Brenda Howes
1. Wake up in the morning and allow the
morning sun to hit your face. This simple act activates
your circadian rhythm, tells
the body to wake up and keeps your body’s cycles aligned. Science has
shown that the amount of natural light we receive in a day is related to how
well we sleep at night.
2. Stop
eating so that you have at least a twelve-hour window of fasting. Giving
your body a job just before you want it to go into relaxation sends your body
mixed messages. The Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi won a Nobel
prize in 2016 for his research on autophagy His life’s
work has proven that fasting for several hours helps the body at a cellular
level repair damage and renew itself. Sleep provides the perfect window
for this maintenance task!
3. Avoid alcohol hours before bed
as it interferes with the circadian rhythm and the production of
melatonin. Often a few glasses of vino will help put you to sleep.
However, alcohol disrupts sleep patterns and not may allow you to stay
asleep.
4. Even while on the road,
try to keep to a routine. Each night I listen to 30 minutes of
nature sounds as this relaxes me and creates a routine that I do every
night. It is very rare that I hear the music end and am still
awake. Also, know that your room temperature matters too. It has been
shown that 20C / 70F has the most benefits as too warm a temperature interferes
with the quality of sleep.
5. Reduce
light and especially blue light at least 30 minutes before you go to bed. Watching a sunset
produces a familiar “yummy” feeling. That is because the reduction of light
triggers melatonin production which makes our brains and bodies prepare for
rest. For those of us who read and watch screens before bed, many are using
‘blue light blocker’ glasses like these.
