Simple Steps to Improving Sleep
How recently felt that your sleep needs to improve? Do you feel well rested when you wake up? How have your stress levels been lately? Dr. Hayden and Dr. Horsley share three simple steps to improving sleep naturally.
Stay tuned over the next few days as we continue to send out short videos to help inform and inspire you to take control of your health during this time of uncertainty.
Transcript from the Video on Sleep:
Dr. Horsley: We’re from the Hayden Institute and we just want to check in on everyone during this crazy time of quarantine, schedule changes, disruptions, and things like that. We wanted to discuss a couple of tips on how to optimize sleep during this time. Many of you have noticed that with schedule changes, so have sleep habits. Maybe we’re staying up until midnight or two in the morning watching Netflix and then sleeping a little bit longer. Maybe the schedule is a little lighter during the day and we’re taking more naps. As our sleep is getting disrupted during this time, what are some things that we can do to help to optimize our sleep to get that quality sleep when we actually go to bed?
Dr. Hayden: Hands down, no questions asked – I think the best best thing we can do when it comes to improving our sleep is to get off of electronics before actually going to sleep. I know it’s a common pattern with patients that we talk to them about poor sleep and then we ask them about their sleep habits they mention how they’re laying there, watching TV or they’re flipping through their phone or whatever it might be, and then they just shut their phone off and expect to fall asleep within a few minutes. However, the body really doesn’t seem to be wired very well to be able to handle that. So we often encourage people to get off their devices with plenty of time prior to starting their sleep routine. Some people need to be off their devices for as much as two hours before going to sleep just to allow their body and their brain to calm down and unwind from the technology that they’re being exposed to. The same thing applies with kids as well. Very commonly, when people are complaining of poor sleep they’re connected to a device too close to bed.
Dr. Hayden: Step number one – get off the devices earlier, give your body a chance and time to calm down and unwind – whether that’s journaling, whether that’s just reading a book, or whether it’s talking to your spouse or kids. The important thing is to allow your body the time to unwind from the cell phone, from the TV, etc.
Dr. Horsley: That will be a big big step in the right direction for sleep! Another key thing, since we are social creatures, is taking that time before bed to really reflect on our day – to reflect maybe on what we’re grateful for. Take this time to really connect with your spouse or your children. It is really important to have these connections and is something that can heal much deeper and help to get a good night’s rest.
Dr. Hayden: In addition to disconnecting what’s a second activity or pattern or habit that someone might be able to do to improve their sleep?
Dr. Horsley: Another big thing you can do to improve your sleep is getting outside during the day and absorbing sunlight. That’s something that some people are aware of – the sleep/wake cycle- and things like that. Your body has these natural cycles of hormones to help you to get ready for bed. One of the things that’s super critical for allowing you to get that optimal melatonin release for sleep is getting enough sunlight during the day. So, you can prepare your body for sleep hours and hours before that bedtime actually hits.
Dr. Horsley: Even thought we’re in quarantine and can’t necessarily go outside and do all the things we normally do, try to go out in your backyard for a bit, walk around, through the ball with the kids for a bit. Just do something active to get blood flowing and then at the same time, getting some sunlight can be a big factor in helping to achieve restful sleep.
Dr. Hayden: For some people though, there can be a caveat. For some people, being active before bed can mess up their sleep. I know in my own life, if I play basketball with the guys at church or something after seven o’clock, I won’t go to sleep until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning. Even if we finish at 9:00 pm, my body takes a while even after physical activity to just calm down again. So I try not to do activity after about 4:00 pm, otherwise I stay up too late. If I do activities over lunch or even early in the morning my sleep is night and day difference. So it’s definitely a big deal to go out and do more activity.
Dr. Hayden: The third thing that someone could do to try and improve their sleep comes in the form of specific supplementation. There’s a lot of stuff out there that can help with sleep, from melatonin to herbs, like valerian root, or even minerals. I like to start with minerals – specifically calcium and magnesium. This is because they seem to be pretty tame and tolerable for most people, and there’s not really very many contraindications from a pharmaceutical standpoint.
Dr. Hayden: As a general rule if someone was looking to improve their sleep and they’re already cutting out the devices, they’re already going outside and doing more activity throughout the day to get exposed to sunlight and be more active, but they’re still looking for something to try and put them to sleep I would have them stay away from melatonin for the most part. It is very rare that that’s the first thing I would recommend for someone. I would definitely look for magnesium and possibly a magnesium-calcium combination, because magnesium has a natural calming effect on the body. It helps calm the brain down and it can helps relax things in the digestive system as well. Therefore, if you take too much magnesium it will cause things like diarrhea or loose stools, but for a lot of people just increasing their magnesium before bed is something they can do to calm themselves down a little bit more and help improve their sleep quality. There is a wide variety of forms of magnesium out on the market. I would avoid magnesium lactate because it tends to disassociate or mess up digestive system. When people take high amounts of magnesium lactate they’re probably gonna have a little bit looser stools and it can make things unpleasant in their life.
Dr. Hayden: So if you’re looking to try to improve your sleep, we’ve talked about a couple of different ways to do that. The first suggestion would be to disconnect from devices, second would be to get outdoors and get some sunlight, and third would be possibly looking for supplementation specifically with mineral looking at magnesium first. Obviously if you have a question about what types of things to take for sleep we would love to be a resource for you and be able to look through your exam and through your history to see what might be the best scenario for helping you improve your sleep. Until then, thanks for tuning in today and we’ll see you next time. Thank you!
