Sleep success: don’t overthink

If you’re not doing some form of stress management, you will sabotage all of your best efforts with diet, exercise, and supplements.

If your physician or other healthcare provider says you must reduce your stress, ask what methods they recommend. Perhaps they’ve heard of heart rate variability, Valerie is certified in Heart Math and has an active practice particularly with referrals from doctors. Christopher’s holistic life coach training mentorship is a natural for stress relief, be it situational or life stress.

Sleep is essential

There’s getting to sleep then there’s staying asleep. Both matter, as does quantity vs. quality.

Get Sleep, and Plenty of It

• Sleep affects the function of almost every system of the body: Improving the quality, duration, and timing of your sleep is one of the single most powerful interventions you can make to improve your health.

• Make sleep a priority: Research suggests that most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep each night. So start by setting aside at least eight hours each night for sleep, and consider increasing this amount if you still don’t feel you’re getting enough.

• Check out How to Sleep Like a Pro, a downloadable handout from 7th Wave.

• How you think about sleep affects your success or lack thereof: Think about, affirm or otherwise be positive that you can achieve the sleep you need.

• Control your exposure to light: Both natural and artificial light can have a significant impact on your circadian rhythm. Don’t have blackout shades? Consider a good quality, comfortable eye mask.

  • As mentioned before, avoid or minimize using computers and tablets within two to three hours of your bedtime. If you need to use your computer closer to bedtime, consider using software such as f.lux (https://justgetflux.com) to minimize the sleep disrupting effects.

  • Orange-tinted glasses are another way to block out the spectrum of light that suppresses melatonin (an important hormone for sleep). Studies have shown that they may improve sleep quality and mood, and are especially important if you are using electronic media, such as smartphones and TV, in the evening. These can be purchased for less than $15 on amazon.com.

  • Dim, cover or remove anything in your bedroom that emits light, such as an alarm clock.

• Increase your exposure to light in the morning and during the day. Try exposing yourself to bright light first thing in the morning. If it’s light outside when you wake up, try going outside (without sunglasses) for a fifteen- to thirty-minute walk.

  • Alternatively, consider buying a light machine that emits ten thousand lux of light and sit in front of it for fifteen to twenty minutes. Check out https://www.sunbox.com or search seasonal affective disorder (SAD) light therapy though know light therapy is beneficial regardless of seasons or having a diagnoses of SAD. This from the Mayo Clinic is a great resource.

• Optimize your sleep nutrition. In general, it’s best to be neither overly full nor hungry when you go to bed. Set a time when you finish your eating for the day, maybe 7:30 pm unless you’re a late dinner person.

  • Based on clinical experience, both low-fat and low-carbohydrate diets seem to increase the likelihood of insomnia.

  • Carbohydrates help increase the production of serotonin and melatonin (both of which help you fall asleep). If you eat a low-carb diet, and struggle with falling asleep at night, try eating a few more carbohydrates, particularly with dinner. Even if you already eat a moderate carbohydrate diet, you can still adjust your carbs so that most are eaten later in the day. If you’re not a vegan or vegetarian, balance your intake of muscle meats and eggs with bone broths and fattier cuts of meat to achieve a more balanced intake of amino acids, which can also help with the production of serotonin and melatonin.

Move your body.

But don’t just think about exercise—it’s even more important to reduce your sedentary time and increase non-exercise physical activity throughout your day.

Create an environment that is conducive to sleep

Use your bed (and preferably your bedroom) only for sleep and sex.

• Make your bedroom a relaxing environment, keep it slightly cool, and use white noise machines or earplugs to minimize disturbance from any outside noises.

• Clear clutter, including under your bed.