Now I lay me down to sleep – NOT!
Fitness, Health, Well-being, Women

Now I lay me down to sleep – NOT!

Now I lay me down to sleep – NOT!

I’ve heard quite a few folks complain about poor sleep in the past few weeks.  It may be hard to fall asleep or stay asleep, either way, these are two common observations.  Let’s investigate this.

If you’re using any fitness electronics – Fit Bit, Apple Watch or Garmin, for example, have you taken advantage of the sleep data?  I tracked my data for about a year when I was trying to get more sleep.  Here are a few items that I found:

  1. When I drank alcohol at night, I would fall asleep faster and get into a deep sleep quicker and for a period of time that was long for me.  However, in the middle of the night, that wore off, and the amount and quality of my sleep slacked off.*
  2. I slept better on the days when I exercised.  The longer or harder I exercised, the better I slept.*
  3. I sleep better when I kept the room cold and/or had air flowing, such as from a fan.*
  4. Because of my tinnitus, I also sleep better with white noise.  (When I’m travelling I use pink noise from my phone app called “White Noise Lite” by www.tmsoft.com )
  5. When I return from international travel, I take melatonin for 5 days.

That’s my experience, but what does the science say?  Science supports the top 3 observations above *.  Also, research shows that sleep and rest are associated with building and maintaining our immune system.  When we sleep, our short-term memories are moved into the long-term zone of our brain.  Our brain’s glymphatic system cleans up our brain when we sleep (Cool details for scientists – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4636982/).

A common intruder into our sleep pattern is stress.  The only symptom you have may be poor sleep, yet there may be other signs:   irritability, losing things, lack of focus, low energy, headaches or stomach and digestive issues.  Invest a few quiet minutes to tune-in to your body and identify what’s normal, or what may feel different right now.  Here are a few additional ideas to consider:

  • Meditation—Research shows larger brain volumes and higher brain activity as a result of consistent meditation.
  • Mindfulness—Quiet intention, living in this moment right now.
  • Exercise—Take the edge off of stress and stimulate endorphins.
  • Digital detox—Put the phone, Kindle, computer, TV, all the screens down at least 1 hour before bedtime.
  • Get outside—Switch from screen time to green time and go outdoors.
  • Get out of your head—Shift your attention to others rather than focusing on your inward anxious feelings.
  • Shift to low light before bedtime.
  • Take the TV out of your bedroom.
  • Remove extraneous items from your bedroom to reduce the visual stimuli.
  • Create a quiet time for reading, music or relaxing before bedtime.

#fivealive #fitness