Tips to BETTER Sleep! | Video | & Graphics

Hello friends! I hope you are having a wonderful day. I have been up since about 7:30 this morning and I thought today would be the perfect time to go over some of the questions I get regarding my sleep schedule and how I switched from a night owl to a morning person without a ton of effort. Not to many people in my own family even understand how the switch came. I go over a lot in the video below. It's an overall kind of video where I touch on many different points but I plan on doing a lot more on this subject in the future. So here are my " sleepy thoughts"....hope you enjoy! 

I think a lot of us, myself included takes sleeping for granted. Too many of us don't sleep well, wake up feeling tired and grumpy and just go on with it day after day. I have struggled with finding a peaceful night's sleep for a very long time. I found a bunch of these charts that has a lot of information that would have certainly helped me out on my sleepless journey. 

This first chart shows you what the National Sleep Foundation recommends how much sleep we all need. 

For my age group, I need 7-9 hours of sleep. I am pretty much right on target with that amount however, a lot of nights I total out around 6 hours of sleep.

I thought this chart showing us the stages of sleep where you can see how it is broke down into 5 different stages. When you realize what stage you are having trouble at, you can target that area to work on. 

 

Getting a good nights rest is so important to ALL OF US. A lot of nights I am tossing and turning in the bed to just get comfortable. Check out some of these sleep positions that work best when you have different kinds of body pain. 

Trying a pillow in different areas can really help you get more comfortable so you can fall to sleep easier. 

If you are trying to share a bed with someone, that also makes it harder to for someone with sleep issues to get a good nights sleep. This chart gives us some great ideas on how to snuggle up and sleep with someone while sleeping comfortably. My husband sure needs to look at this chart! 

This next chart, I love. It gives us the 7 sleep mistakes that many of us don't realize. Along with the mistakes; it also shows us the fixes. 

I think one of the most important things to remember is...make changes. Don't just accept not getting enough hours of sleep or sleeping in a room that just doesn't work or promote good sleep habits. Don't accept any of it. Without sleep our bodies would shut down and we would die. Sleep is critical for each of us and we have to remember that it's ok to shut down and get some rest. It makes us better more focused people and it does a wonder for the body in every way possible. 

I went back and forth with going to bed early or late...sleeping in, getting up. It was never easy for me. But looking deeply at my sleep habits through the sleep journal notebooks or sleep Cyle on the phone, I realized I was causing some of the issues myself. I still struggle to fall to sleep or even stay asleep but being more proactive has made a huge difference. Watching how much caffeine I take in, not working in bed, less night time tv...and the list goes on and on. However, the one big change I did was adding in time on the treadmill. I don't know what clicked but suddenly I was getting up early and going to bed a lot sooner as well. 

I recently posted my morning routine...( and here is my nighttime routine ) sharing what my average mornings are like. And this chart below gives a great outline of what a morning routine and night time routine should look like. There is a ton of information in this chart that might just be helpful! 

Also here lately, some days I have been taking out about 20 minutes in the late afternoon to just close my eyes and nap. I found this chart totally helpful and very informative.

I love the pencil tip! I have certainly never tried that but I just might. I do however, normally nap in the right position but I an still behind with the time. I like a 530 -6pm power nap but I might just try to back it up a couple of hours.

I might be a natural night owl but I am not accepting it. More is done in the morning hours than any other time of the day. I have enjoyed taking my mornings back. It's made me feel better and its working. I hope you maybe the video and charts will help you too. I found a lot of useful information along the way including a few books that I have read that have given me many light bulb moments.

