You’ve heard the saying “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” but I love the state of sleep.  When I am about to morph into a pumpkin, I welcome sleep in all its glory. I tend to get sleepy between 10-11PM.  That’s because the darkness of night signals the body to produce melatonin, a natural hormone that helps bring sleep on.  This hormone secretes at different times in all of us, depending on the circadian rhythms of our bodies.  My husband's melatonin production starts around midnight or later.  He is the night owl to my early bird.  I have 6 recommendations for better sleep!

Why is it so important?

Sleeping is not a chore, but vital to the body.   Sleep impacts brain function as it helps process input from the day as well as remove waste products from brain cells.  We tend to think better after a good night's sleep, our brain doesn't feel that fog.  Dreams can also be quite telling about our lives if you look into them.  Sleep also decreases propensity for seizures, high blood pressure, diabetes, immunity, obesity, depression and regulates metabolism and hormones.  That’s a tall order from such a passive horizontal act!  Our goal is to get to stage 4 REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, where the brain and body repair take place.  

Recommendations for better sleep...

While I am not a doctor, I experiment with better ways to get enough solid sleep, and can pass these suggestions on.  There are nights when sleep is better than other nights, but here are some ways to try to wind down the body for better results.

1. What are you drinking after 4PM?  Alcohol and caffeine tend to stimulate the body and upset sleep cycles.  Although I have friends who aren’t affected by this, you might want to check to see if it interrupts your cycle. Certain medications can also screw with sleep.

2. Dim all the lights sweet darling!  When the power goes out, candlelight creates such a calm and quiet feeling.   I tend to think I will begin always using candles at night.  But since we love electricity too, try dimming the lights lower.  Check your use of blue light from screens before bed.  The blue light is a daytime color that stimulates alertness and can suppress melatonin, the sleep hormone.  What you choose to watch before bed can also affect your sleep. No violence (ever) or edgy storylines for me!

3. Cal Mag is rad!  I love using Calm, which is a magnesium with calcium powder in a bit of warm water.  Stir, and once it stops it’s sizzle, drink it down.  Deficiencies in both these minerals can affect sleep as they are essential for the nervous system and the production of melatonin. Start with half a teaspoon and increase from there, as too much can loosen the bowels. 

4. Got Milk?  Milk either warm or cold can put me straight back to sleep if I am having an issue.  Milk contains amino acids such as tryptophan and melatonin to help with sleep.  

5. Signal with Ritual.  You probably have morning rituals to wake you up, but nighttime rituals are important to signal the body to power down.  I love to shower and put nice smelling lotion on so I am clean and fresh going into bed, and thus entering sleep clean and fresh.  Then I Kindle Drop: read my book on my kindle (with my blue blocking glasses) until it drops out of my hand.

6. Counting Sheep.  I think the current counting sheep has evolved into breathing and meditation techniques.  You can try the 5-5-5 breath, inhale 5, hold 5, exhale 5 and see if that helps. That breath pattern can be meditative as well.

Do you have any other suggestions that help you sleep?  Pass them on!