Try to get to be by 10pm every night, it’s the hours before midnight that counts. Aim for at least 8 hours sleep. Some individuals may be able to sleep less but you need to find what works best for you. Often you will need to start at 8 hours for a while especially if you are trying to correct your sleep cycle.
Eliminate all EMF’s while you sleep. Shut off your WiFi internet at night before going to sleep (You can use a remote power switch so you don’t even have to get out of bed – available on Amazon). Switch off cellular devices completely at night including iPads and other such tablet devices. Use power filters on power outlets (especially in the bedroom).
Look at the quality of sleep you are getting:
- How many times during the night are you waking?
- Are you just waking up and then going back to sleep or are you waking to go to the bathroom?
- When you waking are you able to go back to sleep immediately or do you lay awake for a period of time?
All these will help determine underlying issues. These underlying issues can be anything from disruption of the endocrine system to imbalances in neurotransmitters. Find the underlying cause and fix it, don’t just treat the symptoms with Ambien. These can be done with a number of tests including, hormonal profile and blood amino acid test, and neurotransmitter test.
We have several sleep supplement protocols that we use but these are customized specially to the client that can be found in the Nutraceuticals section.
Here are a few things additional you can do to improve your sleeping patterns:
Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, including the weekends. Avoid the pattern of sleeping in on the weekends and going to be late as this will disrupt your sleep cycle during the week.- The hours of sleep before midnight count more than the hours after midnight. Try to get to bed as early as possible and wake up earlier to get an early start on your day.
- Create a bedtime ritual before retiring at night (such as a glass of warm milk, shower, clean teeth, relaxing oil in an oil burner and 10 minutes of light reading but not using a iPad or other such tablet due to the light exposure, especially blue light).
Expose yourself to bright lights immediately upon waking. Use wake light when possible to improve the waking cycle especially if you are awake before the sun raises.- Avoid the substances that can disrupt sleep (caffeine, alcohol, nicotine) up to ten hours before bedtime. This may need some testing and some may be less sensitive and require far less time before bed.
- Avoid taking naps for longer than 20 minutes during the day.
- Go to bed only when you feel sleepy. However you may need some time to train yourself to the new habits however you can improve the adjustment time using some of the techniques mentioned or with supplementation as discussed in the Nutraceuticals section.
- Keep your bed as a place for sleep only. Simplicity is best. No TV, computers,etc. in the bedroom.
- If you do not fall asleep within 20 minutes, get out of bed and do something else that with help relax you. Return to bed once you feel sleepy (and get up again if necessary). Once you have trained yourself
- Set your alarm to wake you up at the same time every day – and do not sleep in. Avoid napping during the day.
- Use sleep apps like Sleep Cycle to monitor sleep pattens and can be used as an alarm to wake you at the best time during your sleep cycle.
