Drink wisely. Wrap up drinks at least 3 hours before going to sleep and drink eight ounces of water with every alcoholic drink. Alcohol especially late in the evening can significantly disrupt REM sleep so you won’t be able to fully rejuvenate. Memory processing during REM sleep is where short-term memories and experiences are converted into long-term memories - alcohol throws off your REM cycle as well as your sleep homeostasis which is your balance of fatigue and wakefulness. You may sleep a lot but it’s not good sleep - it leads to passing out and blackouts where you have no memory of what happened, and is related to Alzheimers. For women it’s even more disruptive since we metabolize alcohol faster. It also causes decreased muscle tone in the upper airway leading to more breathing issues when sleeping - those with apnea stop breathing more frequently.
Sleep in the best position for you. The key is to maintain the integrity of your spine whatever position you take. Make sure your mattress keeps your spine aligned - turn it regularly and replace every seven years. Get a nontoxic, non-off-gassing mattress with high resiliency. For back sleepers do not use a huge pillow - a natural position is to have your head lower so blood can pump to your brain. For belly sleepers, lift a knee and move the pillow from your head to under your belly/hips/lifted leg. For side sleepers make sure your pillow supports your neck without raising your head and try a pillow between the knees.
