It seems like everybody I talk to lately is struggling with sleep. We all know how important adequate and quality sleep is for our bodies so I’m not going to go deep into that in this post, but I do want to talk about ways to get you dreaming faster and for longer. 

The most common issues I hear about when speaking with clients is difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. My first question to them is, “What does your nighttime routine look like and what do you do to tend to your sleep hygiene?” Most often I get a blank stare back from them, indicating that this is a completely foreign topic. Therefore, I want to dive into some of my best tips for nurturing to your sleep routine that I have found to make a tremendous difference in my own life: 

1. Everyone who knows me, knows I’m like a baby when it comes to napping. Limit your nap time to 30 minutes, set an alarm before you fall into the 3 hour vortex that leaves you going to sleep at 3am. 🙈

2. Cut stimulants at 4pm. The half life of caffeine in adults is about 5-6 hours, so if you start winding down around 10pm then, no more coffee, tea, energy drinks, pre-workout powders, etc. after this time.

3. MOVE YOUR BODY! I can’t emphasize this enough. On days where I am a couch potato or mostly sedentary due to work, my sleep really suffers. As little as a 10 minute walk can drastically improve your ability to fall asleep. Be for warned though, avoid really strenuous high intensity exercise at night. A walk, evening yoga practice, or light jog is perfectly fine in the evening hours, but no crazy bootcamps, sprints, or HIIT workouts. Save those for the AM!

4. Get some sunshine. Make sure you are exposing yourself to natural light during the daytime, and be extra careful of phone, computer, and TV when approaching lights out. After a certain hour, I like to dim all the lights in my apartment, light a candle, and shut down all electronics. This has been a hard one for me, but cutting technology even just 30 minutes before you get under the sheets, really helps.

5. Wear a sleep mask and get some ear plugs. Your eyes shouldn’t be exposed to any lights while you sleep. It can decrease the amount of melatonin, the sleepy hormone, your brain releases, and leave you waking up throughout the night. Also, if you are sensitive to noise, ear plugs are a game changer! I sleep with the most obnoxious snoring dog in my room, and ear plugs have been a recent savior.

6. The bedroom. Make your bedroom a sanctuary for sleep. This room of the house should be exclusively for sleeping and intimacy. No work related activities should be done here. Keep the room cool, have cozy clean bedding, and no TVs or bight lights. I like to sprinkle the room with lavender essential oil before bedtime and sometimes burn sage... the smells trigger my whole body into relaxation mode.

7. Nighttime snacks. This is really personal preference. Some people need to stop eating 3 hours before sleep, but I find that I need a little something before bed, and I sleep so much better. It’s best to have a small carbohydrate and protein combination, as the carbohydrate will increase tryptophan release in the brain, making you sleepy, and the protein will ensure your blood sugar remains stable. Some examples are a piece of whole grain toast with nut butter, a small yogurt (coconut yogurt is my new fav) with low sugar granola or berries, a protein shake with banana, a handful of trail mix, etc. Just be mindful to keep your portions to a snack size. The late night binge will definitely keep you wide awake.

8. Create a nighttime routine. I want to dive more into what my nighttime routine looks like in a future post, but some ideas for this include: making a hot cup of sleepy-time tea, taking a warm shower, lighting a candle, reading, journaling, and the most recent thing I have discovered: not engaging in any emotionally activating conversations with anyone prior to bedtime.

I hope these tips help you enhance your sleep. Please leave any comments and questions below, I would love to engage with you more on this topic. Happy dreaming! 🌙💤