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Having trouble sleeping? Here's 10 sleep tips from our National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach, Jenn Stover
1) Be consistent with your bedtime/wake time/number of hours of sleep, even on the weekends. This regularity trains your body to sleep at a predictable time. This can be particularly beneficial if it coincides with your circadian rhythm or the time you naturally want to go to sleep and naturally wake up. Stay tuned for more on Circadian Rhythms in a future blog post.
2) Finish eating 2 to 3 hours before bedtime; you’ll sleep better if you’ve had enough time to digest before bed. Your body and digestive system work hard to digest food, so a heavy meal or eating late increases the amount of work your gut is doing. It also produces heat, which is counterproductive since your core temperature needs to drop about 2 degrees to fall asleep and stay asleep. It’s hard to do that if the furnace is stoked.
3) Stop drinking caffeinated beverages early in the afternoon. The half-life of caffeine is 5 to 6 hours, meaning that after 5 to 6 hours, half of the caffeine is still in your system. So, if you have a caffeinated beverage at 4 p.m., half of the caffeine is still in your blood at 10 p.m. More to follow in future posts on how caffeine disrupts REM sleep and its relationship with the neurotransmitter adenosine.
4) Limit Alcohol; avoid alcohol 3 to 4 hours before bed. Alcohol is a sedative, and sedation is not the same as sleep. Alcohol can make you drowsy and fall asleep, but it fragments sleep, can trigger the fight or flight response, interferes with deep sleep, and blocks REM sleep, more on this as well in future posts.
5) Turn off all screens at least an hour before bedtime and dim the lights in the house. The blue light mimics daylight and makes it difficult for your brain to wind down and relax for sleep. When our eyes perceive light, they signal cells in the hypothalamus to suppress melatonin production.
6) Create a sleep-friendly environment: a dark, cool room can help. A cool room, 60 - 70 degrees, allows the body to stay cool to sleep ( our core temperature needs to drop 2 degrees to fall asleep and stay asleep). A dark room helps support melatonin production. Try amber lights in the bedroom. Make your bedroom a sanctuary for sleep and intimacy.
7) Calm your mind by reading a relaxing book. Avoid thrillers or the horror genre, as they tend to be stimulating.
8) Try meditating, breathing exercises, or a warm bath or shower. A warm bath or shower can help your core temperature cool by drawing blood to the skin and away from the core.
9) Limit liquids a few hours before bedtime to reduce the number of nighttime bathroom trips.
10) Consider aromatherapy oils such as jasmine, lavender, or cedarwood, which are soothing and promote relaxation.
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