Sleep: An Important Link To Health

Sleep is the time when we rest and recover. Good sleep helps all systems in the body. Good sleep can be hard to come by, both quality and quantity matter.

When I think about falling asleep and staying asleep, I think about how an airplane lands — an airplane goes through a four stage process from flying to landing - it is a gradual thing. 

Here are tips to help improve and optimize for good sleep: 

Beginning to create a wind down routine  ~ what activity signals to your brain that the day is done and it is time to start winding down?

• Taking a shower? 

• Walking the dog? 

• Making a cup of tea? 

• Turning down lights? 
  

Improving sleep hygiene 

• Our bodies like a rather consistent routine, waking up and falling asleep within a 1 hour period most of the time can ensure our bodies sleep/wake cycles are functioning.

• If waking up multiple times per night seemingly out of the blue or every hour - it is possible that blood sugar is dropping. Having a small amount of honey or snack with some fat in it can be helpful to regulate blood sugar (my go to is a spoonful of honey or nut butter)

• Having your bedroom dark and cold, blackout curtains can be very helpful in making sure rooms are adequately dark.
  

Quieting the mind

• Phone off and away (no phone in bedroom ideal) the last two hours of the day. 

• Journal / write lists of tomorrow's things so it doesn’t have to keep circling in your head, giving your brain a rest.

• Deep breathing - anytime we are wanting to relax,  we want to elongate the exhale, that signals to the brain and body to relax and slow down, try a 4 second inhale and a 6 second exhale (4in/6out) or a 4-7-8 (4 in,7 hold, 8 exhale) and see what feels good to you.

Laying down to bed

• Once in bed, allow yourself to arrive ~ feel your body relaxing into the bed. 

• Deep breaths to further relax

• Trying to avoid screens at this time, reading a book can be soothing. 

I encourage you to try to add 1 from each category and see what changes start to happen. 

In 2005, The Journal of Manipulative and Physical Therapy (Mar-Apr; 28(3):179-86) asked the question, “Insomnia: does chiropractic help?” 1/3 of 154 patients who completed the interview reported their sleep pattern was changed immediately after their chiropractic adjustment. All but 1 reported improvement.

While this study is twenty years old, many chiropractic patients have experienced similar results. Have you?