😴 what you need to know to sleep like a baby

Hi there!

This is a topic I have wanted to share about for a long time since it has had one of the biggest impacts on my overall health. We spend a third of our life doing this - and no, it’s not working or eating or doom-scrolling - it’s SLEEPING. If you knew me from a few years ago, you wouldn’t believe that I now average 7-8hrs of restful and good quality sleep every night.

I struggled for many years with all aspects of sleep - from taking a long time to fall asleep, achieving enough deep/REM sleep as well as constantly waking up feeling exhausted. If you are reading this, you already know the importance sleep has on our mental and physical health so instead of talking about that, I’m going to dive into what I have tried and what’s helped me the most.

Understanding how I sleep, from the hours and quality of it to the factors that impact it are important before I can take steps to improve it. Here are some of the questions I ask myself as a form of self-assessment, as well as some products/tools that can help me understand how well I slept the previous night

• How do you feel upon waking: This one is obvious - before waking up and rushing to start the day, take a second to see how you are feeling - refreshed or tired?

• How well you can perform physical / mental activity: How do you feel during a routine morning activity such as the gym - are you dialed into your workout making progress towards your goals, or feeling tired and out of focus?

• Free app: Sleep cycle is a great free app to help see how well you sleep and tracks your sleep regularity, quality and latency.

• Heart rate tracker: The Oura ring provides two key metrics to track sleep - the readiness score (how ready you feel to tackle the day or whether you need to rest) and your sleep quality. Using the data from the oura ring, I have been able to focus on improving my sleep quality (which was an area I was still struggled with). The oura ring’s wealth of data gives me a scientific way to track and improve my sleep habits.

Sleep routine is what you do 1-2h before you get into bed and can set you up for a great night’s sleep. The routine can involve actions you take before bed as well as setting the time you go to sleep each night. I used to have a really poor routine that included a bad habit of “calming down” by watching TV in bed and then shutting it off and trying to sleep. Some days, I would be too wound up by what I watched / something I saw on social media and have trouble falling asleep.

The first thing I did to try and fix this was to cut out any screen time during the 30-60 min window before bed time (power down hour). I turn off the TV/computer, plug in my phone to charge and set my notifications to silent. Without the screens to stimulate me, I find that I can begin to wind down and start to relax before bed.

If you might be wondering what I do instead during this time, here are some things I’ve tried and what works well for me 😀 

• Dim or red lights: Bright lights can inhibit melatonin production which may keep us from feeling sleepy. An easy fix for this is to put dimmers on light switches or try to switch off the brightest lights in your home after sunset. What worked the best for me was to replace my LED bulbs with smart lights that I can turn red at night. This helps your body get the signal that it’s time to wind down and start producing melatonin. I also set a red filter on my phone if I’m using it near my power down hour.

• Skin care: Doing my multi step skincare routine before bed is really soothing for me. Some days I really draw it out if I am feeling extra anxious around bed time. It also is an act of self care so you feel even better after!

• Reading: This has now become what I do every single night, I use my kindle with a stand and remote in bed and the blue light from this is minimal enough to not impact my sleep. (tip: If you find that a book can keep you up from it being too exciting, opt for a slower paced / self help book that doesn’t keep you up all night reading because of the suspense!)

• Meditation: When I’m really struggling with sleep, a calming guided meditation does wonders to help with my racing thoughts and also makes me sleepy

• Taking a bath

• Spending quality time with loved ones: I love doing a nighttime recap with Dan of how the day went and having a moment to connect. This can be tricky because I do have to be mindful that some topics can hinder the sleep routine, but it’s a really good time to connect!

• Tidying up: Doing a quick tidy of my work space or my bedroom and lighting a candle can really help me feel calmer and less cluttered and begin winding down

• Journal: While I find this tough to do at night (I prefer to journal in the morning), if it works for you, you can write down 3 things you are grateful for from that day.

• Stretch

• Cuddle time

Sleep quality is how well you sleep through the night (and how you feel about it after) - this includes how fast you fall asleep, sleep duration, and how you feel after you wake up. Here are things that I have found that hurt or help my sleep quality.

Positives:

• Sleep environment - cooler environments can help one fall asleep better and stay asleep; this coincides with your body’s temperature decreasing to facilitate sleep. Regulating temperatures throughout the night to match your sleep cycle and also warming up a bit to feel comfortable on wakeup are ideal factors to your sleep environment as well. The Eight Sleep pod cover has single handedly changed my sleep by the largest degree. It is a pricey investment for sure. It adjusts the temperature depending on my sleep patterns and is constantly adapting helping me sleep my best ($250 off here)

• Morning sun exposure - getting out and viewing indirect sunlight helps with your body circadian rhythm and definitely clears any morning grogginess I may have

• Daily workout of some kind (preferably in the morning) - I notice that the days I don’t workout or even go for a short walk, I don’t seem to sleep as well

• Magnesium bisglycinate - I know a lot of people talk about melatonin as a sleep supplement aid but I haven’t ever found it super helpful and it makes me really groggy the next day. But while taking magnesium, I notice I can wind down faster and I have a really restful night’s sleep. I have tracked my sleep with this particular magnesium supplement and the days I take it, my sleep quality is so much better (highest readiness score on my Oura ring!

Negatives:

• Caffeine too late in the day (I try for no caffeine after 12pm)

• Alcohol

• Blue light / screen time right before bed

• Watching / reading something triggering in the evening

• Eating too late at night

• Playing video games close to bed (Dan says this is his biggest negative for sleep quality)

One easy/healthy recipe to try : 

Chipotle chicken and rice bowl - and guac isn’t extra!

One positive affirmation to remember : 

I am grateful for everything that has come my way today. It’s time for me to rest and take care of myself to be ready for the adventures coming my way tomorrow

One thing I am actually obsessed with :

As a girlie with skin issues, I constantly battle with this. I use make up to cover up my skin issues but typically make up ends up making things worse. I have been looking for skincare products that can function as make up and this Live Tinted skin tint with SPF 50 hydrates, protects and smoothes the skin. After using it everyday for a week, I can safely say my skin has never been happier with any other skin tint!

Boomer’s favorite thing from this week :

Hands down his favorite thing from the past two weeks has been Kaia staying with us for a sleepover. Boomer and Kaia have known each other for over 5 years now and she’s definitely his bestest friend! Here’s a fun video of their differences :)

Please let me know if you found this helpful and if you learnt something you might try out. If you have any questions at all, I am happy to try to answer them or guide you to a good resource!

It would mean so much to me if you could share this newsletter with someone who might also appreciate it. My goal is to stay open and vulnerable (this format gives me so much more space and freedom to really expand and share on important topics). Together I know we can find more health and happiness!

With fluffy hugs, 

Charishma + Boomer (@life.with.a.landcloud)