Tips for Your Best Night’s Sleep from Boston Experts

Sick (and tired) of tossing and turning? Learn the secret to getting your best night’s sleep.


Illustration by Jeannie Phan

If you have trouble unwinding…
Try practicing yoga

Long gone are the days when we got tucked in with a bedtime story and warm milk each night, but there is real value in a relaxing ritual before switching off the lights. Taught on Thursday nights, JP Centre Yoga’s Restorative Flow with Extended Pranayama class focuses on controlling breathing to slow down heart rate, reduce stress, and create a state of Zen—perfect before climbing under the sheets.

670 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, 617-942-8936, jpcentreyoga.com.

If you can’t get comfortable…
Try upgrading your bedroom accessories

Quality sleep sometimes comes down to the quality of what you’re sleeping on. Bedgear’s new pop-up in the Back Bay stocks sheets, pillows, and mattresses made from the same moisture-wicking, cool material used in workout clothes. Stomach sleepers will appreciate the “Mist 0.0” pillow, which stays cool no matter which side you turn it on.

330 Newbury St., Boston, 857-277-0962, bedgear.com.

If you’re addicted to Netflix…
Try a pair of blue-light-blocking glasses

Light bulbs, computers, TVs, phone screens—we’re constantly exposed to blue light throughout the day and at night, when it can trick our brains into thinking it’s time to rise and shine. The only color in the spectrum to go deep into the eye, blue light can also damage our vision with prolonged exposure, says Jay Lara, a consultant at South End Eye. Safeguard your peepers—and get the rest you desperately need—with the shop’s BluTech lenses, which protect against 65 percent of light exposure.

681 Tremont St., Boston, 617-391-0088, southendeye.com.

If you sleep long but not well…
Try monitoring your rest with tech

When it comes to sleep, quality matters just as much as quantity. And if you’re waking up feeling lethargic and unrested, you’re probably lacking the former. Track your sleep patterns with help from Whoop: Developed by Will Ahmed, a Harvard alum, the wearable technology monitors and tracks how long you doze and how much time your body spends in each stage of sleep, then calculates your overall performance and suggests a bedtime, among other features.

617-670-1074, whoop.com.

And when all else fails…
Leave it to the experts

Tried everything and still can’t get any shuteye? At Canyon Ranch’s wellness resort in the Berkshires, night owls partake in a dusk-to-dawn study performed in a sleep lab by a certified technician. From there, a customized program is developed based on your specific issues and preferences: Choose from meetings with nutritionists to review eating habits prior to bedtime; acupuncture and therapeutic energy; and more—then treat yourself with a sunset canoe ride on the lake or mani-pedi at the spa.

165 Kemble St., Lenox, 413-637-4100, canyonranch.com.