what is sleep hygiene?
It's a biggy!
Sleep hygiene is the practices and time leading up to sleep and also includes the set up of your sleep environment or bedroom.
Your sleep hygiene should be go the highest priority, as proper quality and amount of sleep can determine your health and wellbeing. I can't stress this enough.
Too often we take herbs or supplements to assist us with sleep, without first making sure our sleep hygiene is up to scratch. Your bedroom should be a relaxing sanctuary for only two things (sleep and being intermit).
Here are the top "sleep sins" I commonly see in the clinic that create unhealthy sleep hygiene;
1. Having a TV in your bedroom - It is always my first recommendation to get the TV out of the bedroom, it creates the ultimate unhealthy sleeping environment. Not only are you getting exposed to blue light before sleep (which stimulates cortisol and inhibits melatonin), but your TV also transmit wifi, bluetooth and EMFs, which all stop you from getting into a deep sleep wave for restorative sleep. Secondly, watching TV shows or movies while in bed stimulates our sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight), as our bodies think that what is happen on the screen is happening in real life to us. So it reacts. This stimulation can stop you from feeling sleepy and further disrupt your sleep. All this confuses our body and tells us that the bed is a place where action, adventure takes place, not restful sleep.
2. Having your cell phone in your bedroom - Most of the time, is it charging right next to you on the bedside table…….again, think about all those EMFs, wifi and bluetooth being transmitted right next to your poor brain! The most common excuse I hear for this one is that your cell phone is your alarm clock. Luckily, you can now get well-functioning cheap alarm clocks at many stores! Having your cell phone out of your room at nights also stops the temptation to pick it up and start mindlessly scrolling when you can’t sleep. Again, the worse thing you can do is be looking into the blue light and telling your brain to wake up even more. All the beeps, dings and notifications also activate the sympathetic nervous system, which is why is is a great idea to have your notification turn off and cell phone on nightmode and “do not disturb” in the evenings anyway.
3. Doing work at night - The evenings are the time that we should be spending time with our loved ones, reflecting from the day, winding down and getting ready to switch our brains off. Working at night causes us to stay alert (again activating the sympathetic nervous system) and stimulating cortisol. This creates an imbalance in our cortisol patterns, leading to a low cortisol awakening response, meaning you feel tired and groggy in the mornings. It puts stress on the adrenal glands and can lead to adrenal burnout. I know many parents try to work after the kids have gone to bed as this may be the only time to quiet. But is it worth declining your health and wellbeing? Try to start work earlier, or put thing in place where you can get time during the day, ask for help. Aim for a 8pm (at the latest) work-cut off time.
4. Valuing others sleep over your own - This is a big one for parents, who often give up or share their beds with kids who refuse to sleep in their own beds. With babies and young children this is an inviable part of parenting, but it’s when your kids get a bit older, and maybe have got into bad habits. You may need to enlist a child specialist to figure out where the problem is coming from. One option is expressing to your child that “mum and/or dad need their sleep and rest as it is really important so we all stay happy and healthy”.
5. Going to bed late - It’s a no-brainer, if you go to sleep late, and still need to get up at the normal time in the morning, you get less sleep. It also starts to mess with that cortisol pattern and can become the new normal for your body, this is when I hear people say they are their most productive at night. This means we need to balance cortisol release and make sure you are feeling creative and focus during the day. When working with clients, we start to implement a bed-time that realistic and then work toward making it earlier. Aim for a 10pm bed-time.
Once you have looked at and address these areas and put them into place for at least a month, notice if your sleep patterns change. If you still have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep or still wake up tired, then it’s time to enlist a naturopath to guide you on the right type of herbs and supplements for you.
Look out for the next blog post containing some tips for creating the ultimate bed-time routine for optimal sleep.