In today’s modern world where nights are as lit-up and energetic as days, we have forgotten to take care of our physical and mental health. Sleep is being considered overrated and we are having more people with disturbed sleeping patterns. We at Urbantrnd believe in a holistic healthy lifestyle. Hence, let’s discuss how to improve sleep quality using Oura Rings.
What are Oura Rings?
Oura Rings is a decade-old, Finland-based company that is dedicated to making human life healthier and happier. It is a revolutionary wearable technology that empowers you to take control of your healthy lifestyle in a convenient manner.
Oura ring is a regular size ring with sensors to collect biometric data which is sent to your phone. it is a convenient way to consistently monitor your sleep, activity, and readiness. it measures your body temperature, movement, respiratory rate, heart rate, and heart rate variability against the time of the day.
To improve sleep quality using Oura ring, you start with monitoring the following things – the amount of time you are lying in bed; amount of movement in bed; breathing; temperature; and heart rate measurement during sleep time; and finally, your light, REM, and deep sleep.
Though Oura ring will not track your stationary exercises like yoga or high-intensity interval training, it is useful to count steps, reminders to move occasionally via the app, and movement function.
Oura ring will help you compare the quantity and quality of your sleep. Oftentimes time we do not pay attention to our sleep health because we feel that we are not sleeping enough. Hence, we ignore the ways to improve sleep quality. With Oura ring, you can strategically enhance your deep sleep and REM sleep.
Every morning, you can check your sleep score. An improved score is a reward for a person who is working to improve sleep quality. This is a simple solution to build a healthy lifestyle.
It has a long battery life and only needs to be charged once in a week. This way you can wear it continuously without any interruption.
Oura ring is a proven technology to improve sleep quality. Around 86% of its users have seen improvement in their sleep quality.
Oura Ring cost
Depending on the product you choose, the Oura ring is going to cost between $299 to $549 for the ring, and a minimum monthly membership charge.
How to Improve Sleep Quality Using Oura Rings?
Start with understanding your body through Oura Ring data. Wear it throughout the day and nighttime to get the most accurate data. After that, start making small and relevant behavior changes to develop your sleep hygiene and track your data with Oura rings.
What is Sleep Hygiene?
Sleep hygiene means going through a routine that trains your brain and body to know when to sleep. In today’s fast-paced world, where we are working at night or going out, or when neither of these is happening, we are glued to our screens late at night. As we work on these small behaviors that consist of sleep hygiene, we associate these behaviors with good sleep.
Ways to Build Sleep Hygiene
- Decrease stimulation: dim or turn off your lights, avoid loud sounds, and decrease any kind of stimulation 30 minutes to 1 hour before you sleep. Decide on a sleep time and try to be consistent with it for at least 21 days initially.
- Sleep hygiene activities: you can do quiet activities like reading a book in bed or taking a hot bath to relax your mind and body as well as take your eyes off the screen.
- Shut off Screens: Avoid your phones or TV at night. Especially put them away at least 1 hour before going to bed. The lights from the phone trigger your brain into thinking that it is daytime. Meanwhile, as you scroll through your Instagram and YouTube, that dose of dopamine stimulates your brain and activates it to keep your eyes glued.
- Limit naps: Often, we get stuck into a cycle of having poor sleep at night, being sleep deprived, sleeping for a long time in the day, and then again having difficulty falling asleep at night. Sleep hygiene also suggests that you limit your day nap to around 30 minutes.
- Monitor consumption: Strictly avoid caffeine, alcohol, and smoking right before bed. If you want to consume any of these, make sure that it is at least 4-5 hours before sleeping. This is because alcohol or smoking can disturb your brain’s ability to get into deep sleep and do repair work. Also avoid fatty, sugary, or heavy foods right before bed. Eating these can lead to increased sleep latency, poor digestion, and waking up feeling heavy in the morning.
- Bedtime Snack: Hunger can also disturb your sleep. The Asian ancient texts and clinical studies have shown that a glass of milk, especially with a pinch of turmeric and black pepper, has significantly helped people to sleep and even improves sleep quality.
- Exercise: In today’s sedentary lifestyle, we are more indulged in mental work than physical work. Due to this, we may feel mentally tired by the end of the day, but our bodies might not be equally physically tired. Exercising at least 30 minutes during the day can help improve sleep quality. For your sleep hygiene routine, you can also add a short duration of bedtime stretching to relax your body. However, avoid exercising in the night because rather than making you tired, it will activate your body’s system.
A word of caution: Only seeing your body data can not help you in improving sleep quality. Only when you are determined to improve your sleep quality, practice sleep hygiene, take small steps every day for better health, and work on your mental health, will this data make sense for you. Furthermore, it is unreasonable to expect that Oura ring is going to help you immediately and improve sleep quality. Urbantrnd advises that you take a span of 90 days and be involved in 4-5 sleep hygiene habits to improve sleep quality using Oura rings.
Monitor your food, caffeine, cigarettes, and alcohol consumption, along with eating time, exercise routine, and emotional well-being to get the best results and gradually improve sleep quality using Oura rings. Indulge in mental health activities like being socially active, indulging in a hobby, and meditation, to push the stress away and improve sleep quality. Use Oura Ring to make your step towards a healthy lifestyle easier. Get a membership here.