What is Sleep Hygiene? Getting better sleep, both in quantity and quality of sleep hours, is one of the most impactful ways to set your days up for success. Even though sometimes it may feel that you could get more done by staying up late or waking up early to work on a project, the best thing you can do for yourself is almost always to get a little more shut-eye. Sometimes, it's easier to talk about sleep than to actually achieve it, so maintaining a straightforward sleep routine—or sleep hygiene—is incredibly important. Sleep hygiene can look like many different things, but basically, it means you're setting yourself up to have consistent and uninterrupted sleep.
Why is it important?:
Though the measure of one’s life is not productivity, it’s still important to note that it’s almost impossible to be “productive” without quality sleep. Making sure you get enough sleep is also imperative for your physical and mental health and improves your overall quality of life. Establishing healthy routines is the best way to ensure you have the best chance at a quality night’s sleep. Think of your daily hygiene techniques and how you probably do the same things every day. You brush your teeth every morning and floss every evening (or so you tell your dentist). A sleep hygiene routine would be pretty similar. It would include routines you try to stick to and an environment you try to foster every night to ensure your best sleep.
Routines to try:
Set Your Sleep Schedule: Keeping a similar schedule for sleeping and waking helps your brain and body adjust to getting the full amount of sleep you need. I know there’s a desire to sleep in on the weekends, but studies show that waking up around the same time every day, weekday, or weekend is important for establishing a normalized circadian rhythm.
Keep a Nightly Routine: Follow the same steps every night, letting your brain know it’s time for bed. Allow at least 30 minutes before bed for your brain to wind down. This could include anything that puts your mind in a state of calm (that doesn’t include screens!)—examples: gentle stretching, reading, lowering the lights, etc.
Speaking of keeping the lights low, bright and artificial lighting has been shown to hinder melatonin production. It’s suggested that you keep your lights low at night. Bonus points if you keep your lights off and use just candlelight starting at least two hours before bedtime!
Stay Screen-Free: You should stay screen-free for at least 30-60 minutes before bed every night. Screens of any type cause mental stimulation and generate blue light, which has been studied to decrease melatonin production.
Nighttime Beverage: Enjoying a hot herbal tea or warm magnesium drink is a tasty way to unwind and prepare for bed. This could help lul you to sleep since magnesium has been shown to support healthy GABA levels. GABA is a neurotransmitter that helps induce sleep through relaxation and mood stabilization. Additionally, adding a calming experience to your nighttime routine reminds your brain that it’s time to unwind and get ready to sleep.
Ditch the carb-heavy snack for a high-fat bedtime snack: As a survival mechanism, your body releases higher cortisol levels from around 3 AM until about 9 AM. This benefited nomadic humans, providing the energy needed to wake up and search for food after a night of rest. However, this response can be counterproductive in our modern and mostly sedentary lifestyles with abundant food options. Low glucose levels trigger cortisol release, which explains why snacking on high-carb foods before bed might negatively affect sleep. High-carb snacks can cause sharp spikes and drops in glucose levels. When glucose drops, cortisol is released, disrupting your sleep. To mitigate this, snacking on a spoonful of natural peanut butter (without added sugar) or a handful of nuts about an hour before bed has been found to be very effective. The healthy fats in these snacks help regulate cortisol levels and allow your body to gradually wake up after a restful night of sleep.
Herbs to help
Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata): Passionflower is the perfect herb for busy minds. If you wake up in the middle of the night and start planning your day and making your lists, passionflower might be the herb for you! Along with its mild sedative effects, passionflower may boost your levels of GABA (a neurotransmitter), helping to calm your nervous system and promoting a sense of tranquility.
Hops (Humulus lupulus) are a traditional hypnotic sedative that can help us wind down before bedtime. They also help regulate our circadian rhythm, have a calming effect on the central nervous system, and may increase the levels of melatonin and promote the activity of GABA receptors, contributing to a better night’s rest.
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia): Lavender is a lovely sleep aid due to its calming properties. It works by lowering your heart rate and blood pressure. Additionally, lavender contains certain compounds, like linalool and linalyl acetate, which have mild sedative effects and can help ease the transition to sleep. You can use lavender in tea form or as a capsule to help ease you into sleep.
Linden (Tilia spp): Linden is one of my favorite herbs for re-calibrating circadian rhythms. This herb is well known for its cardioprotective properties and helps lessen the effects of anxiety by lowering blood pressure. Taking this herb as a tea before bedtime will help naturally kick in your circadian clock, helping you find sleep easier.
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