Some people prefer to shower in the morning before starting their day and others prefer to shower at night before bed. There are many benefits of both but those who suffer from insomnia or simply desire a peaceful deep sleep that leaves them feeling refreshed and well rested in the morning may benefit from showing at night considerably more. Here are seven ways showering at night can help improve your sleep:
Alleviates Sinus and Allergies
Over 30 percent of people suffer from allergies. Every season brings its own group of allergens but when everything begins to bloom during Spring, it’s a particularly rough time for most people who suffer from seasonal allergies. Whether you have seasonal allergies or indoor allergies, the allergens you get on your skin or inhale through your nose and mouth can make you miserable and nearly impossible to sleep comfortably at night. A simple warm shower at night completely washes away any irritating allergens from your skin and also works as a nasal decongestant by opening your nasal passages.
Reduces Anxiety
Did you know a warm shower can help give relief from a panic attack? Warm water naturally calms energy, relaxes the body and helps stop panic by reducing anxiety. For those enduring significant stress and anxiety during their day, a warm shower is the perfect solution to clear their mind and help them sleep more peacefully at night. When mentally exhausted, a warm shower can help you let go of any stress and get a good night sleep.
Relieves Tension
A warm shower dilates your blood vessels and improves your circulation, relaxing and soothing your muscles and joints. The increased blood and oxygen flowing through your body helps relieve you of any tension, such as shoulder pain or a stiff neck, that you may have after a long day. A warm shower also helps to relieve tension headaches.
Clears Lungs
The steam from a warm shower can help decongest your lungs and nasal passages. Steam helps clear your lungs, open sinuses and drain mucus from your nose. This is especially helpful for a good night of rest if you’re suffering from a respiratory sickness or experiencing an unpleasant cold.
Clean Sheets
Laying down on your nice clean bedsheets at night after weathering the day, especially if you labor in a dirty environment, doesn’t bring the most comfortable picture of sleep to mind. It’s much more refreshing to take a shower and be clean before laying down on your fresh clean sheets. Sleeping in the impurities you’ve picked up on your body throughout the day can trigger asthma and clog your pores. Cleaner sheets also mean less allergens.
Drops Body Temperature
Have you ever gotten cozy and drowsy in a car while the heat was running full blast on a very cold day or fallen asleep while tanning under the warm relaxing sun? The smallest changes in body temperature can send very powerful messages to the body. When the body temperature drops, metabolic functions such as your breathing and heart rate slow down and naturally make you feel tired and drowsy. When you step out of the shower and your body temperature drops, your body will then begin to prepare for sleep by increasing melatonin production. This is one of the main reasons a nice warm shower will make you want to crawl right into bed.
Moisturizes Skin
By taking a nourishing shower then applying lotion to the skin, those who suffer from dry skin can find immediate relief that will help them sleep much more comfortably. Dry itchy skin can be extremely uncomfortable and the steam from a warm shower will open pores and allow for lotion to be better absorbed. Itchy dry dehydrated skin to soft smooth replenished skin can make all the difference in a good night’s sleep.
Taking a warm shower at night can help you experience significantly better sleep and since you won’t have to take one first thing in the morning- a longer night’s sleep as well. So indulge in a nice warm sleep-inducing shower, get some restful sleep and enjoy sleeping that extra fifteen minutes you long for every morning.