How to Finally Get a Good Night Sleep & Wake Up With the Sun.
LET'S TALK ABOUT SLEEP.
During times of stress and change, it can be pretty tough to stick to good sleep habits. (Like yesterday when I worked way too late and ate dinner aka pasta at 9pm) Although, a major misconception to debunk right out of the gate is that you don't have to be healing from something in order to prioritize (and need) good sleep habits.
Sleep and I have always had an interesting relationship. I come from a family of night owls and many nights growing up would stay up until 2 or 3am, go to school in the morning and nap when I got home. Fast forward to college and my undiagnosed Lyme Disease and I couldn’t get enough sleep - oftentimes sleeping almost 20 hours per day on the weekends. Fast forward once more and I was been reminded of the importance of proper sleep officially deciding it was time to heal the root cause of my lifelong symptoms. While I no longer went to bed at 2 or slept for 20 hours a day, I had not been practicing the best sleep habits and if you had told me that I would be a morning person who went to bed by 9:30 and woke up with the sun, I would have just made another bowl of 9pm pasta and laughed.
WHY IS SLEEP IMPORTANT?
In a world surrounded by constant screen usage, it is critical to know when to put the screens down and allow your circadian rhythm to regulate properly. The part I always struggled with here was the “why”. I felt fine when I would go to bed later and sleep in until 10 or 11 so why should I go to bed earlier? What I didn’t understand is that it’s not just getting to bed that’s important, but that it is essential to rise early and let your body take in morning light.
Since our circadian rhythms align with the pattern of the sun, we need to operate similarly in order to function most optimally. Morning light helps our bodies produce cortisol and serotonin. Our circadian rhythm helps regulate our hormones, appetites, energy, stress and so much more. Just think about it. When you get a bad night sleep, how “off” is your mood? Your food cravings? Do little things stress you out more and are you more snappy than usual?
HOW TO GET A GREAT NIGHT SLEEP
Changing your sleep habits takes time. It is important to give yourself a week or two to really get the new habits implemented.
MORNING
Set your alarm to wake up with the sun. Try to get out and into sunshine as early as possible to wake your body up!
This is when I take the time to do my morning breathwork - alternate nostril breath is one of my favorites - along with movement such as cat/cow, deep stretches, and gentle yoga
Drink a big glass of water with some lemon and mint in it; I have a really hard time drinking plain water in the morning (just me?)
Have breakfast! If I don’t make time to eat in the morning, I will not eat until around noon. I naturally don’t get hungry in the morning but when I push back my first meal, it messes me up in the evening when I end up eating too late. This is also why drinking a big glass of water is important - it jumpstarts your metabolism so by the time I’m back from my morning walk, my stomach is grumbling!
EVENING
Get outside for a walk to watch the sunset. If you can’t do a walk, try to watch it from your home. We can’t see the sunset all that well from our apartment, so I always walk Jeff at this time to make sure I don’t miss it.
No blue light; I don't have specific blue blocking glasses since I wear prescriptions with that added in but I recommend this affordable pair for complete blue light blocking. You can also “hack” your phone to turn the screen red in the evenings and use this app for your computer.
Stop screen usage by 8pm. You will be using your blue light blockers before this but it’s still important to put the screens away and switch to more relaxing and meditative activities in the evening.
Take a hot candlelit bath and then a cool shower to regulate the body’s ideal temperature for sleep. Some nights, I will add magnesium flakes to help my body detox and prepare for sleep. Our tolerances are all different, so just make sure it’s as hot as you are able to handle it.
**KEY - do not get into bed with your body temperature still up. You want to make sure you are nice and cool before sleeping
Make sure your house does not go above 68F during the night. I have never liked to sleep in a warm room and it turns out there is a lot of science to back that up. Research has shown that warmer body temperatures are linked to insomnia and other sleep issues.
Chamomile lavender tea in the evening; I used to do this in college and loved the routine of having a warm beverage in the evening. Here’s the recipe!
Evening breathwork and stretches like box breath, 4-7-8 breath, and legs up the wall - I like to do my breathing while doing legs up the wall to ensure I am practicing controlled breathing, allowing my body to slow down properly. This is also when I will listen to solfeggio frequencies.
Finally, use an eye mask, get blackout curtains if you can, and put your phone away from you on Do not Disturb. Shut your eyes by 9pm in order to wake up with the sun, feel amazing, and seize the day!
I know it seems like a lot but you got this! The amazing sleep you’ll get makes it so worthwhile and personally, I have really come to enjoy this evening wind down routine. It also goes without saying but in addition to these tips, it is important to get to the root of why your sleep is off. Is stress keeping you up? Journaling and tapping (EFT) can help. Liver overworked? Lyme/parasites causing insomnia?
Having irregular sleep is the symptom of something, not the cause. While we can do a lot to help improve our sleep, these are still bandaid fixes until you get to the root.
That being said, I hope you find this blog helpful! What tips from this are you going to implement? Let me know how they go!