Five Ways to Fall to Sleep and Stay Asleep

If I were to tell you to do one thing to improve your energy, decrease your pain levels, increase your metabolism and give you a general sense of wellbeing... it wouldn't be exercise.

It would be SLEEP.

Quality sleep, 7-9 hours/night with an appropriate number of REM cycles, is directly linked to improved cognitive function, less pain, greater levels of emotional regulation and healthier metabolic function. Yet it's one of the last things we prioritize! Frequently - by the end of the day, we're burned out, disconnected and (understandably!) seeking soothing and a sense of relief, rather than the routine required to create healthy sleep.

So if you - like so many of us - are struggling with the "just decrease your screen time before bed, go to bed earlier and get up at a regular time" (all great places to start, by the way!) here are five things you can do to improve your quality of rest and day-to-day energy: 

Five Ways to Go to Sleep and Stay Asleep

1. Eat breakfast and a have a bedtime snack. Starting your day with a protein-rich breakfast within 30 min of waking up can change your stress hormone function for the entire DAY! If you start out with adrenaline and blood sugar high, that will roller coaster throughout the day and doesn't just stop because you want to hit the sack.

Similarly, you'll need enough fuel to do all the repair work that sleep entails. We love milk + honey and turmeric like this Golden Milk or some cheese and fruit. There's loads more to dig into here, and if you haven't read How to Heal Your Metabolism by Kate Deering, we highly recommend! 

2. Ensure your room (and night time bathroom adventure) is dark + stay off your phone.  Even just a few minutes of light exposure can drastically change melatonin production, disrupting your sleep for the remainder of the night. Use an eye mask/room darkening curtains, make sure there's a nightlight in your bathroom (rather than turning on the overhead light) and NO SCROLLING if you wake up and feel antsy. Instead, I like to keep my Kindle Paperwhite (no backlight!) on the lowest setting and read a few pages or turn on a boring podcast/book on Audible to go back to sleep.

3. Plan a mid-day rest. Back to the 'eat breakfast' thing... if you're riding high on stress hormones (like adrenaline) to get through your day, those don't just turn off! Letting your body power down midday for even a few, brief minutes can drastically improve your sleep quality by allowing your parasympathetic system to engage and reset your system. A 10 min power nap (just enough to drift off) or a 15 min Yoga Nidra practice is enough to radically improve your overnight sleep! (Personally, I love scheduling acupuncture for a few lunch hours when my sleep goes pear shaped. The deep, quick snooze resets my sleep within just a couple days!)

4. Fix your breathing. There is a LOT to unpack here, but quickly: make sure you're breathing through your nose when you're asleep. Use regulated, elongated exhales if you're waking up. And work throughout the day to practice diaphragmatic breathing. This could mean:

• Square Breathing
• Straw Breathing 
• Mouth Tape
• Breathe Right Strips

(If you want more breathing guidance, check out our Breathing Transformation Course or book an intake with our respiration coach!)

5. Body Scanning / Tension + Relaxation. Insight Timer has some wonderful body scanning meditations, or we have one HERE  -- but the idea is to purposefully notice each part of your body, one by one, and allow them to soften.

Even more effective is to SQUEEZE (create tension) and SOFTEN (relax) each hand, arm, foot, leg, part of your torso and your face in turn, allowing them to deeply relax at the end after a big full body squeeze.

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Let us know which one worked best for you and - if you're still struggling to find a great night of rest - reach out to us! We're happy to chat or connect you with a provider that we trust!