Sleep is so important for everyone; yet there is no perfect sleep system. Here are some things that you might be missing for your perfect night's sleep.
First, why all the fuss about good sleep? Good sleep improves attention span, creativity and problem-solving skills. It helps to maintain healthy brain function, promote immune system activity, and weight management. It helps to reduce stress and improve mood. With all of these benefits, it is one of the single most important things we can do to affect our overall well-being. But sometimes turning off the lights and going to sleep is not that simple. That is because sleep is more than that.
Sleep hygiene has become a popular topic these days with guidelines around the darkness of your room, temperature, turning off electronics and even sheet and mattress recommendations. While this can all play a part in your sleep environment, there are other important building blocks that happen throughout the day that effect our sleep.
Think about your sleep cycle and your specific concerns. Sometimes it is obvious, but if you aren’t sure, ask yourself these questions about your sleep patterns to understand where you need to start. What are your sleep challenges? Does it take you a long time to fall asleep? Are you staying asleep? How long are you sleeping for? Are you falling into a deep restorative sleep? Do you have a regular sleep pattern? Are you sleeping for a 6-8 hour stretch nightly? Finding the specific areas in your sleep cycle that need help will help you to use the tips below and specifically target your sleep concerns.
Exercise and Sleep
Exercise for sleep has been shown to especially benefit women in perimenopause and menopause, but is important for everyone's sleep. Walking and mindful movement are specifically recommended for sleep. Both of these help to decrease insomnia and improve sleep quantity (how long you are staying asleep). There is an emphasis on outside steps being the foundation for both sleep quality and quantity. Recommendations vary but are suggested for 10,000 steps/day which equates to 5 miles or just under 2 hours of activity. This can be broken up into several short walks and includes functional daily walking, ideally outside.
Sleep and Our Nervous System
The nervous system can be broken down into 2 parts. The sympathetic nervous system prepares for stress and the parasympathetic nervous system tends to daily living operations ("rest and digest"). Our bodies need to be balanced, and the nervous system especially needs to feel safe for emotional, physiological, digestive well-being. When our bodies spend more time in the sympathetic or stressed world, it is harder to turn off at night to fall asleep and then to stay asleep. And ironically, good sleep helps with nervous system regulation; and improves mental, emotional and physiological well-being (hello parasympathetic nervous system).
These are many ways to help to improve the parasympathetic, or calming and healing response to help improve sleep. Touch is extremely helpful to decrease cortisol levels (goodbye stress) and also decrease histamine levels (inflammation). This can be with a hug, self-massage, weighted blankets or even spending time with pets.
Meditation helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. This can be done with guided meditations, deep breathing (box breathing, 4-7-8 breathing) and mindful movements (Tai Chi). Try each and find what works best for you.
Our circadian rhythm, or internal body clock, impacts the parasympathetic nervous system. Getting early sun exposure (even through a window) and increasing outside time can help with regulation as well as limiting screen time, eating well, daily routine and regular exercise.
Supplements
Green tea (and some mushrooms!) contain the amino acid L-theanine. This helps to increase levels of serotonin, dopamine and GABA – all of these help to settle the nervous system and support both falling asleep and staying asleep for longer time periods.
Magnesium is found in many food sources including dark leafy greens, whole grains like quinoa and brown rice, black beans, bananas and avocados. It can also be taken as a supplement. Magnesium helps to decrease daytime sleepiness and increase sleep duration. It has been found to be especially helpful in the peri and menopause periods to decrease mood swings, myofascial pain, anxiety, menstrual migraines and hot flashes.
Lactium helps to reduce stress and anxiety, and also plays a role in sleep. It helps to improve total sleep time, sleep efficiency, improves the ability to fall asleep quicker and can also decrease night time wakefulness. It is also found in breast milk which helps babies to fall and stay asleep.
Take a deep dive into your daily routine. Are you really getting enough movement and enough outside time? Is your diet supporting your sleep health? Are you allowing your body calm restful moments to support your nervous system? Adding in or changing just 1 or two of these can make all the difference in sleeping better!
