To ensure your best sleep possible, it is important to sleep and wake according to your body’s rhythm.

What is your best sleep possible? Our resident sleep expert Dr. Christopher Drake recommends sleeping and waking according to your body’s clock. This means falling asleep around 10:oo or 11:00 at night and rising around 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning. Not only is this in sync with your circadian rhythm, but also it ensures the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep.

Located in the Hypothalamus part of the brain, your body’s circadian rhythm is a cycle of biological processes that include among other things, body temperature, hormonal function and gastric activity.

“Your body’s clock is a little longer than 24 hours,” said our sleep expert Dr. Christopher Drake. You can keep it on track with light in the morning and lack of light in the evening. Too much nighttime light can disturb Melatonin secretion, the chemical the body releases to make you sleepy.

While you can not significantly change your sleep and wake schedule, it is a cycle that can be influenced by outside factors, such as jet lag, stress, hormones, pregnancy or overnight shift work. If such disruptions become chronic, they can eventually impair your memory, reduce your ability to concentrate, and possibly affect your overall health.

If you find yourself out of sync, your goal should be to establish sleep-wake patterns that will “reset” your body’s biological clock. For example, if you work nights, you will need to trick your body into thinking it is nighttime when you go to bed. Heavy curtains, a sleep mask and settling down to sleep at regular times each day will help. If the problem becomes ongoing, you may want to seek help from a sleep specialist.

The Henry Ford Health System offers sleep tips for shift workers and the Center for Circadian Medicine offers advice on how to gauge your body clock.

With your annual trip to Grandma’s for the holidays quickly approaching, you might find yourself at a hotel for a few nights. It can be hard for some people to sleep in unfamiliar surroundings, but if you arm yourself with little knowledge and a few of the right tools, you’ll soon be sleeping like a dream.

Oftentimes, noise levels can mean the difference between a good and a bad night’s sleep in a hotel, so choose your lodging wisely. When booking a room, consider the following:

1. Proximity of the hotel to highways, airports, or railroad tracks.
2. The type of guests that typically stay in the hotel. Business travelers tend to be quieter than tourists and guests who are celebrating an event, such as a wedding.
3. Closeness of the room to elevators, vending machines and restaurants and bars. The farther away from these noisemakers, the quieter your room will be.
4. Construction of the hotel. Some hotels, such as AmericInn, are built for quiet sleeping. In AmericInn’s case, the chain uses concrete blocks filled with sound-deadening foam and heavy drywall between rooms to block inside noise, as well as insulated windows to block outside noise.
5. Bringing a white noise machine to cancel out disruptive noise if you can’t avoid noisy accommodations.

Temperature can also play a role in your sleep experience. Try:

6. Adjusting the room’s temperature as soon as you enter. Keeping the room cooler may help you sleep more soundly.
7. Locating an extra blanket or requesting one prior to settling down. This way, you won’t be searching for an extra cover in the middle of the night.

And finally, rooms that are too light can make it difficult to sleep soundly. Darken the room by:

8. Pulling the curtains completely closed. If there’s a gap between the curtains after closing them, try crossing one edge over the other and holding it closed with a chair pushed against the window.
9. Covering the gap between the door and the floor with a towel or pillow. Many hotels keep their hallways brightly lit throughout the night, and that light “pollution” can keep you awake.
10. If all else fails, make sure you bring a sleep mask to block out the unwanted light.