Bath, Bed and Beyond

...And totally in that order.

Let's talk about sleep hygiene. Ever heard of it?

Before I get to that, I need to reiterate how important sleep is. Sleep is necessary for human life, along with food, air and water. Quite frankly, without it - you'd die. Literally. Sleep is necessary for the body's repair process, biological function and gene expression in our cells.

Adults between the ages of 18 - 64 year of age require about 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Sadly, about 35% of the adult population get less than 7 hours a night (CDC - 2014).

So now that I've put that to bed, no pun intended - let's go back to that subject of sleep hygiene. What is it? Sleep hygiene refers to behaviours and practices that affect sleep. For me, I MUST have a hot bath before bed, or my sleep is all out of whack. Some people like to read before bed. Whatever you do routinely before bed, if you have trouble falling and staying asleep there could be some other things preventing that from happening. Here are some factors that you can consider if you desire to improve how easily you fall asleep.... and stay asleep.

1. Have a consistent bedtime! The body has a natural rhythm - also known as the circadian rhythm (we can do another blog about that), it's basically the body's internal clock. It. resets every 24 hours and is pretty consistent. The best way to know what your desired bedtime is, figure out what time you need to get up the next day and count backwards from that. There are also sleep apps that track sleep, and record sleep quality, feel free to use them but I find wearing anything on my wrist distracting to sleep at night.

2. Shut it off! All of it! I mean technology. About 2 hours before you go to bed, shut it down. Your body produces melatonin - the hormone that makes us sleep - about 1-2 hours before bedtime and the blue lighting in devices like cell phones, computer screens, TVs, tablets and smart watches interfere with this hormone secretion, and reduces the amount that is made - ultimately disrupting sleep.

3. Exercising before bed. This might be the ONLY time I will tell you not to move your body. Although exercising is important for overall health, getting your sweat on within a few hours, especially within 2 hours before bedtime - especially moderate to vigorous exercise can disrupt sleep. Why is this?? Exercise increases heart rate, breathing rate and core body temperature. It also releases hormones - norepinephrine and cortisol - both inhibit melatonin production (there's that melatonin hormone again). So you may feel fantastic after your sweat fest - but don't count on a restful sleep that night. Try active stretching or a restorative yoga instead.

4. Lighting. Huh? Yeah... it's everywhere. But 2 hours before bed, it is recommend to dim the light, avoid bright lights and avoid blue light from electronics or use blue light filters. Even better - just shut it off. See suggestion #2 above.

5. Temperature. The temperature of the environment you are sleeping in plays a huge factor in how well you sleep. Too warm, too cold, humidity affects how the body regulates temperature. According to the Sleep Foundation, the optimal ambient temperature for sleep is 60-67 degrees Fahrenheit (15 - 19 degrees Celsius)

Other factors that affect sleep... a snoring partner. Amazon has Flents Ear Plugs, 50 pairs for $22.09. they work great, with next day delivery!

Night Night!

xo

Amanda