TAKE BACK YOUR SLEEP LIFE
How to get the crucial rest you need
You’re lying in your bed, waiting for a sleep that just doesn’t seem to come. You reposition your pillow, close the window; maybe it’s the noise outside keeping you awake. Your thoughts move in and out of tasks that lay ahead for the next day. You check the clock for the umpteenth time. “Maybe I should have asked my doctor for that prescription of sleeping pills,” you think to yourself. Eventually morning arrives, and you wonder how much rest you really had.
The new science of sleep tells us it’s a non-negotiable part of our health. In fact, it is one of the gateways to our entire well-being, preventing everything from diabetes to cancer to depression. Sleep not only rests our body, it heals our mind. Without it, the cumulative damage impairs our ability to focus, to remember, and burdens our cognitive processing ability until we just can’t cope.
Imagine it this way: as you sleep, critical cells act as a clean up crew for you brain, removing the toxic proteins implicated in brain disease and mind-body health. There’s evidence that glial cells shrink during sleep, creating gaps between neurons so fluid can wash those toxins away. The bottom line is that without enough sleep that clean up crew simply cannot do its vital job of keeping us healthy and alive.
So how can you take back your sleep life and improve your health? The long-term sleep solution rests on changing not only our habits, but also changing our mind about sleep.
1. Challenge your sleep values. Many of us continue to hold on to the long debunked idea that sleeplessness is a badge of honour high functioning people must carry. Prioritizing sleep and valu- ing its role in keeping us healthy and mentally well is the first step toward changing our relationship with it. So, confront your thoughts and misperceptions that sleep is a luxury, indulgent or for the lazy. Instead, remind yourself that sleep is a time of high drive activity, all designed to protect you from disease and mental fatigue.
2. Let go of the day early. Just thinking about all of the things that are left undone from the day can trigger the release of the stress hormone cortisol, elevating your heart rate and blood pressure. So take some time well before bed to write your lists, externalize your worries and create closure to your busy day.
3. Create a clear line between daytime and sleep time. We rush through our day and eventu- ally land in bed expecting to hit the pillow and fall asleep. But our body doesn’t simply rest on demand. Instead, take the time to mark the transition with a low arousal activity, like listening to music or reading your favourite book. In doing so you’ll be sending a signal to your brain that it’s time to move into rest.
4. Watch your intake. Going to bed either hungry or overly full can disrupt your sleep or keep you up long past your bedtime. Keep in mind, stimulants like nicotine and caffeine can wreak havoc on sleep quality. And, while alcohol may speed sleep onset, it can also lead to rebound alertness as your body metabolizes the sugar and alcohol.
5. Avoid naps. Daytime naps can impede your internal clock, disrupting your circadian rhythms. If you must nap, keep it to less than 30 minutes and stick with the early afternoon.
6. Keep active. Physical activity is linked to falling asleep easier, better sleep quality and feeling less sleepy in the day. But timing is key. Limiting vigorous exercise to the morning or afternoon will help ensure you’re not too revved up when your head hits the pillow.
7. Turn off your devices. Screens are the enemy of sleep; the blue light from screens impairs melatonin production, the key to a full night’s sleep. So put your devices to bed at least one hour before you turn in and give them their own room. And if you insist on using screens before bed, use software that filters out the blue light to minimize the imbalance it creates on sleep hormones.
8. Try some low and slow belly breathing. Expanding your abdomen as you fully inhale and slowing down your breath will bore your thinking mind and lower your heart rate, calming you down and making sleep easier. Inhaling is activating, while exhaling is relaxing, so breathe in for four counts and breathe out for six counts for greater effects. Good night.