TIRED, WIRED AND SLEEPLESS? 6 WAYS TO GET REST.

Tired?

Ever feel like your brain is in overdrive? Maybe you can’t shut it off at night and find yourself exhausted but mentally tired yet wired in the same time? Even while we sleep, our brains are busy processing the day and defragging our hard drive. The good news is – there are ways to help yourself. Ideally we’d go on a vacation or stay-cation when this happens. If a vacation is out of the question try these 5 or 6 techniques. I use 1 (or all of them lol) to help my body get in that restorative state.

 Connect With Mother Nature

Get outside! Grounding or communing with nature is rejuvenating & our body’s natural circadian rhythms are kick-started by daylight. Our body also functions optimally when it has an adequate supply of electrons. These are acquired by walking barefoot on the ground (or at the ocean).

Research shows that electrons from the Earth have antioxidant effect on the body. This protects us from inflammation. This is especially helpful for folks with diseases that come with inflammation (like connective tissue disease or arthritis).  “Grounding” offers many well-documented health consequences.

Practice Gratitude

When your heart is full of gratitude, there’s little room left for anger, fear, resentment or any other negative emotion. So this reduces stress. Every night before bed list 3-5 things you are grateful for. Admittedly, some days are rough and yes you can admit to being grateful for your dogs love, your warm bed or your fluffy turtle slippers! See my blog post about this daily exercise for more info.

Do A Screen Detox

You can play this one 2 ways.

Option 1:

Put a screen ban on yourself 2 hours before bed. This means you are not allowed to check email or do work 2 hours before your head would hit the pillow. This teaches your body to wind down. This is hard for some who decompress on Facebook or Pinterest or with Video Games. But the screen is lit so its sending messages to your brain that’s it’s NOT yet time to wind down.

Download an audio book and set the audio books timer to 20 minutes….. Get the audio book to read you a bed time story. Now, hopefully this goes without saying but the audio book should not be overly stimulating. No murder scenes. Find your favorite calming subject or preachers… use the screen detox wisely.

Option 2:

Do a detox from email & social media for 24 – 48 hours. How often do you get up and reach for your phone? If you’re like many people, there’s a good chance that the morning coffee is consumed over Facebook or delving into emails. The trouble is, when you start your day this way you are living by default. You are starting your day on somebody else’s terms. You are fueling your brain with nonsense or stress or negative Nelly’s newscast. Give yourself a break. Focus on the positive. Start your morning on your terms. Pray, meditate, listen to an audio book. Begin in calm not chaos.

Meditate

Every successful person has a ritual of brain decompression: meditating. If you don’t know how, find a You Tube video to teach you. You can learn how from books.  It’s the single most nurturing thing you can do for your brain. Start with 3 minutes if you’ve never done it. Commit to do it for 1 week. Then do it daily for life. You will fall in love with the clarity you receive. You will end up doing it longer.

NO Caffeine after 11 am

Let’s say caffeine was your gas tank. After your first cup, your gas tank/engine is on full. Then 6 hours after the 1^st cup you are at half a tank. You see, one cup of caffeine will affect your body for 12 hours. I know… hard to believe because after the initial rush we want more.  If your last cup of coffee or soda is at (about the time you start to crash…. when the body naturally falls into a slightly slower pace) let’s say 3:00pm… you will be running on that tank of caffeine until midnight or longer. That WILL affect your sleep and restorative state… even those of you who THINK you are immune.

I hate to hear folks say they can fall asleep after drinking a cup of coffee.   I used to be, say, and do that. Watch out… It’s a sign. You are causing yourself adrenal fatigue. If you really can fall right to sleep after caffeine, then your body is passing out – not resting. We did this in college to get by…. Don’t make it a habit.

Caffeine is an upper. Get off it or keep it to none after 10:00am. This means NO SODA or COFFEE at lunch. When that 3:00pm lull hits… get up, run around the block, down the street, to your car or take the stairs at work (just go down a few flights and back up).. MOVE. This will get your body to wake up… just don’t do caffeine. Do yourself a favor. Try this for 2 weeks. Your better sleep pattern will be proof enough for you. And if you are “moving” instead of taking in more caffeine you’ll be burning calories. What a plus!

Two last thoughts on this… I love coffee.. so when I do caffeinated coffee (which there are seasons in my life in which I indulge in caffeine) I do one cup per day and its usually after I’ve had the first cup as decaf (so I’m not jolting y body awake) and its only one that day. If I want more coffee – its decaf.

The second thought is this, if you can’t get up from your desk at work but you can move your legs under your desk then do the swim kick for 5 minutes or march in your chair. I get it sometimes you’re stuck on the 110^th conference call of the day. Ideally, get up and give your back and butt a break too. Do something standing. Funny thing is, eventually you will find someone with the same goal who will do it with you. You can meet daily by the stairs at work and run up and down a few flights of stairs once a day for 5 or 10 minutes at 3:00 instead of reaching for sugar or caffeine. It’s good for stress relief too!

Nutraceuticals

You can try GABA at night.  GABA is a chemical that is made in the brain but sometimes gently supplementing with it can help some people. GABA is the ‘downer’ neurotransmitter that counters glutamate (upper). It’s been used to reduce anxiety, improve mood, treating attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and relieving pain too.

Magnesium is one of my favorites. This can be taken any time of the day. Magnesium’s benefits can include reduced symptoms from conditions chronic pain, fatigue and insomnia. It’s very calming. It’s good for muscle spasms too. I love the CALM powder you mix with your drink the best but pill form works well too.  You’ll know if you take too much.. it will make you run to the bathroom! So, yes it can help with constipation too LOL.

So, now you have 6 tips/ ways to calm your brain down on those nights it keeps you up. As I always say, talk to your Dr. before you start any nutraceuticals. Make sure he/she is good with it but take control of your life and be your own advocate for good health — despite any odds.

Sweet dreams!

 

February 2, 2017

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