How to Get the Best Night of Sleep Ever!

12 tips for a restful and rejuvenating night

Why Sleep Matters

There’s a reason our bodies feel amazing after a restful night of sleep.

Sleep improves our immune health, physical health, brain health, emotional health, and long-term health.

While we are sleeping, our body is performing so many crucial tasks - processing memories, repairing cells, healing wounds, building muscle, resetting metabolism, reducing inflammation, regulating hormones, reducing stress, growing immunity, and restoring energy.

Essentially, sleep is when our body performs maintenance, healing, organizing, and strengthening.

And because sleep is so important...

1. We need to get enough sleep.

2. We need to get quality sleep.

Here are some habits I’ve found helpful for getting enough sleep and getting quality sleep, based on my personal experience. I hope they can help you too!

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor! These are tips from my own personal experience!

12 Tips for Getting a Great Night of Rest

1. 321 Rule - Stop eating 3 hours before bed. This gives your body time to digest, allowing it to focus on repairing and resting once you go to sleep. Stop drinking 2 hours before bed. This helps you not have to get up in the middle of the night and disrupt your sleep. Stop looking at screens 1 hour before bed. This allows your circadian rhythm to work properly and helps you feel tired.

2. Red Light Before Bed - Unlike the blue light that comes from our screens, red light doesn’t interfere with melatonin production, and it mimics sunset light. Getting smart bulbs you can turn red at night and/or wearing blue-light blocking glasses with red lenses both accomplish this.

3. Magnesium - I’ve noticed a difference in my sleep when I take magnesium, and I definitely recommend looking into it! There are different kinds, so do some research to see what would best support your body!

4. Deep Breathing - I sleep so much better when I do deep breathing exercises before bed. Not only does it flood your body with oxygen, but it also lowers your heart rate, allowing your heart to rest and recover more as you sleep.

5. Limit Caffeine to the AM - Because caffeine is a stimulant, we obviously don’t want it in our bodies when we are trying to go to sleep. The half-life of caffeine ranges from three to seven hours, so it can take six to fourteen hours for caffeine to fully exit your system. You can definitely experiment with this and see what feels best for your body, but I think limiting caffeine to before noon is a good rule of thumb!

6. Morning & Evening Light - Sunlight at dawn and dusk has a different hue than daytime sunlight. Light in the morning and evenings is warmer, giving off a more reddish or golden color. Getting this light in your eyes in the morning helps regulate your circadian rhythm and wake you up. Getting this light in your eyes at night continues to set your internal clock and prepares you for rest.

7. White / Brown Noise - I have used white noise while I am sleeping for as long as I can remember. It helps drown out other sounds so my brain can relax. I also feel like it is now a simple cue for my brain to know it is time to sleep. White noise has always been my go-to, but lately, I have preferred brown noise. Either one works!

8. Take a Hot Shower At Night - Even if you are a morning shower person, try a hot shower an hour or two before bed. After you get out of a hot shower, your body begins to cool itself down, mimicking the way our body temperature naturally begins to decrease as we prepare to sleep. It also activates our parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system which helps us to relax.

9. Turn Down the Air - Because our body temperature naturally decreases while we sleep, a cooler room can help. For the average adult, the optimal temperature while sleeping is around 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit.

10. Journal / Brain Dump - I keep a journal right by my bed. Some nights, I write pages. Other nights, I write down a few things I am grateful for or a list of things I don’t want to forget that I need to do tomorrow. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but taking a couple of minutes reflect on the day and clear your mind can help you sleep more peacefully.

11. Have a Consistent Bedtime - Another way to regulate your circadian rhythm is to have a consistent bedtime. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day allows your body to get into a rhythm and adjust your sleep cycles accordingly. This way you can fall asleep easier and wake up naturally in the mornings.

12. At Least 7 Hours of Sleep - 9 is better. I know this is a hard one. We all have a million and one things to do, places to go, and people who depend on us. But we also have to take care of ourselves in order to be able to do any of that. Your quantity and quality of sleep, along with nutrition and exercise, has major impacts on your health - both now and long-term.

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Challenge:

Anytime I try to focus on more than one or two things at time, I end up dropping all of them. So here is my challenge for you.

1. Read through this list and check off anything you are already doing.

2. Cross off the things that simply just don’t feel manageable in your current season of life.

3. Look at what’s left. Pick one or two things you could start doing today to improve your sleep and therefore your life!

4. Do them!

5. Let me know what you are challenging yourself to. I would love to hear and cheer you on!

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, it would mean so much to me if you would share it with a friend!

Take care,

Caroline

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