Good night...sleep tight... yeah right!
How many times have you been exhausted and so tired just to get in bed and stare at the ceiling? Sleep is a mysterious thing. Our bodies need sleep. Yet, it sometimes feels like our bodies are working against us in that department.
Over the past several months, I’ve seen information in professional arenas as well as throughout social media talking about the impact that COVID-19 and a global pandemic has had on sleep. I see friends posting on social media about their sleeplessness issues. I don’t claim to have all of the answers. Nor do I believe that everything I will write here will be the solution for everyone. But, maybe just have an open mind and try a few new things or a different combination of tricks. You might just find the winning combination for a restful night of sleep.
To understand how to sleep better it might be important to understand why we sleep. No one….I repeat, no one can live without sleep. Biologically it is impossible. We must sleep. We spend about 1/3 of our lives sleeping. It is the way in which our bodies rest, restore, repair and heal as well as reproduce cells. It is no wonder that when we do not get quality sleep that we are tired and restless, our bodies hurt, our moods are poor and we may even have poor health as a result.
Here are just a few ideas:
Develop a sleep routine for good sleep hygiene - this means set up your evening so that your body begins to understand the signals that it is time to go to sleep. In the same way that children get signals (turning off electronics, taking a bath, reading a story, being quiet) that bedtime is coming, adults need the same signals. It doesn’t have to be the exact same routine each and every night. But, it needs to be a similar routine that sends signals to our body that it is time to start producing Melatonin (the hormone that induces sleep).
Develop regular daily routines - eat your meals around the same times, exercise around the same times - these routines help the body to regulate insulin, blood sugar, cortisol (stress hormone) and other related body systems so it can create our circadian rhythm (the ebb and flow of our day).
Establish a bedtime - your daily routine and bedtime routine will lend itself to a bed time so your body can again be in rhythm for the cycle of your day and know when to begin creating Melatonin to prepare for bedtime.
Turn off screens - this one is hard, especially in our digital age. However, we know that screens (TVs, computers, laptops, phones) all stimulate our brains which then delays the production of Melatonin and then delays sleep.
Avoid any kind of stimulus prior to bed - this includes watching thought or emotion providing shows on TV, eating within 2-3 hours of bedtime, caffeine or sugar laden drinks and social media. Whatever we consume (via our mouth, our ears or our eyes) we must then process before our bodies can begin the process of putting the body to sleep.
Exercise regularly - daily exercise has so many amazing benefits (see the previous blog post). Exerting energy through daily exercise tires the body to aid in sleep. Be mindful of the time of day you exercise. Exercise is stimulating so exercising within a few hours of your bedtime can interfere with your body’s ability to go to sleep.
Eat a healthy diet - consume the basics - fruits, vegetables, protein, healthy fats and carbohydrates. Limit carbs and sugar as they create inflammation in our gut which then impact our body’s ability to cycle through the natural processes including digestion and sleep.
Create a calm environment - turn off lights, soften music, and begin to quiet your home in the same way we are quieting our bodies. Apps such as Calm or HeadSpace offer free sleep stories and bedtime meditations to help create that calm and quiet environment ideal for sleep.
Only use your bed for sleeping - do not lay or sit in bed to watch television, scroll on your phone, do homework or read. This creates a disconnection so the body doesn’t know that when you get in bed it is time to sleep. It can confuse the body to believe it is time to be awake for any of those activities listed above.
If you don’t go to sleep, get up - after about 20-30 minutes, if you are still awake, do not lay in bed staring at the clock or the ceiling. Get out of bed. Get a drink of water. Read a chapter of a book. Listen to a meditation. Rest the body and then get back into bed. Be mindful not to pick up your phone or turn on the television as this then stimulates the brain as mentioned above making it even harder to go to sleep.
Don’t give up after one night - it takes time to create habits and routines. Choose 1-2 things to try and stick to it for a week. If it doesn’t work then make adjustments. Keep a sleep log so you can know for sure how long you are actually sleeping and what might be impacting your sleep.
Seek medical help. There are sleep disorders that need medical attention. If you are unable to make adjustments to your lifestyle to positively impact your sleep, seek the guidance of a professional.
Please avoid saying “I just don’t sleep” or “I don’t need a lot of sleep”. Just because you have learned to manage with little sleep doesn’t mean your body doesn’t need sleep. Using these simple suggestions can, with trial and error, finding what works and saying consistent, lead to a restful night sleep - each and every night.