Top 5 Natural Sleep Tips
Sleep is a non-negotiable for health. If you are experiencing fatigue, weight gain, bloating, intense cravings, frequent colds and flu, hormonal imbalance or brain fog, addressing your quality of sleep is crucial.
Why? Although sleep may seem like a completely inactive process, when you shut down at night, the body is actually hard at work detoxifying, repairing tissues, restoring hormones and rejuvenating. These actions are put on the back burner during the day because your energy is allocated elsewhere (towards brain power, digestion, muscle contraction and nerve transmission).
After just one night of poor-quality sleep, your body’s tired, memory sluggish, mood erratic, hunger increased and you may even experience more aches and pain.
Whether you’re having trouble falling asleep, or staying asleep throughout the night, these 5 tips can help you improve your quality of sleep in no time:
Go to sleep when you’re tired - so many of my clients fight the wave of sleepiness because it’s “too early” to go to bed. Unfortunately, when you miss this window of opportunity, adrenaline kicks in and you get a second wind that will make it SO much harder to fall asleep when you finally try settling in for the night.
Even if it’s only 8pm when your eyes start getting heavy, that’s ok! Listen to these cues, get into your PJs and curl up in bed with a book. Allow yourself to drift off. By going to sleep earlier, you’ll get a better quality of sleep and likely wake up earlier which will encourage you to be more productive the next day - win, win!
Avoid screens within 1 hour of bed - blue light coming from cell phones, computers and TV screens is stimulating to the brain and blocks melatonin production. If you’re having trouble falling asleep at night, instead of checking emails, texts, social media, etc. within the hour or two of bedtime, I recommend winding down with a book, bath, light stretching, meditation or journaling. This will help you transition from the craze of the day to the calm of night.
Have a small snack before bed - if you are waking in the middle of the night and have a hard time falling back asleep, your blood sugar may be imbalanced. Remember, sleep is a very active process and going through complete sleep cycles requires fuel.
By having a small snack composed of a complex carb + healthy fat before bed, you promote (calming) serotonin production and provide nourishment that will balance your blood sugar. Examples include: 1/2 baked sweet potato + sunflower seed butter, 1/2 banana + almond butter + sprinkle of Himalayan pink salt OR golden milk latte. Interested in learning more? Check out this book: Potatoes Not Prozac!
Drink tart cherry juice - tart cherries support natural melatonin production. By having just 2 oz. unsweetened tart cherry juice diluted in filtered water before bed, you support sleep while decreasing inflammation. Tart cherry juice is also great to include after a workout - it helps repair the tissues and reduce post-workout soreness.
Take GABA - Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter (aka brain chemical). Give its calming effect, GABA is helpful for reducing anxiety and stress. Taking just 100-200mg GABA within the hour of bedtime relaxes the mind and encourages sleep.
When you sleep well, you feel well, it’s as simple as that. Hopefully these action steps will help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep throughout the night and wake feeling refreshed, energized and ready to tackle the day!
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