26 Ways to Sleep Better
Whether you can't fall asleep, stay asleep or find time to sleep, we're here to help—with an alphabet's worth of solutions for a deeper, more refreshing slumber, starting tonight.
Telling yourself you got a good night's rest may make a difference in how you think and feel: In a study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, scientists told one group of subjects that they had logged an above-average amount of REM sleep, while a second group was told they didn't get enough. Then everyone was given a test that measured their cognitive function. The above-average sleepers performed better than those told they'd slept poorly. "Simply hearing that you had high-quality sleep may trigger automatic responses, like heightened energy, that your brain has come to associate with being well rested," says study coauthor Kristi Erdal, PhD.
—Jessica Migala
—Jessica Migala
From the September 2014 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine