提升睡眠质量的六大秘诀 Six Secrets to Improve Sleep Quality

提升睡眠质量的六大秘诀 Six Secrets to Improve Sleep Quality
We can all have a bad night of sleep and that's perfectly normal, but how could we try to improve both the quantity and the quality of our sleep?
我们都可能会遇到睡眠不佳的夜晚，这很正常。但我们该如何改善睡眠的时长和质量呢？
Here are six scientifically grounded tips for better sleep.
这里介绍六个科学的睡眠改善建议。
The first tip is regularity.
首个建议是保持规律性。
Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time.
每天保持相同的睡觉和起床时间。
Regularity is king, and it will actually anchor your sleep and improve both the quantity and the quality, no matter whether it's the weekday or the weekend or even if you've had a bad night of sleep.
规律性至关重要，它能够稳定你的睡眠模式，不仅能提升睡眠时长，还能提高睡眠质量，无论是在工作日，周末，还是在你度过了一个睡眠不佳的夜晚之后。
And the reason is because deep within your brain, you actually have a master 24-hour clock.
这是因为在你的大脑深处，其实存在一个掌控24小时的主时钟。
It expects regularity and works best under conditions of regularity, including the control of your sleep-wake schedule.
它需要规律，并在有规律的环境中发挥最好的效果，这其中就包括对你的睡眠和清醒周期的控制。
Many of us use an alarm to wake up but very few of us use a to-bed alarm, and that's something that can be helpful.
我们许多人依靠闹钟唤醒，但很少人设定上床睡觉的提醒，而这正是能够帮助我们的一个方法。
The next tip is temperature. Keep it cool.
下一个贴士是关于温度。保持凉快。
It turns out that your brain and your body need to drop their core temperature by about one degree Celsius or around two to three degrees Fahrenheit in order to initiate sleep and then to stay asleep.
事实证明，为了入睡并保持睡眠状态，你的大脑和身体需要让核心温度下降大约一摄氏度，或者约两到三华氏度。
And this is the reason that you will always find it easier to fall asleep in a room that's too cold than too hot.
这也正是你发现在较冷的房间里入睡，比在较热的房间里更为容易的原因。
So, the current recommendation is to aim for a bedroom temperature of around about 65 degrees Fahrenheit, or a little over 18 degrees Celsius.
所以，当前的建议是将卧室温度控制在大约华氏65度，即略高于18摄氏度。
It sounds cold but cold it must be.
听上去似乎很冷，但的确需要这样的低温。
The next tip is darkness.
下一个建议是保持房间足够昏暗。
We are a dark-deprived society and, in fact, we need darkness specifically in the evening to trigger the release of a hormone called melatonin.
我们生活在一个光污染严重的社会，实际上，我们特别需要在晚上的黑暗环境中，促进一种叫做褪黑激素的荷尔蒙的释放。
And melatonin helps regulate the healthy timing of our sleep.
而褪黑激素则有助于调控我们的睡眠节律，让其更加健康。
In the last hour before bed, try to stay away from all of those computer screens and tablets and phones.
临睡前的最后一小时，尽可能避开电脑屏幕、平板和手机。
Dim down half the lights in your house.
把家里一半的灯光调暗。
You'd actually be quite surprised at how sleepy that can make you feel.
你或许会对这样做能让你感到多么困倦，感到意外。
If you'd like, you can wear an eye mask or you can have blackout shades and that will help best regulate that critical sleep hormone of melatonin.
如果你愿意，可以戴上眼罩或使用遮光窗帘，这样能更有效地调控对睡眠至关重要的褪黑激素。
The next tip is walk it out.
下一个小建议是，多走动走动。
Don't stay in bed awake for long periods of time.
不要长时间躺在床上，意识清醒。
And the general rule of thumb is if you've been trying to fall asleep and it's been 25 minutes or so, or you've woken up and you can't get back to sleep after 25 minutes, the recommendation is to get out of bed and go and do something different.
