How to Get More Deep Sleep

Restful sleep is vital to your physical and mental wellbeing, and deep sleep plays a major role in making that restorative magic happen. We're here to tell you how to get more of it.

From ensuring your immune system is firing on all cylinders, to helping your body repair aching muscles, and even playing a role in developing memories, deep sleep is perhaps the most important of the several sleep stages, so it’s crucial that you’re getting enough of it.

Whether you’re eager to learn how to get more deep sleep or just need a simple explanation of what deep sleep means (it’s a tad more complex than being a heavy sleeper), we’ve got you.

What is Deep Sleep?

Let’s get technical for a moment.

As you probably know, sleep happens in stages. And each sleep stage is unique, with its very own brain activity. Deep sleep – also known as slow-wave sleep – occurs during a stage of sleep known as NREM sleep, when your brainwaves are literally at their slowest.

It’s during this period that your body and brain recover. Your muscles, bones and tissue repair themselves, and your immune system even gets a boost. You also benefit from:

• Improved mood
• Fewer instances of sickness
• Lowered risk of type 2 diabetes
• Reduced risk of heart disease

And the benefits don’t stop there.

Deep sleep is essential to healthy brain development. Getting the right amount of slow-wave sleep helps with memory, decision-making, and even supports overall cognition and learning.

Simply put, when you improve deep sleep, you improve your overall wellbeing. Let’s find out how.

How to Improve Deep Sleep

Improving deep sleep is an act of self-care and you’ll feel the benefits almost immediately.

From fewer aches and pains to improved alertness (so long morning grogginess!), the more sleep you get, the better you’ll feel. And it’s easier than you might think, requiring little more than small lifestyle changes and dedication.

1. Exercise

Obvious? Perhaps. Noteworthy? For sure.

Whether it’s notching up your step count with a brisk jog, hitting the lanes to perfect your butterfly stroke, or working up a sweat with a heavy weight session, vigorous exercise massively improves your chances of getting more deep sleep.

But there is a caveat.

Exercising too close to bedtime can make it more difficult to fall asleep, potentially impacting the amount of deep sleep you get. So, however you choose to work up a sweat, try to do it as early as possible.

2. Dietary Changes

Your diet plays a significant role in how much deep sleep you get. If you’ve ever struggled to drift off after a carb-heavy meal, you’ll know what we mean.

And while we’re not suggesting you ditch pizza (we’re not monsters!), making a few simple dietary changes – both to what you eat and when you eat it - can hugely increase deep sleep.

For example, heavy meals eaten too close to bedtime can trigger acid reflux, while digesting anything as you sleep impacts your quality of sleep. What’s more, eating late at night can even affect the content of your dreams, potentially disrupting your shut-eye.

So, what to eat and when?

As a rule of thumb, you should try to avoid eating within three hours of going to bed, allowing your body time to digest before you hit the hay.

As for your menu, plant-based diets can be fantastic for sleep as they’re naturally low in fat and rich in melatonin – a hormone essential for good sleep.

If going plant-based is a step too far, simply monitoring carbohydrates and introducing more fresh fruit to your diet can help. You should also try eating nuts; especially walnuts and cashews, both of which contain melatonin. It may also be worth weaving more rice-based dishes into your meal plan.

3. Stress Reduction

While it’s impossible to eliminate stress in your daily life, actively working to reduce the amount of stress you experience is a key factor in improving deep sleep (not to mention quality of life).

Your first step should be to identify the causes of stress in your life, and they don’t have to be major. Whether it’s your morning commute, your workload, or even specific people, once you’ve noted the root of the stress you can work to alleviate it.

For example, if your inbox is running into triple digits, it may be time to discuss your workload with your manager. Likewise, factoring in time to decompress between work, social, and family commitments can massively reduce stress.

It may also be worth considering practising meditation. Studies have shown that as little as five minutes of meditation per day can improve your overall wellbeing. Meditation and mindfulness are often recommended by doctors as a treatment for anxiety disorders.

4. Limit Caffeine Intake

Limiting your caffeine intake is an effective way of increasing deep sleep. Keeping an eye on your trips to the coffee machine is important if you’re eager to snag better quality (and therefore deeper) sleep.

Keeping an eye on your trips to the coffee machine is important if you’re eager to snag better quality (and therefore deeper) sleep.

Experts recommend limiting yourself to between 3-5 cups per day and abstaining altogether after 3pm. It’s also worth noting that caffeine has a half-life of between four-six hours, meaning you’ll get a second kick several hours after your last sip.

But coffee isn’t the only source of caffeine to be mindful of, as it can also be found in:

• Chocolate
• Fizzy drinks
• Medications
• Tea (including green tea)
• Chewing gum
• Protein bars

So, if you’re partial to a late-night nibble of chocolate, or fuelling your evening gaming session with fizzy drinks, it may be worth switching your tipple/nibble of choice for something decaffeinated.

5. Maintain a Consistent Sleep Schedule

If you’re eager to get more deep sleep, maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is essential… even at weekends.

But there’s no one-size-fits-all routine that’ll work for everyone, so it’s important to experiment and find a schedule that works for you. For example, you might find that you function better hitting the hay early and waking before sunrise, or vice-versa. The key is to find your groove and stick with it.

Of course, it’s impossible to maintain a routine 365 days a year, and circumstances beyond your control can hinder your sleep schedule.

Whether it’s an illness, jetlag, or even daylight saving time, your routine will likely be disrupted at some point. When this happens, simply start fresh the next opportunity you get and continue as if nothing happened.

By improving deep sleep, you’ll make a significant impact on your overall health.