So I’ve fallen in love with Sleep. When I first started this month, I’ll be honest, I was kinda thinking: “Sleep? Booooooorrrrrrrrrring.” Turns out it’s super un-boring and I’ve learned way more than I thought I would. I have been focusing so intensely on my affair with sleep, I’ve lost a whole month and now A Year at My Best has turned into 13 Months at My Best - it’s like a baker’s dozen of me at my best! So, my dear reader, now I shall share with you my little journey of this month’s sleep exploration and how I have found a treasure I never even knew I lost.
My relationship with sleep has always been pretty uneventful - I’m a good sleeper. There were a few times when I was a kid where I had a hard time falling asleep, in my twenties, I pulled a few all-nighters, (as you do.) I started my thirties by giving birth to a beautiful little demon who woke up every 2 to 4 hours for what felt like 16 years. When he turned 18 months, I told my husband that I really wanted to try that sleep through the night thing that I used to do and he woke up with our little angel/demon for three nights. Deprived of boob milk in the wee hours, my little munchkin started to sleep through the night and I Benjamin Buttoned back into a beautiful thirty-something. Like, I literally looked 2 years younger after a week of 8-hour straight sleeps. It was the stuff of miracles.
Once my kids were sleeping through the night on their own, I started getting sassy, putting them to bed and then staying up till all hours enjoying my me-time! It was so awesome to have hours to myself to do whatever I wanted! Hang out with the Huz! Drink! Eat! Binge-watch show! Write! Mindlessly surf the Interweb! It was glorious. And, turns out, as destructive as those sleep-interrupted nights of the early parenting era. I woke every morning exhausted and feeling like I needed about 3 more hours of sleep. Through my work in nutrition, I knew, intellectually, all the things - the adrenal burn out, the effect of lack of sleep on hormone balance, decision-making ability and on and on. There’s basically nothing good that comes out of sleep deprivation. It took me a few years (work in progress,) to actually take that knowledge and put it into action.
My daughter, dedicated to sleeping.
I knew my sleep re-programming needed to happen early in A Year At My Best because it was obvious, by the way that I felt (sooo tired,) that not much would be accomplished if I didn’t find a way to recharge. Sleep is the great regenerator. So much of our body’s healing capacity is activated when we lay down and shut off. In a culture where one of our most basic needs is so often ignored, it’s easy to accept that notion of being tired and feeling like there’s not much you can do about it. Everyone’s tired, right? No biggie. Except it kinda is. The only way to know this is to sleep. Sleep like you’re getting paid to sleep. Sleep like your life depends on it because it actually does. Sleep and then tell me how you feel.
For many of us, though, it’s not as easy as all that. According to a Statistics Canada study (http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/sleep-statistics-canada-1.4297378) completed in 2017, “43 per cent of men and 55 per cent of women in the 18 to 64 age group reported trouble going to sleep or staying asleep ‘sometimes/most of the time/all of the time.’” So what do I recommend for those of you who aren’t able to get as much ZZZ’s as you need? Aside from determining if there’s anything clinically going on, like sleep apnea, I would take the time to determine what factors are interrupting your much needed rest. This is definitely a task that will take patience and discipline, but since that’s what I’m trying to foster this year, it’s something I’m willing to undertake. Are you?
My #1 resource this month, (besides actual sleep,) was a book called “Sleep Smarter” by Shawn Stevenson. I discovered Shawn through his podcast and was immediately taken with his message. Coming at sleep from a holistic nutritionist perspective, Shawn breaks down the 21 key ingredients to building healthy sleep patterns. Like diet and exercise, sleep is absolutely critical to a healthy lifestyle and I know it sounds so obvious and super dull, but everything in your waking life is much higher quality when you’ve had a good night’s rest. Sleep Smarter backs up it’s common sense message and little-known gems with scientific research.
The biggest changes I made (or reinforced if I already did them,) are listed below. I’ve put them in no particular order:
SET-UP YOUR CIRCADIAN RHYTHM FOR SUCCESS - Resetting your circadian rhythm means your body will be able to balance and utilize the right hormones at the right time. (For example - cortisol in the AM to get you up and ready to rock and melatonin at night to get you wound-down and ready to sleep.) Hormone balance is vital to everything, literally everything, that happens within your body. Weight management, mood, sex drive, motivation, digestion, immune health, to name just a few, are all dependent on healthy hormone balance. Guess what the number one way to reset your circadian rhythms is? GET OUTSIDE EVERYDAY. Not just from the house to your car to your office outside, but legit outside for a legit amount of time. The science seems to be all over the map for exactly how long you should be outside, but let’s just say that 200,000 of human history has mostly been spent out of doors, so it’s safe to say that you’re not at risk of too much outside time. (Of course, be sensible when it comes to sun exposure, but be sure to get some everyday.)
GET READY FOR BED – In more ways than one. All you smarty-pants already know about the importance of “sleep hygiene,” (if you don’t look it up,) but it means have a routine and stick to it the majority of the time. Set your room up for deep sleep by keeping it dark and cool at night, get your mattress and bedding sorted out (read more about that here,) and get the electronics out (including and especially your cell phone,) which leads us to
HAVE A SCREEN CURFEW - This was by far the most difficult change to make. If you want to know why screens before bed depletes your ability to sleep well, check this out. Turns out I had relied on my phone and computer more than I thought! I fold laundry while watching a show after the kids go to bed or I work on writing and research on my laptop, or I scroll through the social and other online media malarkey before bedtime. When I consciously shut shit down 1 – 2 hours before bed, I was forced to do things that were a little more beneficial for me, like go to sleep. I also meditated, did some gentle body work and read. I did listen to podcasts when I had to fold laundry and tried to schedule more time in my day to do my computer work so I wasn’t looking at screens at night. Other than a movie night once a week, it was a habit that shifted fairly effortlessly after the first week. If you absolutely need to look at screens at night, do yourself a favour and get blue-light blocking glasses or a blue-light filter on your screen. Most devices have a night-mode setting and I have downloaded f.lux on my laptop and our monitor that serves as our TV.
DISCOVER YOUR OBSTACLES AND MOVE THROUGH THEM WITH GENTLENESS: We all have our sleep habits and like anything, if it’s broke, fix it. I discovered a lot of impediments to my rest, mainly, that no matter what time I went to bed, I woke up tired. The Huz tells me I’m a super loud snorer (HAWT,) which may be impacting the quality of sleep I get, so I have a few appointments to investigate that. I also wake up pretty stiff for such a Young Thang, so I’m working on lowering inflammation (Hello, Month 3 – FOOD!) We also have had our mattress for about 9 years and it was gifted to us second-hand, so we’re looking into upgrading the ol’ bed with a low-chemical, natural materials mattress (there's quite a few manufacturers right here in Calgary.) Those are my main obstacles, what’s preventing you from getting the quality sleep you need?
Basically I could go on ad nauseam about Sleep (and maybe I already have,) but suffice it to say that you need it, you want it and you should go out (stay in?) and get it. I can’t tell you how much this simple shift, with plenty of adjustments along the way, has started an affair with the best bedfellow a girl could ask for - sweet, sweet, glorious sleep.
"I only love my bed and my mom, I'm sorry." - Drake (and my son)