Sleeping in a heatwave isn't easy. 

These days, more of us are increasingly aware of our need to focus on self-care and mindfulness, so that we can enjoy the best possible level of wellness. Biohacking is becoming a buzzword, and finding ways to maximise the beneficial processes of our body is key to ensuring we feel as good as possible.

One of the things that we can do to boost our wellness is to improve our quality of sleep. But when getting plenty of good-quality sleep couldn’t be more important for your health and well-being, what do you do when there’s a heatwave?

Unfortunately, here in the UK, we aren’t used to hot weather and without air conditioning in our homes, so it can feel almost impossible to rest effectively in bed when the thermometer rises.

However, since sleep is equally important as exercise and a healthy diet for your well-being, improving your mood and your brain performance as well as helping to protect you from a number of disorders and diseases, it’s imperative to find a way of getting comfortable enough to sleep even when the heat is on.

How Does Sleep Help Our Health And Well-Being?

Sleep isn’t just your downtime when your tired brain can rest, it’s actually a time for the brain to prepare to create, remember, and learn, and for the body to refresh and recover. Repair processes occurring in our bodies are most effective when we sleep, and a lack of rest disturbs those essential processes.

It’s recommended that we all get a minimum of seven hours sleep each night, and even more for school-aged children, but that can be extremely challenging if we’re in a hot bedroom.

read our recommended and favourite  sleep-tips on a previous blog here 

Why Is It Difficult To Sleep When The Weather Is Hot?

During the current heatwave in the UK, many people are struggling to sleep. But why is this the case? Why does hot weather make it so hard to get much-needed rest?

There are a couple of reasons for this.

Firstly, when we’re hot we feel uncomfortable and that makes it hard to get to sleep. After all, nobody can sleep well when they don’t feel comfortable.

There’s also a more complex reason. Sleep regulation and body temperature regulation have an entwined relationship. Core body temperatures change predictably throughout the day and there is a relationship between those temperatures and the level of sleepiness we’re experiencing.

Circadian rhythms mean that core body temperatures are at their lowest point around 2-3 hours before the time we naturally wake. They increase during the day then peak around 2 hours before we begin feeling sleepy ready for bed. Once the core body temperature has peaked, it then begins to drop. It is this cooling process that makes us want to sleep.

If the weather is hot, and our bedrooms feel humid and uncomfortable, the body’s core temperature cannot cool properly and so we don’t feel as sleepy. It’s also probable that if the body temperature cannot cool sufficiently during the night we remain in a lighter stage of sleep, which prevents us from recuperating and recovering properly from the events of the day.

It's well known that humans sleep more deeply in a bedroom that is cool, so it stands to reason that if you want to improve your sleep, even when the weather is hot, we need to find ways to cool ourselves down and one of the keys to this is using the right bedding.

Cool Bedding Helps You Sleep In A Heatwave

It’s clear that bedding that keeps you cool is the best way to maintain the optimim core body temperature when you go to bed in hot weather. Cotton dohar bedding is the answer. Shop our collection here.

A Dohar blanket is a traditional block printed quilt from India that is made from three distinct layers of super-soft, high-quality, finely woven cotton. Despite being called a “blanket”, Dohars are actually more like cool sheets since the layers trap cool air in between them, helping to regulate core body temperature and keeping you feeling comfortable even during the summer heatwave!

Why Choose A Dohar Blanket For Summer?

Dohar blankets are nothing new in the East, but in the UK they’re a relatively recent introduction. Once popular with Indian Maharajahs, Dohars were used to maintain coolness in bed when the monsoon season began as there was no air-conditioning available at that time.

Versatile and lightweight, these blankets are becoming increasingly popular in the West as global warming has led to summers becoming hotter than ever and Westerners are increasingly seeking out bedding that will help them get the best possible night’s sleep when night temperatures are high.

While duvets are now the norm in the UK, they are totally unsuited to summer night time conditions. Duvets are simply too hot, but many people don’t like sleeping without any bedding at all, and if they experience a chill during the night, they need something more substantial than a thin sheet to pull over themselves. Dohar blankets tick all the boxes.

Naturally lightweight, they’re still more substantial when compared with a simple sheet, and since their natural cotton construction is very breathable, they help you stay comfortable and cool all through the night.

If it does get a bit nippy in the early hours of the morning, our matching block printed quilts can be used to add another breathable layer. Our 100% cotton quilts are lightweight and made from the same top quality cotton voile. Layering is the key! Explore our selection of matching block printed quilts here.

Multifunctional And Beautiful

As an added advantage, Dohar blankets are just cool sheets for the summer, they can be used as an additional layer during the cold of the winter. They’re hypoallergenic too, so you won’t experience unwanted symptoms or asthma when you head to bed. They’re also incredibly stylish thanks to their unique appearance. No two Dohar blankets are identical since they’re made by hand in a traditional way by skilled artisans.

Elegant, attractive, and extremely versatile, a cotton Dohar blanket is an ideal addition to your bedding collection. You can use it all year round, and it could be the answer that you’ve been looking for to help you achieve a better night’s sleep when the mercury hits the heights. Check out our complete range of products here.