Reset Your Rest

5-Day Better Sleep Challenge!

Have you ever heard of a sleep challenge before?

I’ll tell you upfront: my sleep improved after doing this challenge.

I learned some valuable lessons from this experiment & here’s what I learned over the course of five nights:

1. Half the battle is carving out time to prepare to sleep

During the sleep challenge, however, I had to be a lot more conscious about how I was using my time.

I needed time to prepare and drink my tea, set up the aromatherapy and get the mist going, spend an hour or so in the presence of my bedtime bulb lamp, and make sure I set aside 10 minutes for meditation. By necessity, sleep was on my mind much earlier than usual, and this shift forced me to pay attention to how I was spending each minute. No more dilly-dallying on Instagram or mindlessly scrolling through Netflix holiday movie options. I had to put in the effort to prepare for a good night’s sleep.

2. Believe in the ritual
Once I made it a priority to set aside time to focus on getting better zzz’s, the actual process was also important. The tea, aromatherapy, light therapy, and meditation under a heavy blanket together built a structure to my evening that told my brain “it’s time to wind down.” The ritual signaled the transition from the craziness of the day to the calm of bedtime.

You don’t need to follow the exact ritual I did to improve your sleep.

So think about what might help you ease into bedtime. A hot bath? Putting aside your phone for half an hour? Ten minutes of yoga? Fifteen minutes with a good book? Create your own ritual and use it daily to set yourself up for a successful night of sleep.

3. Beware of too much tea & NO CAFFEINE!
This is a silly one but relevant. A steaming cup of caffeine-free tea before bedtime is a great way to relax, but I had to cut back on my tea consumption as this challenge progressed because liquids before bedtime meant bathroom breaks in the middle of the night.

4. Meditation
Setting aside even 5 minutes of meditation before bed had massive benefits. Although the first two nights were challenging, I got into a routine.

I started with a five-minute meditation from Relax & Sleep off Headspace. Instead of sitting upright in a chair, the instructor told me I could lie down as if I was going to sleep. This simple change made a huge difference.

The next night, I was fully prepared for bed before I started the meditation: pajamas on, teeth brushed, under my gravity blanket. I did a 10-minute meditation and could feel my body relaxing and gently moving toward sleep as soothing music played and the instructor’s melodious voice flowed through my ear. It hardly mattered what she was saying, though I think it was something about letting go of negative thoughts. I was sold.

This sleep challenge also introduced the Gravid blanket into my life. I had trouble adjusting to the heaviness of the blanket at first, but by the third night, I found this pressure soothing.

So, give it a try if you're looking for a new way to Reset Your Rest!

6 Hacks For A Better Night Sleep!

One of the most overlooked areas to upgrade your physical and mental performance is simply getting a good night’s sleep. Too often, we sacrifice sleep to cram more into our day. With a healthy sleep routine, you provide your body with the opportunity to repair damaged tissue and synthesize proteins, both of which are vital functions for a healthy body. These restorative functions also modulate your energy levels and mood, which in turn affect everything from hormone levels and regulating stress to balancing your appetite and metabolism.

Aiming to achieve 6 – 8 hours per night and establish a regular sleeping pattern are recommended for optimal physical and mental performance and recovery. The following tips will help give your body the chance to recover and repair like it needs to.

Routine:
Choose a regular time of the day/night when you go to bed and wake up, forming a consistent pattern for your body’s circadian rhythms.

Keep your room dark:
Sleeping in a dark room with minimal light entering from outside reduces the stimulation of light telling your body to be active. In the morning, let in as much natural light as possible to combat drowsiness.

Keep your room cool:
Colder rooms help you fall asleep faster and maintain a deeper sleep. During summer, keep the window open just before bed (or put on the air conditioner) to allow cooler air to flow in. In winter, hold off from putting the heater on directly in the room.

Exercise:
The more intense your workout is, the more blissful your sleep. If you have trouble sleeping at night, try exercising in the morning. Elevated body temperatures and heart rate in an evening workout can make it harder to fall asleep.

Reduce screen time:
Find a window of 30 – 60 mins before going to sleep without using your mobile phone, tablet, TV or computer to reduce the stimulation of blue light in your eyes. Blue light increases alertness, delaying the body’s body clock and impairing the release of melatonin.

Caffeine intake:
Caffeine has a half-life of about 5-6 hours, which means if you have a coffee at 4 PM, there is still half the amount of caffeine in your system at 9-10 PM. Reducing caffeine intake after lunch will help mitigate effects of caffeine-induced sleep delay. Swap it out for herbal tea like chamomile, ginger or peppermint.

Meditation and mindfulness:
Meditation trains the brain to be more aware of the moment. It helps stop a racing mind and assists in lowering the heart rate and stimulating slower breathing patterns found in deeper sleep. Guided meditation apps can be useful aids to help you fall asleep faster.

Foods for sleep:
Melatonin is a natural hormone that helps control the sleep-wake cycles. Almonds and walnuts are rich sources of melatonin, and foods rich in tryptophan (such as cottage cheese and milk) can assist in increasing serotonin levels and synthesizing melatonin. Avoiding carb-heavy meals at night and high glycemic index (GI) foods, such as high-sugar foods, can prevent a spike in blood sugar levels and decrease serotonin levels. Low GI carbohydrates, such as whole grains or oatmeal, are better choices given their gradual release of sugars.

If sleep continues to be a consistent challenge, feel free to reach out, and let's jump on a call to take a deeper look at what's going on at a deeper level.