Don’t stress: There are ways to get meaningful rest
The light meditation room at Hoame, a modern meditation studio in Toronto. Well Told Health Sleep capsules are not habit-forming.
Lack of sleep was something we once bragged about. Our ability to stay out late with friends or colleagues only to get a few hours asleep and wake up to make morning meetings was a point of pride.
But now we are more acutely aware of how stress is affecting our bodies, and sleep has become a pillar of wellness. We are seeing a cultural shift around the importance of sleep on lifestyle sites — many of which now feature sections dedicated to sleep — apps, and brands, all offering advice and products on how to get good sleep.
But all these messages may have the opposite effect, causing us to stress more about doing something our ancestors have done with presumed ease since the dawn of time.
I headed out to Casper Labs in San Francisco — a research and development facility where Casper, an innovative sleep company that makes and sells mattresses, pillows, bedding and more — to talk with leading researchers on how to get optimal sleep.
When I got back to Toronto, I tested out their tips and suggestions to see if I could ease my nighttime anxiety once and for all. Since today is World Sleep
Day and many of us are still trying to recover from the aftereffects of Daylight Savings Time, I thought I’d share my top five tips on to get the best quality sleep to benefit your health and wellbeing. The Glow Light (Casper, $140 single/$260 double, in stores and online)
The Glow Light is Casper’s first product to improve sleep environment beyond the bed. It’s a wireless, warm, gradually dimming light that cues your body for bed to help establish healthy sleep patterns, mimicking sunrise and sunset. The light, which you can connect to the Casper Glow App, allows you to easily set an alarm for when you want the lights to start to gradually dim and rise over a 45 minute — or customizable — time period.
Jeff Chapin, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Casper tells me, “Light influences our sleep-wake cycles, and even impacts our mood and ability to relax. While most lights keep us up, Glow is specifically designed to help us wind down naturally, for better, deeper sleep.”
Chapin wanted to harness technology in a way that improves, but does not impede, our resting hours. “We designed Glow to be very simple and intuitive — it’s powered by nearly invisible technology that isn’t disruptive to sleep,” he says.
After consistently using this product for the past month, my body has fallen asleep and woken up without an alarm — I linked mine and my partners light separately to the app, so if I want to get up during the night, his light won’t glow and vice versa.
Plus, it’s wireless, portable and durable (in case you drop it when you’re half asleep!) and intuitive, so when I wake up in the middle of the night to use the washroom, I just wiggle it a bit and it will emit a soft glow. This ensures my melatonin levels don’t rise when turning on the light in the washroom, disturbing my ability to lull back asleep. More on that below. And if taking a bath is part of your nighttime routine, the Glow works as a perfect dim light substitute. Be mindful of melatonin levels
“Light is a primary cue for setting our circadian rhythm. Exposure to light, particularly blue light, in the middle of the night can suppress melatonin production and enhance alertness, disrupting your sleep,” says Chapin. Melatonin is the hormone that regulates our sleep-wake cycle and the hormone most affected by blue light emitted from electronics.
“Exposure to light in the middle of the night can suppress melatonin production and enhance alertness. So when you go to the washroom and turn on the light, or if you have your phone in bed with you and scroll through Instagram, the light disrupts your sleep, and makes it more difficult to fall back asleep,” says Chapin.
At Hoame, Toronto’s largest modern meditation studio, cofounders Stephanie Kersta and Carolyn Plater are sleep specialists trained in CBT-I (cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia) for adolescents and adults.
To ensure you get the best sleep, Kersta suggests putting away your electronics about an hour before bed and to be mindful of light in your room. She suggests avoiding harsh lights that may keep you from falling asleep. Meditate Ever been in bed the night before an early morning commitment calculating the hours you have left to catch some sleep? This is what causes sleep anxiety.
“Your anxious thoughts spike cortisol levels bringing in the fight or flight reaction. The opposite of sleep is anxiety and stress. So by doing this, you’re putting your body into a suboptimal position to fall asleep,” Kertsa says. “There’s an entire sleep protocol on how to battle sleep insomnia. Part of the directive is to encourage meditation.”
So where do you start if you’ve never meditated before? You can download a free meditation app like Calm or Headspace — I’ve tried the 10-minute meditations and have fallen asleep while doing it. Or, if you have the time, you can go to a local meditation studio such as Hoame, to prepare your body for sleep.
For World Sleep Day, Hoame is offering a full day of sleep focused classes, which you can check out online at hoame.ca. Have a bedtime routine When I was at the Casper Lab, I learned through on-site sleep experts that sleep isn’t just scientific, it’s also emotional. This is why sleeping with a favourite blanket or doll, cuddling up with a pet or a loved one, or having a cup of soothing tea in a favourite mug has such a relaxing effect on our mind and in turn a night of rest.
Kersta says when focusing on the emotional elements of sleep, a bedtime routine can go a long way. Ask yourself: What gets you into a calm and soothing headspace? For me, it’s taking a warm shower and listening to a calming nighttime play- list on Spotify, rolling a lavender stress release essential oil on the back of my neck, plugging in my diffuser or lighting a few candles, and reading in bed for 45 minutes before dosing off.
Whether it’s taking a warm bath, filling in a gratitude journal or just petting your dog or cuddling up with a favourite blanket, make sure you keep your routine — and the time of it — consistent.
Use a natural sleeping aid (such Well Told Health’s sleep supplements, $34 available online and at select stores)
These supplements are made with only two ingredients: organic lemon balm and organic goji berries. They are in vegan capsule shells and are made in Toronto. These pills are a great sleep aid if you suffer from insomnia, restlessness or stress and aren’t habit-forming.
When I have early morning commitments, I get lost in my head, but don’t want to depend on sleeping aids that will give me nightmares or knock me out making me worse for wear the following day. I’ve been taking these on occasion when I can’t seem to catch rest, and they help me wind down.
Whether it’s due to the natural benefits of the ingredients or the placebo effect, I can’t be sure, but they help me feel settled and relaxed and don’t interact with the daily medication I take.