How To Sleep Like A Champ

Nothing beats springing out of bed in the morning feeling refreshed, replenished, and energized after a long night of deep, restful sleep. Unfortunately, very few of us spring out of bed. Instead we push snooze until the critical moment of being late, reluctantly get up, then sludge through the morning until we have had a couple cups of coffee. I’ve been there. I know all about the snooze button addiction and what the dreadful pre-coffee-sludge feels like.

It sucks.

Here are some tips on how to sleep better so you can spring outta bed at the crack of dawn, and own the day!

Get Acupuncture

I am an acupuncturist, so naturally this is going to be at the top of the list.

Acupuncture regulates hormones that increase nighttime melatonin secretion. Melatonin is the hormone that helps us doze off to dreamland, and increasing its production in the evening is the key to falling asleep.

Also, acupuncture can switch off our ‘fight or flight’ mode, and switch on our ‘rest + digest’ mode. No one sleeps when their body is amped for fighting or flighting. We need to be in a restful calm state to sleep, and acupuncture can bring us here.

Those tiny needles also treat other health issues that can keep us awake at night; such as chronic pain, hot flashes, stress, etc.

If you are getting acupuncture to help with sleep, I recommend booking your appointment later in the day. After your session, you can go home, get cozy, and let the magic settle in.

Support Your Natural Circadian Rhythm

Life is full of cycles. Daily, monthly, seasonly, yearly.

Our daily cycle is called our Circadian Rhythm. It is an internal process that regulates our sleep-wake cycle. The cool thing about our Circadian Rhythm is that we can support it naturally using light exposure!

In the Morning - To improve sleep, we want to expose ourselves to at least half an hour of natural light early in the day. Go for a morning stroll, enjoy a morning coffee outside, or work near a window. For those of us who have a difficult time waking up in the morning, standing near a bright window right after stepping out of bed can help. Bright natural light in the morning tells our bodies it is daytime, we should quit making melatonin, and start producing cortisol.

In the Evening - Restricting artificial light exposure for at least 2 hours before bedtime is going to help us sleep. Blue light from computers, smartphones, tablets, and TVs pretty much obliterates our melatonin production. Ideally, our melatonin production ramps up in the evening. If this does not happen, we are going to have a big challenge falling asleep. 

I know that working on our computers in the evening is sometimes the only time we have to do it, like me writing this blog. If you need to look at a screen at night, you can download a free program called f.lux. It synchs up with your time zone and reduces blue light emission from your computer screen after the sun goes down. Or, another more stylish option is to wear a pair of amber-tinted glasses in the evening. Amber glasses rock because they not only block blue light from screens, but also block ambient room lighting.

Manage Your Stress

I think that we all have periods of our life where we can’t sleep because our busy minds are ruminating on an event that is happening in our lives. If this is the norm, then putting in time to manage that stress is going to do wonders for you.

Stress management tools, such as acupuncture, massage, mindfulness, meditation, focused breathing, yoga and getting out in nature help us to switch off our stress response. Stress management not only improves sleep, but also improves gut health, hormone levels, energy, and mental focus.

Learning to manage our stress in healthy ways is going to nothing but good things for our whole body, mind and soul.

What I Do - I have a few 10 to 15 minute guided meditations downloaded on my phone. When it is bedtime, I plug headphones into my ears, place a sleep mask over my eyes and drift off to meditation land while laying in bed. This helps me let go of the day's events, feel deeply relaxed and fall asleep super fast.

Take Magnesium

Magnesium is one of the core supplements I take. Meaning, I always take it. Every day. It is also the one supplement I recommend to most of my clients. Most people feel better when they take magnesium regularly.

Magnesium is such an essential mineral. So essential, that over 300 enzymes in the human body require it to function. Magnesium deficiency has been associated with migraines, PMS, hypothyroidism, muscle tension, constipation, hypertension and insomnia.

Unfortunately, is a difficult nutrient to obtain strictly from diet. Our veggies don’t contain as much magnesium as they did decades ago, because our soils have become so deplete. Nuts and seeds contain quite a lot of magnesium, but they also contain phytates; sneaky little buggers which don’t let our bodies absorb minerals.

I like absorbable forms of magnesium like glycinate or malate over less absorbable forms like citrate. Magnesium citrate is better for constipation, while glycinate and malate are better for insomnia.

Have A Healthy Bedtime Snack

Eating a light snack before bed might be a good option for you if you are the type of person that falls asleep easily, yet wakes up at 2 or 3 am and can’t get back to sleep.

Finding yourself wide awake in the middle of the night could be from a drop in blood sugar. Our body likes to keep a pretty consistent level of sugar in our blood to feed our muscles, organs and brain. When our blood sugar drops, our body releases cortisol to help bring it back up to a healthy range. Cortisol not only helps regulate our blood sugar but also regulates our stress response. And unfortunately, we don't sleep when cortisol is pumping through our blood.  

To prevent our blood sugar from dropping, and cortisol from being released in the middle of the night, a little snack before bed might be worth a try. Make sure the snack contains healthy fat, and protein; not just carbohydrates. The protein and fat will help stabilize blood sugar much longer than carbohydrates alone. A great snack idea is a scrambled egg in half an avocado, with a cup of sleepy time tea and a drop of honey.

Try Cannabis

Cannabis affects everyone differently. For some, it is the best sleep aid ever, while for others it leaves them laying in bed with a buzz for hours. If you have tried everything to sleep better, cannabis is worth a shot.

Cannabis products come in different ratios between CBD and THC. Finding the perfect ratio for your body is the key to success.

Limit Coffee and Alcohol

I am not much of an alcohol drinker, but I will be the first to say that I sure like my cup of coffee in the morning. The best way to preventing coffee from disrupting our sleep, is to have it early in the day. If you are sensitive to caffeine, avoid coffee and other caffeinated beverages past lunch time.

Alcohol is a master at disrupting our sleep. Many people use alcohol to help with sleep because alcohol does make it easier to initially fall asleep. Unfortunately, alcohol disrupts and lightens sleep during the latter half of the night, and disrupts our REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage sleep. Our brains only go into REM sleep once all alcohol is metabolized out of our system. Having a drink or two once in a while is fun, but using it to fall asleep regularly is going to backfire.

Exercise Earlier in the Day

Dance, hike, yoga, tai chi, swim, walk the dog. Find a form of exercise you enjoy, and do it! Exercise fatigues our body, and calms our mind, which helps us sleep.

Although, exercise does raise cortisol, so partaking in a good workout right before bed is going to be counterproductive to sleep. Unless it is sex. That is pretty sure to lead to sleep.

Develop a Bedtime Ritual

Developing a bedtime ritual tells our bodies that the day is coming to an end, sleep is near, and we should start producing melatonin. Have a bath, read a relaxing book, enjoy a cup of herbal tea. Anything that you find relaxing and calming will work.

Avoid stress provoking activities such as watching the news, reading emails, or discussing a hot topic with your partner when it close to bedtime. These will just lead to disappointment.

I Want To Hear From You!

Do you have any tried and true sleep tips you can share?