Being Human - The Basics: SLEEP
Sleep deprived people are 10xs more likely to die early accidentally.. meaning in an accident- that is their fault... because they are sleep deprived.. yes ITS TRUE. All teasing aside sleep is elusive for many people.
My heart breaks when people tell me they can’t sleep. And I
hear it all the time. It is especially disturbing because the sleepless person has usually given up, complete defeat- they've tried it all already. (And most of the time they haven't)
Sleep is the one function in human life that should be
simple. Being Human has a lot of challenges and takes a lot of energy and the
ONE mechanism that should work is our sleeper. We all have read and know the
extreme detriments that poor sleep or lack of sleep has on the mind and body. I
mean, you might I well say good by to your sanity and metabolism and say hello
to disease and misery. (not to be
dramatic) But even beyond that! Sleep, rest and rejuvenation can be one of life’s
sweetest free gifts.
If you aren’t sleeping well and waking up rested, it should become your primary aim to resolve
what keeping you awake/ preventing rest. Everything else
will get better after that. The hard part about this is that few people wants to do what is
necessary to enable their body to sleep... I wont play, what is written here is a tall order... You might even feel like these recommendations are impossible, I assure you they are not, But if you want to change your life you have to change your life, you know what I mean?
I do want to begin by saying I am compassionate to the sleepless ones. Some incredibly strong forces are at play here outside of their immediate control: American society, modern lifestyle and cultural norms such as: the invention of electricity, the popularity of sugar, caffeine and boos, carefully crafted shows that make them irresistable and addictive not to mention the lack of community , long work hours, financial constraints and emotional stability across the board - have all created a downward spiral,
each element exacerbating another, creating the illusion of an undeniable
fate, a exit less trap of sleepless nights. I would venture to say that each decade of life has its
own obstacles to sleep, unique to that time of life. But I’m not going to spend time
describing “the problem” here. I'm going to assume if your reading this your interested making changes, and are familiar with the problem already.
So this is the no nonsense comprehensive guide to begin your
journey to dreamy nights of rejuvenating sleep. ( I am primarily dealing on the physiological plain here- hormones and biological processes, while we
1 Kill your T.V.
Yep I’m serious. (see already your
unwilling, give up your resistance and try this one on for a while)
TV is an epidemic, don’t try to
give me the:
“I only watch netflicks/sports/documentaries/ troll
facebook”
If it’s a screen, get it out of
your face entirely after 7 pm (or two hours before sleep).
I used to pride myself on the fact
that I didn’t watch T.V or movies of any kind. But in the last two years I
watched my facebook/Instagram/pinterest scrolling increase by the hour until I was
losing sleep… “one more scroll, one more profile stock, one more pin – OMG its
Midnight!! All media stimulates the mind and creates reactions in the body-
even though it FEELS like we are turning off our mind, or tuning out and
unwinding, that is a superficial experience.
Not to mention the effects of Blue
light
There’s a deeper cut here, that
pulling away from our screens forces us to be with each other or better with
yourself. This time.. this very precious
time before we head into the ethers of sleep is a chance for us to unpack the
day, to digest to unwind. Maybe realize we could’ve handled something better,
or realize just how much we accomplished. Processing the day before bed can prevent you
from mulling it over in restless sleep. Engaging in these few precious hours
can also provide a stillness to prepare for tomorrow, to set an intention or
mentally prepare for what your out to do. This can prevent the mind from beginning
to obsess in the early hours of the morning. These things will take you out of the cycle of reacting and move towards proactively engaging in life.
And you know, if your lucky enough
to live with people, engaging in conversation can be a great way to unwind- if
you have children or a intimate partner, shifting your attention from a screen to them can
end up in cuddles, snuggles, massages (even sex! which in turn releases MORE SLEEPY CHEMICALS!!)
If your fortunate to live alone these can be profound opportunities to go inward, or engage in something that is important to you that always gets put off. (more suggestions will come at the end)
2 Boozing is for special occasions:
Millennials have altered wine distribution globally, and been the catalyst for more breweries opening nationally then, well, just about any other service or retail vendor. We've distinctly altered how (every way) and when (all the time) alcohol is consumed - no one from the Golden Era would've ever distilled their vodka 7 times and infused it with essential grapefruit oil, but we did... because we're vain too.. ( cant have all those calories!)
While you can ask anyone who knows me, I love a drink (or 4) more then most.
v After taking a boozy hiatus for a good while and then came back to it I realized how much even one drink messed everything up for me, my sleep, my energy, mental focus, inflammation and bloatedness. I felt incredible, invincible when I switched to a alcohol free lifestyle. There is a lot to be said about the effects of drinking on the mind, hormones body and spirit - which will be covered in a future article.
For now, regarding sleep:
One ounce of alcohol triggars a response in the brain that prohibits deep sleep from taking place
While this isn't exactly what happens a good rule for relating to this is any drink within two hours of sleep will disrupt the sleep cycle entirely for that night. Imagine that you did not sleep.
