Ever have trouble falling asleep? Or, once you’ve fallen asleep, staying asleep?
Trouble falling or staying asleep affects most, if not all, of my clients. Part of my 1-on-1 program is to work through sleep hygiene. That is, optimizing the conditions and habits leading up to, and during, your time asleep.
That’s why I created this post (and YouTube video) all about the top 6 simplest, most effective sleep hacks for helping you achieve better sleep. These are some of the main changes I have my clients make to their sleep “routine”.
***Plus, at the end, I’ll also cover my top 2 all-natural supplements I recommend for getting relaxed and ready for bed after a stressful day.
But in order to understand why these sleep tips are so effective, we must first understand how our body works as we get ready for sleep.
You might be surprised at how much nature actually plays into our bodies’ ability to fall asleep.
Here’s how it works.
- As the sun sets, the amount of blue-spectrum light emitted from the sun decreases. This change is detected by the retina, a group of cells at the back of the eye.
- The retina cells increase their activity, thereby stimulating the pineal gland in the brain, which begins producing the chemical melatonin (you might have heard of it!).
- When melatonin levels increase, the amount of stress hormones in the body decrease, which triggers the shift from fight-or-flight to rest-and-digest.
- As our stress levels decrease, so does our body temperature, heart rate, blood sugar, and blood pressure.
- We perceive these changes as “feeling sleepy”. Body temperature, heart rate, etc. continue to drop until we are asleep.
So now that we understand how the sun basically triggers us to become tired each day, we can use this information to our advantage to get better sleep.
Sleep hack #1: Get outside everyday within 1 hour of waking.
This might seem silly. What does our morning routine have to do with getting to sleep at night?
Well, we are setting the stage for better sleep by essentially following the sun throughout the day. We are literally “linking” our bodies with the sun.
Our circadian rhythm – our bodies’ internal clock which regulates our sleep-wake cycle, as well as our hormone production, metabolism, and more – is intrinsically tied to light exposure.
The sun produces more blue spectrum light in the morning. By getting outside early in the day, you are telling your body (literally on a cellular level) that it is time to be awake.
Then in the evening, as the sun sets, your body will be more in tune that it is time to wind down.
Sleep hack #2: Go outside for 20-30 minutes in the middle of the day.
Again, what does this have to do with sleep?
You may not be aware that the body produces melatonin during the day, which is stimulated by infrared light from the sun.
So by getting sun exposure through the day, you are optimizing melatonin production. The key here is to get as much direct sunlight on as much of your bare skin as possible, for 20-30 minutes, without sunscreen.
This is important because sunscreen blocks the sun’s rays from entering your skin, meaning you don’t get the benefits of the sun, like vitamin D production.
My rule of thumb is to only put sunscreen on when you start seeing the slightest bit of pink on your skin, called the minimal erythemal dose. This ensures that you are giving your skin the chance to harness all of the sun’s benefits.
Sleep hack #3: Wear blue light-blocking glasses 2 hours before bed.
So if the blue spectrum light from the sun is good to get in the morning to help us wake up, then it stands to reason that we want to minimize our exposure to blue/green light in the evening so that it doesn’t affect our ability to fall asleep.
However, that is hard to do as we are constantly surrounded by screens and lights, especially at night.
To combat this, I recommend all of my clients wear blue light-blocking glasses for 2 hours before bedtime.
This is a widely known hack. The problem is most biohackers don’t promote the right glasses.
The lenses must be dark orange or amber in color or they aren’t blocking blue/green light, not even close.
My top recommendation for high quality blue light-blocking glasses are these and these.
Sleep hack #4: Drop the temperature in your house to 65-68 degrees before bedtime.
Remember what I said earlier about what happens to your body as it gets ready for sleep?
Your body temperature drops.
By dropping the ambient temperature to 65-68 degrees (research shows this is the optimal sleep temperature), you are signaling to your body that it’s time to sleep.
This is why you should also be careful exercising at night. Exercising raises the core body temperature, and it might be difficult lowering it in time for bed.
If you are someone who tends to run warm, you can use a cooling pad (like this one) on your bed to help keep you cool throughout the night, something I’ve had personal success with.
Sleep hack #5: Avoid caffeine after 2 PM.
Caffeine has a half life of about 5 hours. So if you drink a caffeinated beverage at 2 pm, it will still be in your system at 7pm.
The earlier in the day you can cut out caffeine, the better.
Sleep hack #6: Avoid anything mentally stimulating 1 hour before bed.
This means avoid anything that gets you anxious or excited. If going on Facebook frustrates you, don’t go on 1 hour before bed. If talking to a particularly taxing friend gives you anxiety, do it earlier in the day.
Nothing that gets your mind racing or elicits a heightened emotional response.
Instead, you want to do something that gets your mind relaxed.
If you can find something that doesn’t involve a screen, even better. Journaling, meditating, and reading some lighthearted fiction are some of my favorites.
Bonus hack: Supplements I like to help relax before bed.
In the event of a particularly stressful day, or if something winds you up right before bedtime, there are 2 supplements I keep in my arsenal to help.
- Magnesium threonate — This form of magnesium is the only one research has shown to cross the blood brain barrier. Since magnesium is relaxing, by choosing a form that makes it to the brain you are able to more efficiently calm your brain.
- L-Theanine — This is a compound found in green tea, but it’s typically in too low of a dose in tea to make a marked difference. I like to use this powdered L-theanine and mix it with a warm herbal tea. It mixes fairly easily and doesn’t affect the taste at all.
There you have it! My top 6 (or 7) tips for helping you set your body up for better sleep.
Surprisingly, most of them are based on reconnecting with nature by getting outside in the sun (which is incidentally a good thing, anyway).
