Tips for better sleep
You may have noticed how sleep weaves its way into much of our waking life conversation. From mothers comparing baby’s sleeping routines through bleary eyes to the “Sleep when I’m old types” espousing the benefits of small pockets of sleep to enhance productivity and ramp up success. So what’s up with sleep and why do we keeping returning to its ancient lullaby?
Throughout our evolution, Mother Nature has determined that sleep is a non-negotiable aspect of our survival. In fact, every stage of sleep has continued to remain one of the most important pillars of health and one of the most important tools to reset your brain and body. Again, and this time with heralding trumpets, sleep is a vital and often neglected component of our biological and physiological health and wellbeing. Sleep repairs tissue, aids immune function, regulates heart and blood pressure, aids lung function whilst regulating our mood and consolidating memory.
To take us on a deep dive into the restorative patterns of sleep, we must look at the work of Mathew Walker (a leading Neuroscientist and world’s no. 1 sleep expert). Sleep is a complex system linking brain and body. In fact, changes in brain activity are much greater during sleep during our waking hours. Sleep, in itself, prepares us for our waking life. The preparation for sleep takes hold at the beginning of our waking cycle. Natural light creates the alarm clock heralding the release of adenosine a neurotransmitter which is naturally occurring in the body.
As adenosine builds during the day, it begins to inhibit and shut down the wake promoting areas of the brain whilst increasing the sleep activating regions. The more adenosine, the sleepier we will feel and sleep pressure builds as we enter evening. The drive towards sleep is then aided by melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone released from the Pineal gland. As daylight is decreasing, melatonin starts to rise and be released, peaking around the time of sleep itself.
We then enter the cycles and stages of sleep, referred to as sleep architecture, which vary from person to person and night to night. This includes 3 non rapid eye movement (REM) phases and one REM phase. The non REM phase of sleep dominates the first half of the night and is referred to as the deep sleep phase. Here, our bodies have an opportunity to recover, repair and grow tissues, muscle and bone. This phase also naturally lowers blood pressure and heart rate and regulates glucose metabolism via insulin release. The REM phase of sleep kicks off with more intensity during the second stage of the night. The brain lights up with activity, heart rate and breathing increases whilst most of the body is locked into a kind of physical paralysis which researchers believe allows us to dream safely without acting out on our dreams. Here, it is believed that we do much of our emotional processing, consolidation of memories aided by cortisol rises and increased testosterone.
So how do we U-turn towards the loving embrace of sleep? Improving sleep hygiene needs to be approached in a practical and reliable way which incorporates each person’s unique life experience. The sweet spot for most adults is around 7-9 hours per night. Try these 6 tips.
1. Turning away from tech during the evening to improve our sleep hygiene. We are becoming increasingly aware of how screen (blue light) and even LED and fluorescent light diminish the release of melatonin and decrease feelings of sleepiness. Blue light can also limit both phases of sleep (deep and REM) impacting on our cognitive functioning. If you rely on blue light emitting devices (study on reading online) try to switch off at least an hour before bed and be creative with relaxing activities that don’t involve tech.
2. Treat caffeine with care. Caffeine latches onto the adenosine receptors in the brain, meaning it inhibits uptake and halts sleep signals when we roll into evening. Try to drink your caffeine early in the day and allow around 10 hours between your latte and your bedtime. If you are experiencing a mid-afternoon lag, consider adding a protein rich snack to aid blood sugar levels
3. Alcohol - most of us have felt the warm embrace of a glass of wine in the evening as a way to wind down and decompress from demanding and stressful days. As alcohol is a sedative, we can mistake it for a sleep agent. After the initial deep state, we tend to engage fragments of sleep, waking frequently during the night and interrupting sleep cycles. Alcohol particularly appears to block REM sleep which can lead to an increase hyper emotional states and mental confusion. Try to limit alcohol intake to early evening and minimise to recommended allowance.
4. Chronic stress obviously impacts on sleep quality and quantity and finding tools to assist in nervous system regulation are paramount to healthy sleep cycles. Consider the benefits of restorative practices such as Mindfulness, Yoga Nidra, restorative yoga and Breath Work to engage the Parasympathetic Branch of the Autonomic Nervous System. This can particularly impact the deep sleep cycle of sleep where getting to sleep can be problematic.
5. Feeling emotionally overwhelmed? Consider the benefits of a journal where you can emotionally unpack your day. Emotional overwhelm particularly impacts on the second stage of sleep (REM main phase) where we do much of our emotional regulation work.
6. Lastly, it takes time to initiate new habits and can be a process of trial and error. A measure of self-compassion is the antidote to frustration. Creating a night time ritual filled with self-care as we learn to dim the neural lights and settle in towards a restorative nights’ sleep is a journey we hope you will slowly return to.
The Rest and Restore team look forward to supporting your sleep journey through our nourishing, restorative approach to rest and regulation during our 2 and 4 night retreats. Sweet dreams.
References
Sleep Foundation | Better Sleep for a Better You