By Nancy Rynes, author of Awakenings from the Light
All content copyright Nancy Rynes
"Sleep is the best meditation." ~The Dalai Lama
"Not being able to sleep is terrible. You have the misery of having partied all night...without the satisfaction." ~Lynn Johnston, Cartoonist
How do you feel after a full night of good sleep? Refreshed and rejuvenated? Energized? And how about after a night of very little sleep? Foggy-headed and unfocused?
And how has your sleep quality been over the last month? Great, fair, or could-be-better?
Sleep is the time when your body rests and your brain rejuvenates. Your soul may journey out-of-body during sleep as well, and you might receive solutions to problems, or a heightened connection to your spiritual Source. Sleep is also when you dream, you process the events of the day, and even cement your memories into long term “storage.” It can also be the time when you receive creative inspiration, or get solutions to problems that have been plaguing you.
Sleep is also the time when your brain gets cleared of all of the gunk, the by-products the thinking that it does during the day. When you are physically awake and using your brain, the thought process creates waste products that accumulate in your cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid that cushions your brain inside of your skull). When you sleep, your body clears out those waste products so that you can start the next day refreshed and quite literally clear-headed. If you skimp on sleep, you may feel more brain fog and have difficulty concentrating because your brain is still swimming in the gunk from the day before.
Enough Sleep
- Clearer thinking
- More alert and easier to focus
- Cortisol/stress levels regulated
- Appetite and weight regulated
- Memory optimized
- Athletic performance increases
Not Enough Sleep
- Brain fog and irritability
- Memory negatively impacted
- Cortisol/stress levels increase
- Increased risk of increase in appetite and obesity
- Can negatively impact creativity
- Immunity may be compromised
- Depression, seizures, and migraines can worsen
But the ability to get a good night of sleep doesn’t just exist in a vacuum. It depends on your overall health, your daily habits, or even your living situation. Nutrition, disease, mental health challenges, job stressors, relationship challenges, and even past or current traumas can affect your ability to sleep. But getting quality sleep is so vitally important to your health and the ability to be at peace in your life so if insomnia is a challenge for you, I hope you’ll consider trying to work through it.
Getting quality sleep had been a challenge for me for most of my adult life. Many nights I was lucky to get 4 or 5 hours of sleep each night, which left me irritable, feeling stressed, and unable to think clearly or concentrate. Over the last few years, though, I’ve figured out what works for me. It wasn’t just one big thing that was causing my inability to sleep, but actually many smaller things. While I cannot go into every one of them in depth in this article, I want to give you some ideas to think about, research, and try for yourself.
What are some things that I’ve done to help me (FINALLY!) get a good night’s sleep?
1. Avoid artificial sweeteners completely, but especially aspartame and erythritol as these have been shown to cause insomnia (and they absolutely do cause insomnia in me).
2. Try avoiding screens (computers, mobile devices, smart phones) at least an hour before bed.
3. Avoid alcohol and big meals 2-3 hours before bed.
4. Avoid intense exercise 2-3 hours before bed but a nice, quiet walk in the evening may help you relax.
5. Turn down lights in your home in the evening; bright lights in the evening can make your brain more alert and awake.
6. Invest in sleep-promoting LED bulbs in some of your light fixtures, especially if you like to read in the evening. Alternatively, use blue-blocking glasses. Exposure to certain blue wavelengths of light in the evening can cause your brain to become more active and alert just when you want to be chilling out.
7. Avoid doing anything in the bedroom other than sleep and sex (no TV!).
8. Sometimes taking a shower or bath about an hour before bed helps people calm down enough to fall asleep.
9. Make your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool to promote sleep.
10. Make sure you have a comfortable mattress and sheets.
11. Manage your stress during the day: get some exercise, go on a walk, meditate, etc.
12. Get out of bed if you’re having a bout of insomnia. Read a book (no screens, though) until you’re sleepy, then go back to bed. Minimizing the amount of tossing and turning you do trains your body and mind that bed is for sleep.
13. Journal about your stressors before bed.
14. Optimize your nutrition: avoid junk foods (especially sugar), and optimize protein, healthy fats, and carbohydrates.
15. Avoid caffeine in any form in the afternoon and evening (coffee, teas, chocolate).
16. Take control of family and/or job stressors if you have them.
17. Get assistance from a qualified health professional for mental or physical challenges such as depression, trauma recovery, grief, anxiety, diabetes, bipolar disorder, etc.
18. Make sure you have optimized your intake of nutrients such as magnesium and potassium.
What happens if nothing seems to work and you have trouble getting enough restful sleep? This is known as insomnia. Insomnia is defined as having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, at least three nights a week, for at least three months. The first thing to do is to check in with your physician or medical care team in order to rule out physical issues, psychological challenges, or medications that could be causing insomnia. Your physician may also recommend what’s known as a sleep study to determine the real cause of your insomnia.
If your care team rules out a physical cause, you might benefit from changing your sleep habits. Your medical professional should be able to point you to the appropriate resources, or you can check out The Sleep Foundation at https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene . Making sure that you cultivate good sleep habits can help alter the way your brain approaches sleep.
Sleep - What did I do?
As I mentioned above, for most of my life I was plagued with insomnia. My sleep has finally improved now that I know some of the things that help me fall asleep (and stay asleep). Below are the things that work best for me today:
1. Use magnesium lotion before bed, which helps calm me.
2. Avoid caffeine and iodine-containing foods in the afternoon and evening. This includes coffee, tea, chocolate, and foods that include seaweed or kelp.
3. Make sure my bedroom is dark, quiet, and cool.
4. Avoid using electronics and bright lights within 2 hours of bedtime.
5. Avoid movies with intense action, suspense, and violence, especially in the evening.
6. Avoid alcohol and my food allergens completely.
7. Avoid sugars and artificial sweeteners completely.
8. Journaling or meditating right before bed helps calm me.
9. Walking outside in the sunshine for about an hour a day.
10. Drinking a sleep-promoting tea just before bed (I use “Bedtime” by Yogi Teas, but other brands also have similar products).
11. I also learned to not push myself too hard. If my body or brain are screaming out for rest, I rest. Staying up too late to get just one more thing done can actually push me into a state where my brain cannot calm down at all, and I end up awake all night.
Overall, my sleep patterns are much healthier now, and I feel and function better. This allows me to be more fully present in the moment, more creative, and less stressed.
If you deal with insomnia, I hope one or more of these ideas will help you get more quality sleep.
Blessings,
Nancy
Check out these resources for more information:
Sweeteners and sleep: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28198207/
Sweeteners and sleep: https://sleepreviewmag.com/sleep-health/sleep-whole-body/brain/research-sheds-light-artificial-sweeteners-impact-brain-including-promote-insomnia/
Sleep Hygiene: http://sleepeducation.org/essentials-in-sleep/healthy-sleep-habits
Healthy sleep habits: https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/healthy-sleep-habits
Healthy sleep habits: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/sleep/art-20048379
Archive: Past Newsletter Issues
TODAY Show: Nancy's Interview on NBC TV's TODAY
Messages of Hope with Suzanne Giesemann: Exploring NDEs with Nancy Rynes
Article: Seven Lessons That Dying Taught Me About Truly Living (Aspire Magazine)
Article: Lives Changed by NDEs (Boulder Daily Camera)
Article: Awakening to Life(Pages 6-10, Journal of Exceptional Experiences and Psychology, Summer 2016)
Article: The Meaning of Life (Excellence Reporter)
Simply Peace Part 1
Simply Peace Part 2
Downloadable, Audio-only versions of the webinar are available on my SoundCloud site: https://soundcloud.com/nancy-rynes
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