Better sleep, better rest, better life
I’ve always been amazed knowing how few people get a really good night’s sleep. Whether it’s trouble falling asleep, getting up multiple times a night or just barely sleeping at all, many people struggle.
As some of you know, I recently got married and there have been many changes in my life. I have a new home, I travel a lot, and I’m sleeping in the same bed with someone. Though he’s a deep sleeper, I still find myself sensitive to every movement and sound he makes. Change, shifts and movement in one’s life can aggravate what in Ayurvedic terms is called: Vata. To explain Vata on a most simplified level: it affects the wind, air and movement within us. It controls blood flow, oxygen, and even the movement of thoughts throughout the brain. So when there are big changes happening in a person’s life, it can make them feel restless and hard to settle.
I believe another symptom is restless leg syndrome. My friend, Glen Black, would always say there were two remedies for it: “Meditation and orgasm! Either way you couldn't lose”. We always have a good laugh when he says that. Basically, what he means is that the blocked energy needs to move. Even when we are moving from one place to another, and sitting in cars/trains/planes, we might be moving but our physical bodies aren’t getting the proper movement to release what is clogged, in order for the nervous system to drop into a restful place.
Within the 12 Steps they speak about “HALT”, which stands for never getting too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. When any of these feelings are in the mix, you are more vulnerable to the call of your particular addiction. Yoga and Ayurveda have many tools to help with sleep. Not getting enough sleep obviously leaves me tired all day, but also affects my blood sugar. It makes me irritable and impatient, like a cranky baby who desperately needs a nap.
I think an obvious issue that plagues most of us is the amount of screen time we process. Our nervous systems are affected by the exposure to blue lights. Because most of us are on our devices throughout the day, putting a pm practice in place, could be highly beneficial. While an am physical yoga practice is often a bit more vigorous and active to get your day started, the pm practice is meant to be done before you’re ready to go to sleep. The pm practice prepares you to drop into a deep, restful, restorative sleep.
What you can do on a physical level, is make sure you get some physical movement throughout your day. If we spend the day going from cars, to meetings, to restaurants, to relaxing with a show, we might have made a lot of moves throughout the day but our physical bodies are still probably too restless to sleep. All that pent up energy needs somewhere to go.
Charlene Gamaldo, M.D., medical director of Johns Hopkins Center for Sleep at Howard County General Hospital, says: “We have solid evidence that exercise does, in fact, help you fall asleep more quickly and improves sleep quality,”. Just 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day will show a difference in sleep quality that same night.
I also know that when I eat too many carbs or sugar, my legs also get restless because my body wants to move, and burn off the excess energy that hasn’t been used up. Studies have shown that eating high-carbohydrate meals before sleep can raise the nocturnal glucose levels and affect the nocturnal metabolism and sleep quality.
Caffeine is another contributor to restlessness. I can’t have caffeine, since COVID it gives me terrible migraines, but I know that for many, caffeine is something they are unwilling to give up. If that’s the case, it’s best to make sure you don’t have it too late in the day. You could also try switching to a blend of regular/decaf, and then just very slowly wean down the regular.
One of the biggest supports that I take, again from Ayurveda, is dropping into sleep preparation as close to 9 pm as possible. In Ayurveda, the sleep time zone is between 6 pm and 10 pm. The closer you move towards 12 o’clock, whether it be am or pm, the more the mind is stimulated. I discovered this when it was suggested to me as a nursing mother that I go to bed as close to 9 pm as possible, because it would help produce more milk for my baby. While I felt this was an unrealistic expectation, I quickly found out that going to bed at this time was the most healing thing I’d ever done. My sleep was deep, restorative and healing. I’ve developed the ability to wake up every morning at 5:30 am, and it’s just as big a discipline to go to bed early.
I’ll leave you with a few suggestions you might want to try before going to bed:
Studies show Magnesium can be helpful for many (check with your doctor).
Journal writing.
10th step work or revising your day, taking it out of your mind and putting it on to the paper. If there is anyone you are feeling resentful towards or need to make amends to so that your consciousness is clear when you fall asleep.
Eat a light and early dinner, and go for a mindful gratitude walk to help your digestion.
Try to put the screens down before 8 pm.
Drink warm, soothing fluids about an hour and a half before bed.
Play some sound healing, or solfeggio frequencies while getting ready for bed.
Massage the pressure points in your feet with some sandalwood or lavender oil.
Develop a pm practice of healing and restorative yoga, meditation ( candle gazing) and yoga nidra.
Sweet dreams!