Sleep Tips
Insurance Information
Health Forms

Sleep is often the last thing on your mind, and sometimes seems more like a luxury than a necessity. However sleep is as vital to your health and well-being as diet and exercise. Poor sleeping habits impacts health today and in the future. Since sleep is food for the brain, Canisius students should aim for seven to nine hours each night.

During sleep, important body functions and brain activity occur. Getting enough sleep can help you learn a new skill, stay on task or be productive during the day. Adequate sleep may improve your overall health and energy level, and aid in weight management.
Inadequate sleep may lead to:
  • Increased likelihood of accident, injury and/or illness. 
  • Drowsiness and falling asleep at the wheel, which causes more than 100,000 car crashes every year. Drowsy driving can be as dangerous—and preventable—as driving while intoxicated. 
  • Increased risk for the onset of a number of life-long, and life-altering illness—such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression.
Tips for Getting Your ZZZs
  • Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine
    A relaxing, routine activity right before bedtime conducted away from bright lights helps separate your sleep time from activities that can cause excitement, stress or anxiety which can make it more difficult to fall asleep, get sound and deep sleep or remain asleep. Avoid arousing activities around bedtime (e.g., heavy study, text messaging, getting into prolonged conversations, watching a suspenseful movie, etc.). Read a book or do some repetitive, calm activity, such as:
    • taking a long, warm bath or shower
    • brushing your teeth
    • locking or checking doors and windows
    • getting your backpack ready for the next day
    • If you are unable to avoid tension and stress, it may be helpful to learn relaxation therapy from a trained professional. Avoid exposure to bright before bedtime because it signals the neurons that help control the sleep-wake cycle that it is time to awaken, not to sleep.

  • Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool.
    Design your sleep environment to establish the conditions you need for sleep – cool, quiet, dark, comfortable and free of interruptions. Keep the room temperature comfortable (neither too warm nor too cold). If you have a roommate, discuss and decide when your room will be used for studying, socializing, and sleep, and what conditions both of you need to get a good night’s sleep. If you find your dorm is too noisy to sleep, talk to your resident advisor and/or learn to tune out the noise in order to get to sleep. If it helps, listen to soft music with earphones when you fall asleep. Wear earplugs, if necessary.

  • Finish eating at least 2-3 hours before your regular bedtime.
    Have food items rich in the amino acid L-tryptophan, such as milk, turkey, or tuna fish, before you go to bed. Eating foods with carbohydrates, such as cereal, breads, and fruits may help as well. However, eating or drinking too much may make you less comfortable when settling down for bed. It is best to avoid a heavy meal too close to bedtime. Also, spicy foods may cause heartburn, which leads to difficulty falling asleep and discomfort during the night. Try to restrict fluids close to bedtime to prevent nighttime awakenings to go to the bathroom, though some people find milk or herbal, non-caffeinated teas to be soothing and a helpful part of a bedtime routine.

  • Exercise regularly – but not right before going to bed.
    As well as being a crucial component of your overall well-being, exercising regularly makes it easier to fall asleep and contributes to sounder sleep. However, exercising sporadically or right before going to bed will make falling asleep more difficult. In addition to making us more alert, our body temperature rises during exercise, and takes as much as 6 hours to begin to drop. A cooler body temperature is associated with sleep onset. Finish your exercise at least 3 hours before bedtime. Late afternoon exercise is the perfect way to help you fall asleep at night.

  • Avoid caffeine (e.g. coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate) after lunchtime.
    Caffeine is a stimulant, which means it can keep you awake. Caffeine products, such as coffee, tea, colas and chocolate, remain in the body on average from 3 to 5 hours, but they can affect some people up to 12 hours later. Even if you do not think caffeine affects you, it may be disrupting and changing the quality of your sleep. Avoiding caffeine within 6-8 hours of going to bed can help improve sleep quality.

  • Avoid nicotine (e.g. cigarettes, tobacco products).
    Nicotine, like caffeine, is a stimulant. Smoking before bed makes it more difficult to fall asleep. When smokers go to sleep, they experience withdrawal symptoms from nicotine, which also cause sleep problems. Nicotine can cause difficulty falling asleep, problems waking in the morning, and may also cause nightmares. Difficulty sleeping is just one more reason to quit smoking. And never smoke in bed or when sleepy!

  • Avoid alcohol close to bedtime.
    Although many people think of alcohol as a sedative, it actually disrupts sleep, causing nighttime awakenings. Consuming alcohol leads to a night of less restful sleep.

  • Plan ahead.
    Resist the urge to procrastinate and start writing a paper the night before it is due or cram for a test the night before you have it. Doing these things starts a dangerous cycle of sleep deprivation.

  • Don’t take over-the-counter sleeping pills or friends’ or relatives’ sleeping pills.
    Only take sleep medicine with your health care provider’s permission.

  • Count sheep!
    Picturing a repeated image may bore you to sleep.

Other Resources: