In our culture of go-go-go, most of us treat sleep like it's optional and something we can skimp on in order to prioritize other things. I used to think that way too, until I learned firsthand just how essential sleep really is for healing.
I give sleep a ton of credit not just for helping me heal from the major Ulcerative Colitis flare I experienced in 2010, but I believe it is an integral part of the success I’ve had in remaining flare-free ever since.
During the months I spent recovering after the year-long flare finally resolved, I slept about 10 hours per night. My body needed every minute of that time to focus on repairing, restoring, and reinvigorating; all things that led to healing. In the years since, 10 hours is certainly no longer necessary, but I have continued to make getting enough quality sleep a huge priority.
Even when we aren’t battling a disease or experiencing any serious health issues, good sleep is essential for maintaining health and wellness. Poor quality sleep contributes to inflammation, disease risk, weight gain, and depression, and decreases immunity and cognitive function. Not to mention the fact that not getting enough sleep just generally makes us feel crappy and crabby!
It’s a fact that to live a life of healing and staying healed, our body desperately needs that restorative rest time. So how do we get better at sleeping better? Here are 8 things I’ve learned that have been a huge help in prioritizing sleep.
1. PROTECT SLEEP TIME! - it sounds silly, but if we really want to make something a priority, we’ve got to actually prioritize it! Even if that means adjusting our lifestyle so that the majority of the events and activities we participate in are early enough in the evening that they won’t keep us out past our bedtime. Even on nights when we are home with no good excuse for staying up too late, many of us fall prey to distractions including the “watching just one more episode of something on Netflix” phenomenon. Individual adult sleep needs typically range from 7 to 9 hours, so if staying up late is preventing that, it’s time to reassess. Protecting our sleep means making ourselves go to bed on time, just like those of us who are parents make our kids go to bed on time!
2. MEDITATE/CLEAR THE MIND - When we have trouble falling asleep or getting back to sleep after waking up in the night, it’s important to prevent our brain from getting all fired up. I’ve noticed if I start to let my thoughts run wild, my body will tense up and sleep will become more and more elusive. I try to use those times to practice focusing on my breathing through meditation, and just being in the present moment in order to keep my brain in check and get my body relaxed. If this is not your thing, then I’ve found doing some light “day dreaming”, where I just allow myself to think of very light-hearted things works pretty well too—and there’s definitely something to the old adage of counting sheep!
3. SUNSHINE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE - Going outside, even just for a few minutes, as soon after waking up as possible is key for getting our “daytime clocks ticking” and circadian rhythms functioning properly. This helps us to be more wide awake during the daytime, and then shifts us toward tiredness in the evening, thus helping us to fall asleep easier at night.
4. SLEEPING TOOLS - Sleeping tools like a white noise machine, ear plugs, blackout curtains, and sleeping mask can massively improve sleep and are well worth investing in, especially if your bedroom is affected by street lights or outside noise.
5. FLUIDS - We all know that drinking too much of anything at night means getting up to pee numerous times, and clearly that’s no good for sleep quality, so we should limit all fluids later in the evening. It’s also well known that having caffeine too close to bedtime is not good for sleep. Some people think that they can get away with some evening caffeine if they are still able to fall asleep okay, but caffeine in the PM can still mess with our circadian rhythms (and thus mess with the quality of our sleep). And then there is alcohol, which is a big yet often ignored sleep offender. Being that it’s a depressant, we may think that it actually helps us sleep better since it can put us to sleep fast, but like caffeine, it messes with our circadian rhythm big-time as it reduces melatonin and impacts REM sleep.
6. NO SNOOZING! - Whether we hit the snooze button once or a dozen times, research shows we will be increasing our levels of disorientation and grogginess when we actually get up. A nice trick I've found to be very effective in preventing the temptation to hit snooze is having an alarm clock across the room instead of right next to my bed. This forces me to get up to turn off the alarm, and once I'm moving, I'm much more awake and less likely to crawl back into bed. Sometimes we want to keep sleeping just because we don’t want to leave the comfort of our warm, cozy beds, but feeling the need to repeatedly hit snooze can be a big indicator that we’re not going to bed early enough and/or that our sleep quality is pretty poor.
7. MENTAL INPUT/OUTPUT - Being on screens before bedtime exposes us to blue light, which stimulates our brain and suppresses melatonin production. I’ve certainly found that it’s much easier to feel tired and ready for bed when I read a book at night instead of having my face in my phone. Avoiding watching or reading the news right before bed is of course a good idea too. A good pre-bedtime practice is taking a few minutes to journal about the day or jot down notes of whatever is on our minds. This can be super effective in helping our brains to relax and “power down” for the night.
8. CONSISTENT SLEEP SCHEDULES - While this is easier said than done for a lot of us, research shows that maintaining consistent sleep and wake times—typically earlier rather than later—supports better sleep quality. What matters most is getting deep sleep during your first few sleep cycles, which happens within the first 3-4 hours of sleep.
When it comes to improving sleep, a great place to start is simply by paying attention to your personal sleep situation—when you start to feel tired vs. when you go to bed, how many times you wake up during the night, what is waking you up, how groggy you do or do not feel when you wake up in the morning, etc. Once you’ve done a good assessment on your general sleep habits and problem areas, it will be easier to determine what next steps to take in order to improve your sleep.
Better sleep means better health, and with that, I wish you sweet dreams tonight, my friends!
Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. The author is a certified nutrition coach, not a medical doctor. If you have health concerns, consult a qualified healthcare provider.
.svg)
.svg)
