Sleep for Your Health
When you wake up in the morning do you feel tired and wish you had more time to stay in bed? Do you hit the snooze button 5 or 6 times before getting up? Do you get sleepy in the afternoon or struggle with fatigue? Sleep deprivation is a big problem for the majority of adults. Just one bad night’s sleep can set off a cascade of biologic responses that contribute to early aging. It can contribute to a multitude of health problems like Cognitive Decline, Diabetes, Heart Disease and Obesity to name a few.
If you were to ask me what is the number one thing you can do to improve your overall health, I would say get a solid 7-8 hours of sleep every day. Sleep is so important that I decided to make this my first blog and I placed it at the top of the 6 pillars of health.
A good night’s sleep begins in the morning. When you wake up in the morning, go to a window or step outside and bathe yourself in sunlight. It’s free and it feels oh so good. This sets your circadian rhythm for the day and moving forward. It’s important to have the same wake-up time each day, even on the weekends! When you expose yourself to early morning light, your brain sends signals to produce Serotonin, the mood hormone. Serotonin is used to produce Melatonin, the sleep hormone. That is why a good night’s sleep begins in the morning.
Is Quality or Quantity more important? Studies have shown that the quality of sleep is more important than the number of hours of sleep. One way to find out your quality of sleep is to wear a device like a Fitbit or an Oura Ring. These devices provide feedback on the amount of sleep in each of the phases of sleep REM, Light Sleep, and Deep Sleep. The Oura Ring also provides information on how long it takes to fall asleep, sleep disturbances, and sleep efficiency. Just because you are in bed for 8 hours does not mean that you are in good sleep for 8 hours. 6 hours of quality sleep is much more beneficial than 8 hours of crummy sleep.
What is going on when we sleep? While we are sleeping the “cleaning crew” comes in to clean the brain. The glymphatic system or cleaning crew washes the brain clean every night while we sleep. This is done at night because the process requires a lot of energy. Because this process requires more energy, the more quality sleep we get, the more energy we will have for the next cleaning cycle!
How to improve the quality of sleep? Now that we know a little bit about why it’s important to get quality sleep, what can we do to improve the quality of sleep?
#1 - Let’s start 2 hours before bedtime.
o Unplug from devices. This includes cell phones, laptops, tablets and televisions. These devices emit a blue light that inhibits the production of Melatonin. It takes 1.5 hours for Melatonin to kick in after the blue lights are shut off for the night. So if you are staring at screens right up to bed time, you have to wait 1.5 hours for the benefits of Melatonin to help you sleep.
o Blue light blocking glasses like Swanwick glasses can be worn at night if you have to use a computer prior to bed time.
o Begin the winding down process by having a pre bedtime ritual. Settling down with a good book and a cup of tea is a nice way to unwind. Some of my favorite teas are chamomile tea, or CBD turmeric ginger tea. Make sure these are naturally decaffeinated.
o A nice warm Epsom Salts bath is relaxing and also provides your body with some much needed Magnesium.
#2 - Create a sleep oasis
o Reserve your bedroom for 2 activities, sleep and romance.
o Remove clutter from the bedroom, so the last thing you see before falling asleep is order, rather than chaos
o Make sure that your bedroom is dark. Some ways to do that are to install black out curtains on your windows and cover up all light sources, like light from a remote control, or from an alarm clock. Did you know that your skin soaks up light too? Not just your eyes. That’s why it’s important to cover up any light source.
o Wear comfortable loose sleepwear.
o Wear a sleep mask. You can find very comfortable sleep masks made of soft material with an adjustable strap to hold it in place. I promise you that after a few nights, you won’t even know it’s there. And when you travel and accidentally leave it at home, you will miss it. I speak from experience.
o Keep the room a little cool at night. Your body will go into deeper sleep when the room is at a comfortable 65 -70 degrees.
#3- Practice Gratitude
o Journaling is a nice way to think about things we are grateful for. Writing down 3 things at the end of the day that we are grateful for sets our intention for a good night’s sleep.
o Prayer and Meditation is another way to express our gratitude and relax us for a good night’s sleep.
I hope you have found this information helpful. Give this a try and let me know how it helps you.
In gratitude,
Coach Sandy Z
