Here are some of my client’s favorite sleep meditations. I use them as well. I recommend making a playlist on YouTube and putting the one you will fall asleep to last so it will shut off when it is over (you might be asleep before that). Plug in your phone, turn off ringer, press play, turn it face down, and lights out.
But first, consider a pre bed stretch. Did you know that you can lose up to an hour of sleep per night just from tossing and turning because of muscle tension? A brief, whole-body stretch can release tension and allow for more peaceful sleep. Try some cat-cow or up and down dog poses or follow along to this:
Body Scans
Day Time Sleep – Napping
There is a lot of controversy about napping, with some saying that day time sleeping disrupts the circadian rhythm and will negatively impact your night time sleep. There is also a good deal of data that says the opposite. When you are in tune with yourself, you know what works for you and what doesn’t. Day time sleep has it’s purpose. You just have to know what is optimal for you.
Cultures all over the world partake in a nap after the midday meal. A key take away from that tradition is the nap is short, under 1/2 hour. A brief rest, even if you don’t totally fall into a deeper sleep cycle, can improve alertness, reaction time, memory and over-all mood. Napping too long into a deeper sleep cycle can interrupt your circadian rhythm, make you feel groggy, give you a headache, or worse, you wake up feeling irritable. Harvard health
Some nap protocols to try and test to find what works best for you.
- dim the lights
- take off your shoes
- set a timer for 30 minutes
- play white noise
- lay down somewhere that isn’t your bed (reserve the bed for nighttime sleeping)
Great advice from a world expert on sleep, Dr. Matthew Walker, on naps.
What optimizes your mood and energy? An early afternoon powernap or holding on to sleepiness until bedtime? Test it out for yourself.
A Bad Night’s Sleep
Many clients share how their mood, focus, energy, and hunger cues are affected by last night’s sleep. We all experience interrupted and lost sleep sometimes and the body can manage it occasionally but not regularly. Even one hour less of your normal sleep amount can make you irritable, sensitive, crave carbohydrates, and make staying on task a struggle.
We can endure a bad night’s sleep from time to time.
Bad night’s sleep check list:
- Don’t skip your training/exercise. It will improve your focus and mood for the evening, even if the session is not quality.
- Reaching for caffeine feels natural however that caffeine you ingest today can negatively affect your sleep tonight. Caffeine does not clear your bloodstream for up to 10 hours.
- Simplify your to-do list as much as possible. Conserve energy.
- Beware of carb cravings…they are coming for us. The body senses the poor recovery and in turn, signals us to load up on energy even though we don’t really need it.
- Try to watch the sunset if you can. reset your circadian rhythm.
- Start your bedtime prep a bit earlier tonight.
