Improve Your Sleep - Part 3
Welcome to the third newsletter covering our sleep series. If you missed the first two newsletters, you can click here to get a recap of what we have covered so far.
This week learn how to “catch up” on sleep, how to fall asleep quickly, and how to get back to sleep should you wake up in the middle of the night.
In this email we break down the Huberman Lab podcast on sleep into a "cliffs notes" version that is easily digestible!
Thanks for reading!
Kira
How to "catch up" on sleep.
Is it normal to wake up at night?
What to do if you can't get back to sleep in the middle of the night.
A powerful breathwork tool.
If you need to "catch up" on sleep during the day, consider taking a nap or try listening to a Non-Sleep Deep Rest Protocol
You heard that right, take a nap! We love naps and it turns out the research is in support of them too. There is a caveat. Keep your naps 90 mins or less or you risk disrupting your sleep later on that night.
Sleeping and napping will help to clear out adenosine; a naturally occurring molecule in our body that increases throughout the day and makes us feel more sleepy. With less adenosine building up in your body, you will feel more awake and energized.
If napping isn’t your thing, you can try listening to a Non-Sleep Deep Rest protocol or Yoga Nidra protocol. These guided protocols have the same adenosine-clearing effect that naps do, but may fit into your schedule better. Or if naps leave you feeling groggy, these protocols can be a much better tolerated alternative. They are about 10 minutes long and use specific forms of breathing to slow your heart rate and place you into a state of deep relaxation.
If you wake up in the middle of the night and are able to fall back asleep within 10-15 mins this is totally normal.
Sometimes it is really good to hear that we are normal, right? Let’s face it, we all occasionally have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom or we hear a noise that startles us awake. This is common and normal.
As long as you can fall back asleep within 10 or 15 minutes you most likely won’t feel the effects of it the next morning.
If you wake up in the middle of the night, but cannot fall back asleep, consider doing a Non-Sleep Deep Rest protocol to lull you back to sleep.
Hey parents, this could be your saving grace. You've sacrificed a lot of sleep and you deserve a break. While this isn't quite like a weekend away from the kiddos, it is an excellent tool to help you sleep and feel just a little more rested.
It is also great for those of us that wake up in the middle of the night and our anxious, racing thoughts won't let us go back to sleep.
There is hope to recapture some of the lost sleep by performing a Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) protocol. When you're laying there wide eyed and feeling wired, just stick in your headphones and hit play on the protocol linked above.
Use the Physiological Sigh as a breath work tool.
If you are having trouble falling asleep or falling back asleep after waking in the middle of the night, try giving this breathing technique a try:
- Two short inhales through the nose
- Followed by a long exhale through the mouth
- Repeat until you fall asleep
You may notice this type of breathing if you have a dog, child or partner that has fallen asleep next to you. As they start to fall asleep, you can often hear them give two short breaths, followed by a longer sigh or exhale.
This recent study tracked a number of outcomes for 30 days and found that 5 minutes of daily cyclic Physiological Sigh breathwork seemed to outperform box breathing, cyclic hyperventilation, and mindfulness meditation. The Physiological Sigh showed the greatest improvements in mood, reduced anxiety, heart rate and respiratory rate, and increased heart rate variability.
While all breathwork and meditation practices are wildly beneficial to us, it is cool to see research comparing them and noting which is most effective. Because if we are going to spend time improving our health, we better know which tools are going to give us the biggest bang for our buck!
