The term ‘sleep hygiene’ is used to describe your good sleeping habits. Common sleeping problems such as poor sleep onset and maintenance, as well as fatigue and daily exhaustion can often be a result of bad sleep hygiene and bad habits that have been reinforced over time.
A major aspect of developing a good sleep hygiene is focusing on replacing stimulating activities with restful, relaxing, non-stimulating activities to recreate balance within your circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm or your ‘sleep/wake cycle’ is basically your internal clock that cycles your brain between alertness and sleepiness at regular intervals. Generally, most adults’ circadian rhythms coincide with the daytime and night-time cycle, meaning that the biggest dip in energy occurs in the middle of the night, with a smaller dip just after lunchtime. One of the best way to keep your circadian rhythm running smoothly and to avoid experiencing sleep deprivation, is to aim to keep regular sleeping habits like going to bed and waking up around the same time each day, and honouring the cycle of the sun.
What happens when we are sleep deprived?
Not only do you feel the waves of our circadian rhythm more intensely, you are also at a higher risk for health imbalances both mentally and physically.
Your anxiety and depression levels may increase due to the decrease in neurotransmitters and the increase in your anticipatory reactions, enhancing your fight or flight reactions.
Your cognition may be impaired as excess tiredness reduces your memory and your ability to think and process information.
You may be increasing your risk of hypertension, heart disease and stroke. Experiencing a lack of sleep negatively affects your cardiovascular health, increasing of blood flow restriction to the brain, increasing your risk of developing high blood pressure and heart disease.
You could be increasing your risk of weight gain and diabetes due to the increase in stress and hormone imbalances that follow. This results in increases in the hunger hormone (ghrelin) and stress hormones cortisol and noradrenaline and decreases in your full hormone (leptin). These imbalances are associated with unhealthy food cravings, over eating and insulin resistance.
Now there are also many medications that can be utilised as a short-term treatment for sleep disturbances but these only treat the problem, not the cause. They also tend to move you further away from creating a good sleep hygiene routine and can be highly addictive. It is important and recommended to implement a good sleep hygiene routine to ensure adequate sleep quantity and quality and avoid the symptoms and problems that come with sleep deprivation.
Tips to developing a good sleep hygiene
Obey your body clock- Go to bed when you are actually tired and avoid laying awake in bed watching the clock.
Aim to wake up at roughly the same time every morning and seek out the sun in the first 30 minutes. This communicates to your brain, stimulating an increase in energy and helping to reset and solidify your circadian rhythm.
Create the right sleep environment- Don’t use your bedroom for anything other than sleeping and intimacy. Create a comfortable space that is quiet, dark, cool and void of any stimulating energies such as TV’s, computers/laptops or bright lights. This will allow your body and mind to only associate the bedroom with this calming and restful energy.
If your brain is often in overdrive just as you lay down to sleep try 'brain dumping' before jumping into bed. This is essentially getting all of the random thoughts that are floating around out of your head and onto paper. This can help you better process the thoughts and lets the brain know that they have been acknowledged.
Avoid blue light stimulation or wear blue light blocking glasses- the ‘blue light’ that is released from our electronic devices tricks our brains and circadian rhythm into believe it is daytime, stimulating our minds and making it harder for us to fall asleep.
Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol before bed- As both nicotine and caffeine are stimulants, they should be avoided 4-6 hours before bed. Although alcohol may help you relax initially, it interrupts and hinders your deep sleep cycles and overall sleep quality.
Engaging in regular exercise is a good way to help regulate your sleep and help utilise any extra energy in a productive way.
Not only is eating a healthy, balanced diet important to ensure the body has nutrients needed to create our melatonin, but it can also affect the quality of sleep. Going to bed too full or too hungry can result in your digestion being overactive while it should be at rest.
To help relax your body and mind and to ensure an easier sleep onset, have a hot bath 1-2hours before bed. To ramp up the relaxation potential add Epsom or Magnesium salts and soothing essential oils like Lavender, Chamomile, Rose or Ylang ylang.
Feel you need extra support?
Tried all the above and your sleep is still crap? Or you feel like your sleep isn't too bad but you are exhausted everyday? Below are some of my most prescribed supplements and my most loved product recommendations;
Magnesium, magnesium, magnesium- I cannot say this enough, nearly every adult requires extra magnesium in their diet as it is heavily depleted in times of stress. Magnesium is required for over 300 enzymatic processes within the body including the ones that help regulate your sleep/wake cycle and relaxation hormones. Magnesium glycinate is the best form for relaxation and sleep.
Sleep promoting herbals teas- don't underestimate the power of a high quality sleep tea. Containing herbs like Lavender, Chamomile, Valerian, Hops and passionflower which not only have sleep supporting actions, they also each have their own combination of nervous system and whole body actions that work synergistically to get you ready for a good nights rest. Plus sitting down to a warm cup of tea can be a meditative practice in itself.
An individualised sleep herbal tonic formulation which may include any combination of Kava, Valerian, Lemon Balm, Zizyphus, Jamaican dogwood, Passionflower, California poppy, Oats, Skullcap, Lavender or Chamomile. Works similar to the herbal tea but with a much bigger hit!
Shakti acupressure mats- We have all heard of the term 'bed of nails' right? This is essentially the idea behind these acupressure mats and it is honestly one of the best products I have tried for relaxation and sleep. It is like the ultimate home massage. By bringing attention, pressure and blood flow to your back it forces the muscles and the area to relax, it also has the ability to shift you into a more meditative mindset, which is ideal for a restful night.
While the above information is highly beneficial, it is on the more general side of recommendations so take what works for you and leave the rest. If you struggle with working out what changes you need or you know your sleep issues are more complicated and require more attention, reach out! I have an easy to read and use Sleep E-guide which expands on all of the above plus more (can be found here https://www.sacrednaturalhealth.com/shop-4 ) or book in for an appointment (which can be done here https://www.sacrednaturalhealth.com/book-online-1) and we can work together to get to the true cause of your sleep struggles.
Everybody deserves deep, restful sleep!!
Thanks for reading beautiful human!
Samii
BHSc- Naturopathy
Sacred Natural Health Founder.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog post is for educational purposes only and should not replace professional medical advice. Always consult with your health practitioner before making any changes to your treatment.
Comments