It’s my favourite thing to do in the bedroom, puts me in a great mood when it’s good, and it starts with S. Get your mind out of the gutter’s y’all, I’m talking about sleep!
Your Sleep Is Unique:
Our body is a complex machine, and when it comes to getting a good night sleep, it’s actually a very unique journey for all of us. So many variables go into your individual sleep/wake cycle, including stress/overall mental health, hormonal balancing, external factors, exercise, your job type (eg. Shift work), what you eat and drink…the list goes on. This means that the solution to a good night sleep varies from person to person.
Sleep is a MASSIVE topic, so I’m going to cover the basics today. If you feel like there’s something going on that’s messing up your sleep, send me an email and I'll be more than happy to help!
The Basics:
We all have what’s known as a Circadian Rhythm (aka your body clock), which is run by a section in our brain known as they hypothalymus. The circadian clock regulates sleeping and feeding patterns, body temperature, brain wave activity, insulin response, urine production and cell regeneration. When one of these is knocked out of whack, it’s easy to now see why our whole sleep cycle becomes messed up.
Hormones:
There are two very important hormones involved in maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm- melatonin and cortisol. Melatonin is a sedative hormone, and we need it to be produced and available at night so we can fall asleep. Cortisol however, does the opposite. You may know cortisol as being the stress hormone, but it’s not all bad. We need this stuff in healthy doses so we can control insulin, stress response and inflammation, but because of the way we live (in most western countries, anyway), our cortisol levels are out of control. If these two hormones are out of balance, so is sleep…and then comes insomnia, exhaustion, mood swings. You name it!
Day and Night:
I was at a yoga retreat in the middle of nowhere in Costa Rica a few years ago, which meant no internet and no electricity- right back to basics. I had the BEST sleep I’ve had in years there, because my body was able to do it’s thing. I could sleep when it became dark, and wake as the sun rose regardless of the actual time, just the way nature intended. Unfortunately it is not realistic to live this way for various reasons. When our eyes see light, it stimulates a nerve pathway that can actually reset our circadian clock- this is why it’s SO important to practice good sleepy hygiene!
**no bright lights at night- put the phone away people!! Facebook/instagram/texing memes to yourmates (guilty)/whatever else you think is important but really is not healthy at night (or at all) can wait!
For shift workers, there are things you can do (lifestyle, nutritionally and naturopathically) to improve your sleep cycle, but unfortunately due how the human body is supposed to run, it will never fully adapt to the unnatural cycle.
Food and Drink:
Nature is pretty much the coolest thing ever and gives us edible things that can assist our sleep cycle. This may seem like a massive ‘duh’, but stimulants will keep us awake- and I say this, as obvious as it is, because so many people (many of my clients included) will consume caffeinated things in excess or close to sleep time and wonder why they have issues sleeping. If we want to start producing melatonin at the right time, we need to allow our cortisol to drop. Stimulants increase cortisol, so this is actually doing more harm than good to not only our sleep cycle but also to our quality of sleep.
Tips for a Sweet Slumber:
Switch off an hour before you head to bed- bright lights are a no-no! Instead, try something like reading, listening to music, drawing, spending time with others or practicing a bit of yoga.
Electrical goods omit energy! If you need to have them in the room, try and have them far away from you. If you don’t, leave your phone, laptop and whatever else in another room so you can clear the air and regenerate properly.
Eat your last meal about an hour before you retire- dinner should be an easy to digest meal, and try to avoid laying down directly after eating so you can digest properly
Stop the stims before 2pm- depending on your unique body, you want to make sure that you cease consumption of stimulants in the early afternoon. There are natural, non stimulant alternatives that will give your body and mind focus and energy (discussed later this week).
Breathe- Sometimes, its hard to breathe. Seriously. Most of us are always ‘on’, and this means shallow, chest breaths. All it takes is 5-7 deep belly breaths to calm the nervous system.
I hope that this has given you a better understanding of your body and sleep. Stay tuned for food, exercise and lifestyle tips on how to improve your quality of sleep.
Sleep well
Nanci x
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