一个通常的原则是，如果你试图睡觉但已经25分钟左右了，或者你醒来后无法在25分钟内再次入睡，那么建议你起床，去做一些不同的事。
And the reason is because your brain is an incredibly associative device.
这是因为你的大脑具有极强的联想能力。
The brain has learned the association that the bed is this trigger of wakefulness, and we need to break that association.
大脑已经将床和清醒状态联系起来，我们需要打破这种联想。
And by getting out of bed, you can go and do something else.
离开床位，你便能去做些别的事情。
Only return to bed when you're sleepy.
只有当你感到困倦时，才回到床上。
And in that way, gradually, your brain will relearn the association that your bed is this place of sound and consistent sleep.
通过这种方式，你的大脑会逐渐重新认知，将床与安稳持续的睡眠联系起来。
The fifth tip is something that we've actually already spoken about in detail in this series, which is the impact of alcohol and caffeine.
第五个建议是关于酒精和咖啡因的影响，这是我们在这系列中已经详细讲过的一个话题。
So, a good rule of thumb here is to try to stay away from caffeine in the afternoon and in the evening and certainly try not to go to bed too tipsy.
所以，一个实用的建议是尽量避免在下午及晚上摄取咖啡因，并确保上床睡觉前不要过度饮酒。
The final tip: have a wind-down routine.
最终建议：建立一套放松身心的例行程序。
I think many of us in the modern world, we expect to be able to dive into bed at night, switch off the light, and we think that sleep is also just like a light switch, that we should immediately be able to fall asleep.
我觉得在现代社会里，我们很多人都期待晚上一头扎进床里，关灯后，就像拨动开关一样迅速进入梦乡。
Well, unfortunately, sleep isn't quite like that for most of us.
可惜，对我们大多数人而言，睡眠并非如此简单。
Sleep, as a physiological process, is much more similar to landing a plane.
就像飞机降落一样，睡眠作为一种生理过程，其实要复杂得多。
It takes time for your brain to gradually descend down onto the firm bedrock of good sleep.
你的大脑需要时间逐渐进入深沉睡眠的稳固状态。
In the last 20 minutes before bed or the last half an hour, even the last hour, disengage from your computer and your phone and try to do something relaxing.
在上床睡觉前的最后20分钟到1小时内，远离你的电脑和手机，尝试去做一些让你放松的事情。
Find out whatever works for you and when you have found it, stick to that routine.
找到适合你的方式，一旦确定下来，就持之以恒地遵循这个习惯。
The last thing I should note is that if you are suffering from a sleep disorder, for example, from insomnia or sleep apnea, then these tips aren't necessarily going to help you.
最后我还要强调的是，如果你正遭受睡眠障碍的困扰，例如失眠或者睡眠呼吸暂停，那么这些建议可能并不适用于你。
If I was your sports coach, I could give you all of these tips to improve your performance, but if you have a broken ankle, it's not going to make a difference.
如果我是你的运动教练，我能给你很多提升表现的建议，但如果你的脚踝受伤了，这些建议就起不了作用。
We have to treat the broken ankle first before we can get back to improving the quality of your performance.
我们得先治好你脚踝的伤势，然后才能着手提升你的表现。
And it's the same way with sleep.
对于睡眠而言，道理也是一样的。
So, if you think you have a sleep disorder, just go and speak with your doctor.
因此，如果你认为自己可能患有睡眠障碍，应该去咨询医生。
That's the best piece of advice.
这是最佳的忠告。
Where do we stand, then, in all of this conversation about sleep?
那么，在这整个关于睡眠的讨论中，我们的立场又在哪呢？
Well, I think the evidence is clear.
嗯，我觉得证据显而易见。
We can think of sleep almost like a life-support system.
我们几乎可以把睡眠看作是一种生命维持系统。
In fact, some may even call sleep a super power.
实际上，有些人甚至会把睡眠称作一种超能力。