Here a few reads in case you want to find out more information:

Goodnight Mind by Colleen E. Carney, PHD & Rachel Manber, Phd

Do you find yourself lying awake at night, ruminating about the events of the day? Do you toss and turn, worrying about what you have to do in the morning or what you did earlier in the day? If so, you are not alone. In fact, insomnia is the most common sleep disorder faced by the general population today. The most common complaint in those who have trouble sleeping is having a "noisy mind." Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, it seems like you cannot silence all the internal dialogue. So what do you do when your mind is spinning and your thoughts just won't stop?Accessible, enjoyable, and grounded in evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Goodnight Mind directly addresses the effects of rumination-or having an overactive brain-on your ability to sleep well.Written by two psychologists who specialize in sleep disorders, the book contains helpful exercises and insights into how you can better manage your thoughts at bedtime, and finally get some sleep. Traditional treatment for insomnia is usually focused on medications that promote sedation rather than on the behavioral causes of insomnia. Unfortunately, medication can often lead to addiction, and a host of other side effects. This is a great a book for anyone who is looking for effective therapy to treat insomnia without the use of medication. This informative, small-format book is easy-to-read and lightweight, making it perfect for late-night reading.

Reset Your Inner Clock by Michael Terman, PhD & Ian McMahan, PhD

Based on decades of research, Reset Your Inner Clock shows you how to harness the power of light to reset your natural clock and boost your mood, be more alert, and get a good night's sleep.

A good night's sleep can be hard to get. Sleep problems and depressed mood often go hand in hand, forming a frustrating cycle. Only now are we beginning to understand the way these problems are based in the working of the brain's inner clock, through the science of chronobiology the study of circadian rhythms and their regulation by light and darkness. For the first time, Michael Terman, PhD, director of the Center for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms at Columbia University Medical Center and a leading expert in chronobiology and chronotherapy, shares his scientific insights and treatments that have helped thousands of sleep sufferers find relief.

Reset Your Inner Clock offers an authoritative, clinically informed way to understand and break the frustrating cycle of clock-based sleep disorders. Dr. Terman, along with Ian McMahan, PhD, an expert in developmental psychology, explains the science behind chronobiology and lays out the full range of rhythm-shifting strategies, including the proper use of light therapy, structured exposure to darkness, bedroom dawn and dusk simulation, melatonin supplements, and sleep scheduling, to bring you the kind of sleep your body needs.

Reset Your Inner Clock can give you the power to recalibrate your life with renewed energy, vibrant good health, and peace of mind spanning life stages from the earliest years through old age.

Delta Sleep System by Jeffery Thompson

Delta Sleep System : There are several stages of sleep which people pass through in the course of a good restful night. In each stage our sleep gets deeper, our bodies get more relaxed and our brainwave patterns slow down. The deepest and most rejuvenating levels of sleep are associated with Delta brainwave patterns. Delta sleep is the most physically relaxed stage of sleep and is the time when the body recuperates and rebalances itself for the new days. Getting enough sleep, but more specifically enough Delta sleep is essential for healthy, productive living. Jeffrey Thompson's breakthrough audio techniques, developed over 25 years of clinical research, are proven to increase levels of Delta brainwave activity. He has helped thousands of people to achieve regular, restful, revitalizing sleep. How This Program Can Work for You. Play Delta Sleep System on any ordinary stereo or through headphones. Pulses of sound embedded into an ambient musical soundtrack, combining rich orchestration and "3-dimensional" sounds of nature will coax your own brainwave toward their natural pattern of deep Delta Sleep. Jeffrey Thompson's pioneering work with thousands of patients has led to groundbreaking discoveries in how sound frequency patterns built into musical sound tracks induce brainwave entertainment. Thompson's audio programs are used by psychotherapists, M.D.'s, chiropractors, and bodywork professionals in 26 countries.

Life for all of us is busy and many of us run around like crazy people during the daytime hours and then fall into bed without really considering how we are sleeping. Then we wake up tired and grumpy and do it all over again. It was just becoming too much with me. So I have worked hard to change things around and YOU CAN TOO!

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed the video and blog post. I would love to hear what your sleep habits are like and if you have any useful tips that can help not only me but others too. Have a beautiful and blessed day. xx