Sleep is so so important.
It seems like us humans have a much tougher time sleeping than our four legged friends.
It’s kind of why my favorite letter is Z. I always want to try and catch more of them.
If you don’t get it, read it again and hopefully you will.
I’m not going to go into any medications used for sleep. While sometimes they can get you to sleep, they rarely give you a true deep restorative sleep.
Sleep is important. It is when our body gets the 3 R’s.
Rest
Relax
Recuperate
Renovate
Oops, I guess it was 4 R’s
I guess the R’s are in competition with all the ZZZ’s we try to get every night.
Did you know that during the day your brain gets out of balance or inflamed.
Did you know that when you sleep your brain works to get rid of the inflammation?
Sleep is important.
You want the CPU of your body to be fully functional.
Now to the topic of this stack.
Some Sleep Hacks to think about, but only if you want to. Your choice.
If you are having trouble falling asleep, try lying on your right side. This puts your left nostril above your right making it easier to breathe through that side. The left nostril is said to better stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system, which is known as your rest and relax part of your nervous system, which is what you want when trying to sleep.
Before we had electricity or the ability to heat our homes, the temperature at night when we slept was always cooler than during daylight when awake. Cooler nighttime temps can help with sleep. So if you have a thermostat that is programmable, try lowering the temperature setting when you are going to sleep, and if possible drop it a few more degrees when you would be in deeper sleep. You can always set the thermostat to start warming up when it is close to when you would want to wake up.
Along the same thought process, it helps to allow your body to cool a bit to bring on sleep. Don’t wear socks to bed. Also consider allowing a leg or your feet to NOT be under covers so they can help to cool down your body enough to prepare for sleep.
Have a nice large mug of caffeinated coffee or an energy drink an hour before bedtime. Actually don’t do this. I was just making sure you were still reading. Kudos if you made it here without falling asleep.
Dark rooms, turning the clock away from you or getting one that shines the time on your ceiling so you are not staring at a bright activating light would be helpful.
Perhaps use Blue Blocker glasses at night to reduce the amount of blue light from electronic devices that enters thru your eyes and activates your brain. You want your brain more at rest to sleep, not activated.
Get early sunshine to reset your natural circadian rhythms of being awake and alert during daytime and restful and sleeping at night.
Try and maintain the same sleep schedule 7 days a week. You need a normal dependable rhythm.
Be careful of wireless routers/wifi in your bedroom. The same thing can be said for electronics and emfs.
Poor sleep can mess with your metabolism and possibly make weight loss more difficult, adding to your waistline.
Sleep deprivation can accelerate cognitive issues leading to dementia.
Diseases of modern civilization increased sharply with the advent of the lightbulb, giving us artificial light during times when we should be in darkness.
Ancestrally we are supposed to sleep more in the Winter when the days are shorter and sleep less in the Summer when days are longer. Kind of like animals in the wild do. But that’s not what we do because we are so evolved, or are we?
Too much exercise, especially at night can increase your fight or flight part of your autonomic nervous system. That’s the opposite of the rest, relax, recuperate and renovate we need for sleep.
Poor sleep may increase your appetite for carbohydrates which are not the best if you are using a lower carbohydrate diet.
I think I’ll stop now.
I’m sure there are dozens more hacks for sleep that do not involve medications or even supplements. Both medications and supplements can help with sleep but ask yourself if poor sleep is a symptom of another issue and whether your remedy is fixing the trigger or just putting on a band aid.
Well it’s late.
Time for me to wind down and chill a bit before getting my own ZZZ’s.
Do you have any other sleep hacks to share?
Please leave them in the comments.
Elle is the sweetest🐾🐾❤️❤️
Some additional items that have helped me:
1. Sleep mask. It not only cuts out ambient light but it now signals "sleep" to me. It's like a face hug signalling my brain to shut down.
2. Night light in the bathroom. I often wake up between sleep cyles and normally I can just fall right back asleep and start a new one, but occationally I notice I have to use the restroom off our our bedroom. Turning on the light in there is always jarring so I plugged in a night light which provides enough light for me to see what I am doing yet keeps the room quite dim. This way the light doesn't disrupt my sleep cycles.
3. Dog in bed. This can be a huge disruptor of sleep depending on the dog, but one of our dogs sleeps on the bed with us and she's a sound sleeper so doesn't wake us up, but is always an arms reach away for pets and snuggles. It's very relaxing and if anxiety is keeping me up she gets extra pets until I fall asleep.
4. Ambient noise. We have an air purifier in our room which we crank up to full power when we go to sleep. It has the added benefit of keeping our air clean.
5. Just a Comforter. My husband and I (and dog) sleep with a sheet over the mattress and then just a comforter with a duvet. No other blankets or sheets to get balled up or wrapped up in. It's simple and provides for frictionless warmth. Added bonus is that morning bed making is a snap.
6. 90 Minutes During the Day. If I get a poor nights sleep and I have the luxury of 90 minutes during the day (which I admittedly usually do thanks to a remote work schedule with some flexibility) I take lunchtime nap of 90 minutes. Less than that and I end up either tossing and turning without much benefit or being woken up in the middle of a vivid dream by my alarm and feeling worse throughout the day. 90 minutes allows me a full sleep cycle and I often wake up naturally just before the alarm feeling considerably better. It's like a do-over in the middle of the day when I don't get good sleep the night before.