Sleep Hygiene
- How to really rest and restore
Most of us have forgotten how to truly pause. In a world that rewards ‘busyness’, many find it challenging to fall comfortably into the safety of true rest. If we do not rest, we do not reach deep, restorative, nourishing sleep.
Sleep quality can completely change your experience of pain. The better quality sleep you have, the less your body expects to experience pain (known as perceived pain) especially if this sleep is consistent. So regaining your sleep power can make you feel powerful in owning how much comfort you feel in your body too.
Why do we rest?
Society has programmed us to always be taking in information and our brains need time to do something with this information. By using electronic devices we deflect from allowing the subconscious time to move the information we take in during the day to the correct parts of the brain which turn this into long term memory where they actually become skills. This lack of space to process information can create the ‘wired and tired’ state of existence that many of us trudge through every day. It then eats into the precious time when we should be sleeping and instead our minds whirl when the lights go out.
There are many factors that contribute to a good night’s sleep. These are now known collectively as practising good ‘sleep hygiene’, and that doesn’t mean how clean your sheets are (although, we all know the temptation of fresh bed linen).
“‘Resting’ for many people means watching TV, browsing the internet or engaging with some other kind of electronic device that is anything but restful for the brain and the body. We have not only forgotten the value of rest, we have forgotten how to do it.”
Simply put, we are distracting ourselves from actually switching off by entertaining our minds with blue light devices; TV, social media, gaming, laptops ... these all emit blue light (so too, do the more energy efficient light bulbs). Blue light sends a signal to the brain via short wavelengths, through the eyes that are similar to those on a clear, blue sky day and the brain responds by producing the hormones: cortisol (which keeps us awake) and ghrelin (which makes us hungry). Are you a snacker at your desk or on the couch in the evenings? Now you know why.
NASA even changed their lights on the International Space Station to ones that emit a dimmer light with longer wavelength when the natural light changes in the evenings because of the negative effects blue light has on psychology.
“Blue light exposure is a growing public health concern.”
So, How can you teach your body to REST properly and prepare for sleep?
1.Reduce blue light exposure
It goes without saying that number one on my sleep hygiene list is to reduce your exposure to blue light. You can do this by:
Spending less time in front of screens, it is especially important to do this at least two hours before bed but limiting your exposure earlier if you can/ feel inclined to is important, I start from when the sun naturally goes down so in winter, this can be as early as 4:30pm!
Turn your bright lights down in the evenings, better yet, use red light bulbs
Use blue light blocker glasses
Use a red light head torch or side lamp for reading
Use a red light head torch for moving around the house
Clean your teeth two hours before bed - often the brightest lights in the house are in the bathroom. Not great if you flood your system full of artificial light, right before you hit the pillow
Use blackout blinds to make your bedroom pitch black
Cover your digital alarm clock and any other devices that glow or give off any type of light. Can you switch any of these off?
If you can’t block out all the light, use a sleep mask
2. Spend time in the day doing things that you love
If we go to bed unsatisfied with our day, it usually means we haven’t taken time for ourselves. In order to sleep deeply, we need to have lower cortisol levels, and that is exactly what doing all the things you love does to your body.
This can include spending time with loved ones, socialising, laughing, being creative … anything that fulfils your purpose, anything that feels like it restores you - meditation, yoga, having a bath, walking in nature, hugs, skin to skin contact, reading a book, allowing your mind to wander and be playful.
3. Your bed is only for sleeping (and intimacy)
If you are someone who usually reads in bed before you go to sleep, then try using a comfy chair in your bedroom instead.
I have Fatigue Patients who require day resting but don’t always sleep. If this is something your body requires - as mentioned above, I think this ‘pause time’ is important for everyone - then it is possible for day resting to take place in a spare room, or another part of the house. If you get adept at napping during the day, and you know you will sleep, you can sleep in your own bed, but avoid spending time awake there.
If you are someone who finds yourself lying awake for long periods of time in the night, then it can be really helpful to get up and try resting somewhere else in the house until you feel sleepy again.
