Sleep Hygiene? Part 2 of 2

Not sleeping well is a detriment to healthy living and healing. Now that you have considered the concept of sleep hygiene from Part 1 of this 2-Part series, consider the following list of habits to develop in order to improve your quality of sleep, allowing you body to heal, recover, and reenergize:

1. Exercise daily - but not too close too bedtime. It varies, but exercising too late at night can disrupt sleep, if performed 1-2 hours before trying to sleep.

2. Limit screen use (TV and social media) before bed - Neither allows you to focus and declutter your mind nor control the imagery and messages you let in. Being on the screen is also often about productivity and on social media easily brings us to envy and comparison, both of which do not promote rest. The blue light from the screen is not good for you. You can have your phone dim and switch to orange or black/white light later in the evening to assist you in this regard.

3. Prepare things for the next day ahead of time, so that your mind does not need to focus on them - e.g. set a reminder in your calendar so you remember to email that person and don't have to worry about keeping it in your mind. As you do this, move more slowly, so your body gets the cue to slow down.

4. Meditate or contemplate 10-20 minutes - in contemplation you have an affirming mantra/phrase that you keep repeating bringing your mind towards as it wanders.

5. Limit talking - decreasing your motor output will help you slow down and unwind both physically and mentally.

6. Read with low light:

   • Something engaging, but not upsetting

   • Consider something about positive human potential

   • Try not to read something so light that your mind doesn't have to focus

7. Stop being productive - don't work or study right up until sleeping, instead create a buffer zone. 

8. Practice being in the present moment - pay attention to your body, your breath, enjoy physical being with your family/partner/roommate. This is a perfect time for cuddles and getting cozy with pillows and blankets!

9. Breathe - work on slow breaths from your abdomen to ensure your diaphragm is properly facilitating your breathing and thus promoting the parasympathetic system to be active (which is your "rest and digest" system).

10. Turn lights low as you prepare for sleep and then fully dark to optimize deeper sleep states

11. Rest in bed before attempting to sleep

12. Sleep in a cool room. Too much heat can be disruptive to sleep.

13. Create quiet environment: Use ear plugs or head phones to limit outside distractions & silence your phone

14. Listen to calming, quiet music; podcasts, talks, or books that are quiet as well as affirming and positive about the human potential. Use a timer to have this turn off after 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes, depending how long it typically takes you to drift into a dream state. I bookmark my starting point in books so that I can easily come back to where I started from - some days it takes a whole 30 minutes for me to fall asleep, sometimes I am no longer listening within 5 minutes!

15. Journal to process thoughts and concerns from the day to limit them from looping in your mind

Do you have other things you practice and find helpful? Comment below.

Oh! FYI - You shouldn't have pain with waking up from sleep. This may indicate you need help from a physical therapist, but it may also mean that you need to sleep with different pillows or mattress to obtain more healthy and restful sleep.

Happy sleeping!

Elle

Sleep Hygiene? Part 1 of 2

Sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene? Where did I first hear that phrase? I don't recall. Possibly a TED Talk? I do know that when I mention it to my patients and clients they are intrigued by it. It's a novel phrase and a novel concept. I certainly didn't come up with it, but now it's something I live by.

Do you struggle with insomnia and/or getting good sleep at night? Do you wake up not feeling rested, but rather tired and fatigued? Have you ever thought about your patterns leading up to sleep? Did anyone teach you good patterns?

The World Health Organization defines hygiene as the "conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Woah! When you think about it this way SLEEP HYGIENE starts to make a lot more sense and is something we should all consider and develop healthy habits because sleep is so important to our wellbeing.

We are to spend 1/3 of our day, week, month, years, and lives sleeping. Yet, for the most part we just expect sleep to come. But often it doesn't. It is shy and elusive. We expect our mind and body to go from 60 to 0. It just doesn't happen. Most of us can’t just lay in bed, let our head hit the pillow and be out. How fortunate are those folks!

To have healthy teeth and gums and non-odorous breath and thus prevent things like cavities, root canals, gingivitis, and offending those we come into close contact with, we practice oral hygiene. We brush our teeth multiple times a day, we floss, we might use breath mints or mouth wash. We don't expect it just to happen. We are taught this from a young age from our guardians, and dentists, and do our best to follow through with it, for our own benefit throughout our lives.

Body hygiene is another thing we practice daily. We wash our hands, our hair, our body. We use soap and deodorant, we wash our clothes and sheets - all this to limit the spread of harmful germs and undesirable smells. It takes effort, but it's worth it for our quality of life. Again, we are taught this from a young age.

We need the same for sleep. We need to transition from the busyness of the day - with emphasis on productivity, planning, navigating and nurturing relationship - into rest, enoughness, and stillness. We need to do this to optimize our health, to allow the body to heal, and to prevent disease. It's something we should take seriously in the same repetitive, committed focus that we wash our mouth and our armpits!

What are ways we can do this? Comment below for ideas you have and practices you suggest.

Stay tuned for our next blog post to see a list and discussion of practices to incorporate in your nighttime routine.

Let’s get to the source, and TOGETHER, let’s get moving,

Elle (Liz)

Finding the Perfect Pillow

Neck pain is a real problem for many people. Unfortunately for many people, their pillow is a main contributing factor. Also unfortunate is the fact that pillows are confusing. In desperation, many people will pay ridiculous amounts for a “perfect” pillow that promises to miraculously reduce their neck pain, improve sleep, and allow them to move their neck better throughout the day. All you need to do is spend $80-$200. However, many of the designs behind these pillows are flawed.

What should you look for in a pillow? You want a pillow that helps to keep your neck in neutral position. What is neutral position? Neutral position is a position that reduces the stress on your joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Each joint has this ideal position. For your neck this means that when you lie on your pillow you shouldn't feel like your head is dropping down, or rotating, or getting forced up.

Find Neutral Position

This woman pictured has too much pillow & is straining her neck as she sleeps. The midline of your head should be straight with the midline of your torso to reduce stress on your body and prevent neck pain or arm numbness/pins & needles.

I suggest getting an inexpensive, soft, yet supportive pillow. Soft, yet supportive, is tricky. You want soft, but sufficiently full so that it gives support. Get a pillow too fully packed and it's no longer soft and adaptable to your head and your body position. Get a pillow that's too flat and it will not be appropriate for lying on your side. To get your neck and corresponding joints into their neutral position, you need the pillow to be just right, so do not be surprised if it takes time to find the right pillow for the size and weight of your head and the proportion of your body. For example, when lying on your side, you need the pillow to be the right size to take up the space between your head and the bed, created by your shoulder and torso. Too big relative to your body and your head will get pushed up, compressing the top side of your neck and pulling the lower side. Too small and your head will dip down, similarly causing strain to your neck but in the opposite pattern of too big a pillow.

I have a little trick for how to take any garden variety pillow from your favorite inexpensive store and make a winner, comfortable, soft, yet supportive pillow and look forward to sharing that with you in a future post and possibly even in video format. In the meantime, please save your money and don't buy that expensive pillow promising to save the world, starting with curing your neck pain and insomnia.

Questions? Comments? I'd love to hear them.

Liz