I know you may be thinking- first TV , now booze? who does this chick think she is? While it may seem daunting or impossible the rewards are profound and unexpected. similar to what was noted above, Theres a deeper part to this too beyond physiological effects, boozing pulls us out of expereincing life, the moment, and each other.
Stop eating after 7 (or two hours before
intended sleep) : You’ve heard this too.. Digestion in a complex, high energy task for
the body… it requires so much of your body that if you eat too much of certain
food, it puts you into a food coma, so it can allocate all the bodies resources
to digestion… so If you put food in your body and then try to pass out, your
body skips a bunch of vital processes it will usually do during sleep. Which
means you wont feel restored and rejuvenated – like you could. There’s a lot of
research out there on this one too. Implementing this practice will balance
your hormones, restore your metabolism and grant you more energy. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/negative-effects-eating-before-bed-3027.html
I’ve had multiple jobs that
required me to work late, bottle service, catering, Nannying- all of them made this practice a difficult one.. But you can still do it.. when are you getting
off? What time will you crawl into bed? Subtract two hours- try to eat your
last meal no later.. YOU CAN DO IT!!
4 Go to bed early: Don’t make me explain this…We're all grown ups! I don’t care
what your reasons and excuses are. Allot
8 hours for sleep. That means- if you want to wake up by seven, you want to be
attempting to fall asleep by 11:00pm. But most of you PROBABLY want to wake up
by 5 or 6. Which means going to sleep at 9:00 or 10:00pm. Once you are getting sound sleep and feeling
great maybe you can begin to experiment with your sleep cycles and see if less
hours is needed…. I find 7 is pretty good for me, if I’m not doing a lot of
physical labor or body building ( yes the amount of healing and repairing your
body has to do WILL effect the amount of sleep you need)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rosie-osmun/go-to-bed-early_b_7157026.html
And you may
have heard that you get your most important sleep between 10-2am, itsIt’s a little more complicated then
that but it’s a good rule to use is that every hour before midnight is worth
two after wards… https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-the-sleep-between-10-p-m-and-2-a-m-is-the-most-regenerative-Why
5 Eliminate
all light 1-2 hours before bed.
I mentioned
blue light above. Which isn’t an issue because now you don’t look at screens
after seven…. Right? Right. After you put your screens away for the
evening, dim all the lights, shut off as
many lights in the house as possible leaving on only dimmed lights that do not
shine any direct light into your eyes- My husband thinks I'm crazy because I
brush my teeth in the dark. I will shower in the dark. And only keep a light
across the room on as I wind down before
bed. Candles and muted lamps like a Himalayan salt rock that keep warm tones in
the room can be a romantic light to do the dishes, or read a book in. (you can google red/ orange light and circadian rhythm)
You’ll be surprised at how well your eyes
adjust to the “darkness”. This practice
tells the body “ITS NIGHT TIME” and all the sleepy hormones begin to be produced
and released while the body’s processes for shutting down initiate…. With out
this practice the sleep hormones and body shutting down processes don’t begin until
you turn the light off to go to sleep. But it takes an hour or two… which would
explain why your still lying there waiting for sleep to come two hours after you lay down…
Ready to LEVEL UP!?! Fall asleep in BLACK OUT DARK!
There is a plethora of information of the
effect of ANY light while you sleep. Once I started implementing this I had to
put tape over the light on my charger, and turn my alarm clock toward the wall
or under my bed- because I would notice it. The body will savor this complete
darkness like you never expected.
I first experienced this darkness when I
stayed out in the county for one summer, right before my host Sherman shut off
the house lights – he warned me “ When I turn off this light you wont be able
to see your hand in front of your face….” He was right. And it was awesome. I
began implementing this practice when I heard PMS was a western symptom that didn’t
exist in the rest of the world and this was one of the practice to restore
hormonal balance.. Needless to say its
brilliant. You will feel more rested when you implement this practice (scouts
honor) http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/01/19/sleep-light-exposure.aspx
6.
Extra Credit: Find Night time self care/self
love rituals that work for you.
So you get anxiety, nervousness, obsessive thoughts? This is
not something to medicate or avoid Its something to take head on. These mental characteristics are symptoms.
Symptoms of something deeper, and issue of the heart or spirit. Lavender oil, melatonin and prescribed drugs
will not eliminate or cure them. I am a huge advocate of “ Many Paths, Many
Truths” – there are A LOT of ways to cultivate inner peace, mental
clarity, clear ones conscious, forgive,
find joy, simplify…. However no path, no action, no intention is a path, and it
does not lead to these things….. I will name a few:
1)
Practice Yoga
2)
Take a course in personal development
3)
Prayer and or meditation
4)
Implement the 12 steps (good more many things
beyond chemical addiction)
5)
Mentor someone
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