12 Paths to Perfect Sleep

12 Paths to Perfect Sleep
excerpted from the book “Mom Energy; A Simple Plan to Live Fully Charged “
by Ashley Koff, RD, and Kathy Kaehler  published by Hay House

1. Get on a schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time seven days a week, weekends included. Try not to fall into a cycle of burning the midnight oil on Sunday night in preparation for Monday, letting your sleep debt pile up for the week and then attempt to catch up on sleep over the weekend. It won’t work. Stick to the same schedule seven days a week. Your body and energy levels will love it.
2. Unplug to recharge. Set aside at least 30 minutes before bedtime to unwind and prepare for sleep. Avoid stimulating activities (e.g., work, cleaning, being on the computer, watching TV dramas that get your adrenaline running). Try soaking in a warm bath or engaging in some light stretching. Once you’re in bed, do some light reading and push any anxieties aside.
3. Don’t let your To Do list or worries take control. Early in the evening—say, right after dinner—write out tasks you have yet to complete that week (not tonight!) and prioritize them realistically. Add any particular worries you might have. If these notes begin to talk to you when you’re trying to go to sleep, tell yourself it’s time to focus on sleep. Everything will be okay. You’re tired and will have a productive day tomorrow. You’re relaxed and at peace. The body needs to sleep and is ready for it.
4. Create a restful refuge. Reserve the bedroom for sleep (and sex) only. Remove distracting electronics and gadgets and keep it clean, cool, and dark.
5. Nix the fix and cut the caffeine. Stop drinking caffeinated beverages about eight hours before bedtime. Due to caffeine’s half-life (how long it takes for caffeine to lose half of its punch in your body), you’ll need all that time to let your body process all the caffeine so it won’t infringe upon restful sleep. If you cannot go cold turkey on the caffeine in the afternoon, then switch to drinks with less caffeine, such as teas.
6. Don’t sweat it. Watch out if you exercise within three hours of bedtime. For some people, exercise can be stimulating to the point it affects getting to bed on time and falling asleep easily. This is when tracking your sleep experiences and what you do beforehand can help you to pinpoint your own unique culprits to restless sleep. If your body’s reaction to exercise is stealing your sleep, then shift your exercise to earlier in the day.
7. Limit your libations. Be cautious about alcohol intake in the evening hours. If you use a glass of wine as a way to unwind after the kids have gone to bed, which is how many moms decompress at the end of the day, be mindful of how that glass (or two) could be influencing the quality of your sleep. You might want to test out avoiding this routine and see if it changes how refreshed you feel the next day.
8. Ditch digestive distractions. Keep in mind that heavy foods too close to bedtime can upset your sleep as much as they upset your stomach. The best bedtime snack is nothing. Eating provides energy and that runs counter to prepping the body for rest. If you need to take a medication or if you are breastfeeding and up during the night, then maybe a liquid such as plain coconut water will satisfy you. This requires no extra digestive work; it’s a diluted amount of carbohydrates that also provides potassium for hydration, which will help the body with recovery. To balance it out, you could have 10 to 15 nuts with it.
9. Focus on relaxing. Try valerian herbal tea or a chamomile blend before bedtime. Take your magnesium supplement in the evening hours to help relax muscles for better sleep and regularity.
10. Practice aromatherapy. Keep a sachet of lavender by your bed and take a whiff before hitting the pillow. Lavender has known sleep-inducing effects. Other aromas widely considered to be relaxing are rose, vanilla, and lemongrass—but different ones work for different people. For you, maybe lavender is stimulating and rose is not. Scented lotions can also be effective.
11. Take a d-e-e-p breath…and release. On your back with your eyes closed and your body stretched out, hands by your side, palms facing up, begin to squeeze and release your muscles, starting with your head and face and working down to your toes. Breathe in deeply and slowly, telling yourself I will fall asleep. I am going to sleep.
12. Get out of the bedroom. We all think that if we lie in bed long enough, sleep will come. Instead, our minds tend to get busier and our muscles tenser as we stress over being awake. Give it a rest. If you can’t get to sleep within 20 minutes, slip out of bed and go to a safe haven—a place that’s comfy, has dim lighting, and no distractions. Just sit comfortably. Or do your breathing exercises. Or read. No e-mail, TV, or other electronics though. The point is to give your mind-body a respite from trying so hard to nod off. After 20 minutes or so, go back to bed and see what happens when you’re more relaxed. Repeat once or twice if necessary.

Winding Down – Relaxing into Sleep

[O] f all the ideas we’ve given to help you get a good night’s sleep, one of the most essential (and least followed) is the one about setting aside time to wind down before bedtime. Far too often, moms find themselves doing last-minute chores and tasks long after the day should have been declared over. Once the kids go to bed, don’t give yourself permission to use the rest of the night to catch up on everything else at the expense of a full night’s sleep. So if you want just one thing to do differently, see if you can—for one week, hopefully longer—allocate one hour before your bedtime during which you don’t engage in any stimulating activities such as e-mail, internet surfing, or even watching television. Instead, opt for a hot soak in your bathtub, reading, or spending time with your spouse. If one hour is unrealistic, then try it for a few days and then cut it back to 30 minutes. But no less! This is You Time, and you’ll notice a difference in the quality of your sleep.

Mom Energy; A Simple Plan to Live Fully Charged by Ashley Koff, RD, and Kathy Kaehler.  It is published by Hay House (September 1, 2011) and available at all bookstores or online at: www.hayhouse.com.