Do you want to be the person who says, “I get a great night’s sleep?”
This post is for you.
So many people really struggle with getting enough sleep. I often hear from people who try one sleep support after another, still not sleeping they feel defeated, as well as exhausted. We need to put a good number of sleep supports in place at the same time. Sleep supports work together, synergistically, not separately.
It’s much like baking cookies; all the sleep support ingredients need to be used and mixed together. Flour and water are never going to make tasty treats!
This Happy Sleep Recipe may take some time to prepare, and the results are well worth it!
Happy Sleep Recipe
This first step is like preheating the oven:
Consult with your doctor to determine if a sleep study is in order or if there is a medical reason for your sleep issues.
Next:
Gather these Happy Sleep Ingredients:
Blackout curtains (or dark fleece panels and curtain ring clips)
Thermostat (locate the one that controls the bedroom temperature)
Nightlights
Amber Glasses – they must block the entire spectrum of blue light. I use clip-on BluBlox over my prescription glasses
White noise machine – such as a small room purifier, fan, or sound machine
Headspace, or other guided meditation app
Lightbox
Starchy (slow-burning) carbs
Relaxing bedtime routine
30 minutes of daytime activity
30 minutes outside
Directions:
Install blackout curtains or fleece panels on bedroom windows. Dark-colored fleece fabric is an inexpensive alternative to curtains. You can either tack it to your walls or purchase clip-on curtain rings.
If needed, change the thermostat settings so your bedroom is cool at night.
In your bedroom, remove things that glow in the dark, or reposition them so they can’t be seen – LED displays and other lights on your computer, alarm clock, TV, etc. One option is to connect electronics to a power bar and turn the bar off at night.
Negotiate with others in the household who may have a later bedtime than you, ask them to turn their sound down, or switch to headphones one hour before your bedtime.
In your bedroom, set up a small air filter or anything that makes white noise. This is for outside noise, like traffic, that you can’t negotiate. The white noise can give your mind something to focus on as well as help block out other sounds.
If you get up to go to the bathroom at night, install nightlights so you can see without having to flip on bright lights in the middle of the night.
Set your “lights out bedtime” to 8 hours before your alarm goes off in the morning.
Get outside for 30 minutes a day in bright sunlight, and use a lightbox for 30 minutes if the weather is cloudy.
Meditate daily for at least 10 minutes a day – use guided meditation from an app like headspace unless you already have a meditation practice.
Stop caffeine consumption, including dark chocolate, after Noon.
Be active for 30 minutes a day. No strenuous exercise in the late afternoon and evening.
Stop eating sugar after 3 PM.
Eat 30 grams of starchy (slow-burning) carbs with dinner. Such as a sweet potato.
Wear amber glasses for 2 hours before bedtime. Set an alarm on your cell phone to remind you to do so.
Stop looking at screens 1 hour before your bedtime.
Start a bedtime routine 1 hour before your bedtime – whatever relaxes you – self-massage, knitting, gentle breathing, reading, light a candle, listening to relaxing music, etc. Headspace and other apps have meditations for sleep that can be part of your bedtime wind-down if you want to try that.
Get in bed and turn the lights out at your bedtime.
Notes:
It is necessary to have all the sleep support ingredients in place to truly move into consistently good sleep night after night. If you need more structure, google “Sarah Ballantyne Go To Bed Quick Start Guide.” This has a good calendar to slowly add in all sleep supports over a 14-day period. Sarah’s Guide is my main source for this post.
If you are waking up in the morning feeling jarred and jangled, or in a stupor, then perhaps your alarm is waking you in the middle of a sleep cycle. A good remedy for that is a wake-up alarm clock. Check out https://www.usa.philips.com/c-p/HF3520_60/smartsleep
Consider your circadian rhythm in choosing your bedtime and waking times. If you tend to be up early and go to bed earlier than most, or wake later and stay up later, see if you can work with that rather than against it. The Power of When, by Michael Breus, is a good read for learning about how circadian rhythms may be affecting your sleep.
Get help for stress! Stress, ugh! be it from too much exercise, eating too much sugar or fast-burning carbs late in the day, worries and anxieties, or strong grief, can keep us awake at night. Stress can cause our cortisol hormones to spike. Cortisol is the awake hormone and its presence at night is not welcome. Cortisol can also suppress melatonin, the go to sleep hormone.
Speaking of melatonin, some people just don’t produce enough of it, especially as we age. If the above recipe falls flat, talk to your doctor about the possibility of taking melatonin (.5 – 1.0 mg for sleep).
I am not affiliated with any of the resources listedin this post.