Sleep Magic

SLEEP.

It’s one of the seemingly simplest implementations you can have as part of your wellness practice, that brings a plethora of health benefits for the mind•body•soul, yet so many of us struggle with quality, restful, restorative sleep.

On average, people attain 6.8 hours of sleep.

In 1910, people averaged 9 hours of sleep, and since 1985, the percentage of adults getting less than six hours of sleep has increased by 31%.

Now, if you’re like me (once upon a time) & alcohol is your go-to unwinding tool at the end of a long day/week, you’re now looking at an even higher risk of disturbed sleep with these symptoms & risk factors:

disruption of circadian rhythm functioning, that causes poor liver function, leaky gut, depression & disrupted sleep/wake cycles
fatigue
difficulty concentrating
irritability
lack of overall performance

I’m tired just thinking about my days of shitty sleep that were always interrupted, causing ALL of the above symptoms. Now in addition to the actual, physical rest, your body needs proper sleep because it:

restores the immune, endocrine, skeletal, nervous & muscular systems
restores mood, memory & cognitive functions
plays an important role in the function of the brain, by forming new pathways & processing information
helps with energy conservation, brain waste clearance, modulation of immune responses, cognition, performance, vigilance, disease, & psychological state

If you want a small way to improve your overall wellness, look no further than increasing the amount of sleep and the quality of sleep you get each night.

Start with these three steps:

unplug from all bluelight electronics, dim artificial lights & crawl into bed one hour before your normal bedtime
”brain dump” as you let your body begin to relax in bed, by journaling out thoughts or getting your to-do list ready for tomorrow (try not to use your phone for this), which will then let your mind relax
instead of reaching for the pinot grigio or the whiskey at nighttime, begin a bedtime tea ritual with calming, relaxing, restorative herbal blends.