-being. Follow the sleep hygiene tips above, including replacing your inefficient pillows when needed to ensure you have a good night’s rest each and every night to ensure you feel great!