4. Create 'sleep pressure' by not napping past 3pm
A hormone called adenosine builds up throughout the day, and is one of the main factors which make us feel tired. It's known as 'sleep pressure'. When we nap and sleep, we release this pressure, and can then find it harder to sleep when we need to. Therefore, avoid napping after 3pm so you have plenty of sleep pressure for bedtime.
5. Prepare your bedroom for sleep, ahead of time
Preparing your bedroom for sleep ahead of bedtime gives you the opportunity to begin to associate your room with sleep. Around the same time you begin to limit blue light exposure, prepare your bedroom for sleep; Turn the lights down, possibly use oils or incense, anything that makes you feel relaxed and lowers your heart rate, so when you are ready to go to bed, all you need to do is step into your relaxing bedroom and get into the sheets. Make sure your bedroom is cool, ideally with fresh air. Leave phones outside the bedroom.
6. Stick to a sleep schedule
Try to go to bed and get out of bed at the same time every day. In Chinese medicine, 10pm is an important time to rest and ideally sleep as this is when adrenal healing takes place.
7. Start preparing for bed as soon as you wake
Light exposure helps to tell our body that it is day time, to release the hormones that keep us awake and active and stop us from getting drowsy. Mornings are when we should be exposed to the shorter wavelength (blue) light, as it kickstarts our circadian rhythm and by staying consistent to allowing these shorter wavelengths in at the same time each day, we can set our circadian rhythm to work naturally for our benefit.
‘Circadian’ is a term derived from the Latin phrase “circa diem,” meaning “about a day”, it refers to biological variations or rhythms with a cycle of approximately 24 hours. So if we can programme our bodies to release ‘awake’ hormones (cortisol) at the right time in the morning, then the body will start to release the ‘sleep’ (melatonin) hormones at the right time in the evenings - provided we block out that blue light before bed!!
Get as much exposure to natural light as possible in the mornings. Open all the curtains, go for a walk, drink your morning coffee outside. Turn on the lights if it's a dull day. Taking vitamin D supplements can be helpful in some cases too but does not replace real light.
8. A hot bath before bed
This can be a wonderful trick as it lowers body temperature, which is required for a sound night's sleep.
9. Drink water
Being even slightly dehydrated can disrupt sleep.
Why is it important to protect our sleep?
I’ll pass you over to Chris Kresser for this:
““It’s absolutely essential for basic maintenance and repair of the neurological, endocrine, immune, musculoskeletal and digestive systems. The hormone melatonin naturally increases after sundown and during the night in a normal circadian rhythm, which increases immune cytokine function and helps protect us against infection. (This is why you’re so likely to get a cold or flu after not sleeping well for a few nights.)
Inadequate rest impairs our ability to think, to handle stress, to maintain a healthy immune system and to moderate our emotions. It’s associated with heart disease, hypertension, weight gain, diabetes and a wide range of psychiatric disorders including depression and anxiety.””
Sleep is the backbone to health. You can exercise but without sleep and real rest you won’t recover, you’ll find it harder to build muscle and lose weight and over time you won’t be able to exercise anymore. You can work hard, and sleep less but over time, the work you produce might suffer and if it doesn’t, your health will. You can eat all the right foods and take lots of expensive supplements but without proper rest and sleep, your body won’t absorb them properly and use them efficiently.
What are the benefits?
If you’re looking for:
Improved quality of life
Efficient memory recall
Improved cognitive functioning
Strong immune health
Physical fitness
Fast metabolism
Positive mood and mental health
Reduced anxiety
Increased ability to handle stress
Faster rates of healing
Improved muscle mass
Loss of weight
Avoidance of disease
Avoidance of cognitive decline
Repaired immune system
Boosted mood
Increased overall energy
Improved athletic performance
Enhanced mental clarity
… And much more
Then sleep baby, sleep!
Tried all of this and still not sleeping?
The most common things that cause sleep disturbances are high blood pressure, hormonal imbalances and an overactive nervous system (which could be caused by physical or emotional trauma and incomplete stress cycles). If you really have been consistent with sleep hygiene for a while and you aren’t getting the results you need, then I suggest seeing your doctor to make sure nothing underlying is blocking your sleep and work with someone like me to heal and reset the nervous system.
Not sure what’s going on for you?
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