Sleep
Quality Sleep: Means getting enough sleep each night, meaning 7-9 hours, and also going to sleep and waking up at consistent times. It is just as important not to sleep too much as it is not to sleep too little.
In order to sleep well it will be important to establish a good sleeping habit which can take some time and practice to establish but is easy to maintain once you it is established.
◇ Have a calm and peaceful space in which to sleep, meaning a comfortable bed in a room without distraction, ideally without electronics or too much light or street noise. It is also important to use your bed and bedroom primarily for sleeping and not for other uses as this makes it much easier to fall asleep at nighttime.
◇ Limit electronic use and eating and drinking in the hour or two before going to bed.
◇ Exercise during the day is essential to achieving good sleep, but not too soon before bed. This means engaging in 30-60 minutes of physical activity no more than 2 hours before you plan to go to bed.
Sleep Times: we all need 7-9 hours of sleep, and in order to ensure you are able to get this regularly, create a sleep schedule which allows for more time then you need. This means beginning your bedtime routine at 10:30 if you want to be asleep by 11:00.
Dealing with Sleep Anxiety and Insomnia: We all have periods when sleep becomes challenging. When these periods come up it is useful to have strategies for addressing the issue. Accept that you will get whatever amount of sleep you will get that night and try to let go of the urgency to meet a certain number of hours, on nights when you are struggling to sleep. Refrain from picking up electronics.
◇ After trying to sleep for 20-30 minutes, if you are finding it difficult, step out of bed and perhaps even go to another room and do a calming activity to get your mind off of trying to sleep for a little while, to try and calm yourself before trying to go to sleep again.
◇ Avoid bright lights, loud noises and anything that is highly stimulating.
◇ Try finding a meditative activity whether this is reading, or organizing a drawer, or folding laundry, doing dishes, painting your nails, or something that will occupy your mind without provocation anxiety.
Weeknight and Weekdays: Ideally it is best to keep the same, or as close to the same, sleep schedule during the week as on weekends as this will help your body remain stable and grounded in your healthy routine.
Eating and Drinking Before Bed: Avoid Consuming food, beverages or other substances before bed: Eating, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes are all stimulating to the mind and body although they can have a calming effect initially.
◇ It is best to refrain from these activities for several hours before going to bed – in the case of caffeine it is especially important to stop drinking caffeine at least 5 hours before bedtime.
Spending Time Outside: Getting outside each day and allowing your body to experience the seasons, weather and daylight is essentially to maintain your circadian rhythm which is our natural sleeping and waking cycle.
Your circadian rhythm is the natural 24 hour cycle of your mind and body which grounds you in the cycles of the daytime and nighttime. Your sleep and eating habits are grounded in this cycle, as well as your mood, hormones, digestion, body temperature, energy levels and sense of time.
◇ Our circadian rhythm is highly sensitive to light, whether that of the sun, those in your house, or from your phone, so it is important to keep this in mind as you go about your day and set your routines.
Melatonin is the natural hormone which is released according to when your circadian rhythm senses that it is time to sleep. When your body releases this hormone it causes you to become sleepy, which gives your brain the cue that it is time to head to bed. It is possible to take melatonin as an over the counter supplement.
◇ By taking it 30 minutes before bed you provide your brain with the sleep cue you need: this can be a helpful tool when you are adjusting your bedtime.
◇ It is, however, important to be aware that by sleeping melatonin long term or by regularly taking doses larger than 5 mg that you are inhibiting your body's ability to produce melatonin on its own, and its responsiveness to it.
Shift Work and Health: Shift work entails long-term health side effects when workers must do it long-term. This is because the body and mind are disconnected from the natural cycles of the circadian rhythm, and this makes it more difficult to create the routine of resting, eating, exercising, being outdoors and socializing which are essential anchors of physical and mental health.
If you are a shift worker: Techniques for maintaining the best sleep health you can while doing shift work include:
◇ establishing the most consistent shift schedule you can
◇ making sure that you have consistent exposure to daylight or bright light during your daytime and making your sleeping quarters as dark as possible both during your sleep hours and in the hour before going to bed.
◇ Making sure to get physical exercise and outdoor time regularly.
◇ Consuming caffeine only in the first half of your shift.
◇ Making your bedroom a very calm, stable, private space free from distractions and from associations with other non-restful activities.
Electronic Curfew: This is a good strategy for checking your electronics before bed, by setting an electronic curfew say 1 to 2 hours before your bedtime.
◇ This is also a way to encourage other habits without electronics in your life, whether connecting with others or engaging in personal practices.
This is a practice you can incorporate into both your daily life and your year. Restorative breaks are periods of rest which you create in your routine, in order to help you be strong, rested and prepared for your day.
◇ You can think of your breaks like little ceremonies or rituals creating a sense of time and rhythm in your life.
Restorative Routines: This is the rhythm of restoration which you incorporate into your daily, weekly and monthly routine. A good way to create this routine is to have practices which are restorative and refreshing to you, for example running may be your practice, which would involve daily training, and perhaps a number of races each year.