The Basics of Sleep: How to Start Setting Yourself Up for a Good Night’s Rest

It’s a recurring theme as babies, children, teenagers, adult’s and even in our elder years. How can we get enough sleep?  

Regulation of sleep is essential for maintaining our cognitive and mental health.  It enhances our cognitive functioning, aiding in learning and memory, problem solving and decision making, attention and creativity. It regulates our neurotransmitter production, helps balance hormones and balances our emotional and physical health including anxiety, depression, appetite, stress and mental and physical restoration. 

So while the science is vast and complex (and we will get in to more depth on all of these things, including nutrition, movement and supplements for sleep), we’re here today to provide some quick tips and habits that you can slowly incorporate into your lifestyle. Stick with us for a better night of sleep and to help you wake-up feeling refreshed, with less brain fog, more energy and a better mood.

1. TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Our body likes to fall asleep before 11PM and wake with the natural light in the morning.  This flows with our natural cortisol and sleep cycles.  When this is thwarted because of lifestyle, hormones, sleep interruptions, work and other factors it helps to try and reset by doing the following:

• Got to sleep at the same time each night.  If you are a night owl or have problems falling asleep, begin by going to bed 20 minutes earlier.

• Try waking at the same time each morning, regardless of how you slept.

• If you wake in the middle of night and can’t fall asleep try to reset using a mantra, meditation or sleep app to lull you back to bed.  Try not to scroll or turn on the lights.

2. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY

A dark room is ideal for sleeping. Consider blackout blinds if light pollution is an issue and you don’t wake-up with the sunrise. Keep a cool room, with breathable sheets and layering for maintaining optimal body temps as our bodies cool while we sleep and naturally warm as we awaken. Room temperatures should be approximately 20°C or 68°F. If you are good at falling asleep and awakening early you may choose to wake with natural sunlight. While this is an amazing practice for regulating your sleep cycle, but we recognize it is not realistic for everyone!

3. LIGHT EXPOSURE

Early morning sun exposure has been known to help reset your internal clock and improve the sleep / wake cycle. Ideally try to get 20 minutes of sunlight exposure in the first hour of waking. For cloudy days go out for 20-30 minutes.  If natural light is not available, try bright artificial light and open the blinds.

Try and catch those rays at golden hour too, right before dusk, and avoid bright lights 1-2 hours before bed for maximum benefit. This small change over time can help improve the sleep cycle and help maintain certain neurotransmitter function.

4. AVOIDING BLUE LIGHT

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, blue light before bed interferes with our sleep cycles and inhibits us from getting the necessary REM, light, and deep sleep we need to restore and repair our bodies and brains.  It can also induce other feelings of stress that can inhibit us from calming ourselves to fall asleep.  It has even been suggested that having your phone in your room invokes enough subconscious stress to want to check it that it can interfere with sleep.

Turn off the screens an hour prior to sleep and try reading a book, listening to music, take a warm bath or meditate prior to bed.  Invest in an alarm clock and put the phone away if you can.

5. EXERCISE EARLY

Exercise spikes cortisol, our stress hormone, which is naturally highest in the morning and declines throughout the day. If we exercise too late in the day we increase our cortisol levels, winding us back up in the evening.  Our best time for vigorous exercise is in the morning when our cortisol is at its peak.  But if the evening is all you have, or maybe it’s a major (healthy) part of your social, try to augment your exercise with a post workout relaxation routine. Try meditation or a warm bath with lavender and epsom salts to help relax the body and prep it for that sleep state and naturally reduce those cortisol levels again.

6. CAFFEINE AND ALCOHOL

Everyone is different but as a rule of thumb if you don’t know how you react to caffeine avoid it anywhere from 8-12 hours before sleeping.

Alcohol can interfere with your ability to stay asleep as well as the initial sleep cycle which is imperative to restoration and recovery. While it may help you fall asleep, it can wake you back up a couple of hours later with some heart-pumping anxiety. We recommended to avoid it at least two hours before bed.

7. AVOID FOOD BEFORE BED

When you are getting ready for bed, your body is focusing on repair and restoration and has less energy to focus on digestion. Try not to snack later than two hours before bed unless you are looking to increase mass, need to fuel yourself for an early morning workout, or if you are waking in the middle of the night hungry.  Then a small snack of protein and low sugar carbs can help, but only as necessary. If you find yourself mindlessly snacking at night, maybe out of boredom or habit, try something new to do with your hands like knitting, playing an instrument or even picking up an engaging book to get your mind off eating. Try sipping some chamomile tea or warm water with lemon to relax you and get you ready for bed.

Conclusion:

So while getting a good night’s sleep is paramount to your health and part of our Fall Into You goals, change can be hard. If you find that you are lacking in more than one area above, incorporate small changes to start and maybe don’t change everything at once. Be kind to yourself and congratulate yourself for shutting down the computer early (maybe with a good meditation to go with it) or saying no to that late last night cocktail and replacing it with a water instead. Even with small changes you’ll start to see an impact over time and every new habit will become that much easier.

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