Prioritize Sleep and Watch What Happens
Honor your body.
In our culture sleep is often perceived as an unfortunate necessity or a waste of time. I choose to see it as an opportunity to honor the body, to honor our own boundaries and limits, and to settle into self-love in the simplest way.
Americans don’t sleep enough and it impacts our bodies at the cellular level. Sleep is critical for memory consolidation and impacts telomere length - the cellular sign of aging in the body. Simply put, sleep is like an elixir of youth for brain and body.
In many psychiatric disorders, sleep is both a trigger and a symptom. In major depressive disorder, difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep are a symptom of the disorder. The repeated difficulty with sleep in turn makes it harder to concentrate, impacts mood, and lowers energy levels. While sleep problems don’t cause depression, lack of sleep certainly makes depression symptoms worse.
For me, settling into sleep is hardest on days when I feel that I haven’t had an opportunity to live in ways that are aligned with my needs. On those days I have a strong temptation to stay up late on my phone, seeking solace in reading about things or looking at images that align with what I wished I had spent my day doing. Realistically, this creates a cycle that makes it less likely that the next day I will live a full and joyful life as I start out sleep deprived and grouchy.
There is a discipline to self-care - the unglamorous trudging to bed at 9:30 and taking a walk outside even when it’s raining because you know it will make you feel human. When it comes to sleep I recommend:
Sleep at regular times. Some people are larks and some are night owls but whatever your preference make sure that your sleep and wake times are consistent.
The blue light in our smartphones and other screens shoots right to your optic chiasm and tells our brains to wake up. If you use screens at night invest in blue light blocking glasses and optimally turn off all screens 1 hour before sleep.
Avoid spicy, heavy foods for 3-4 hours before bed and avoid caffeinated beverages after mid-day.
Room temperature matters - try dropping the temperature in your room if you are having trouble sleeping.
If it takes 20-30 minutes to fall asleep, don’t despair. This is not abnormal and you can settle into patience with your body as it settles into sleep.
While medications can be helpful, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and lifestyle modifications are first line treatments for insomnia. Going to sleep is a skill that you can take pride in honing.
Valuing sleep as precious, available and a fantastic use of your time is the ultimate in self-care. In a world of sleep-deprived adults be a pro-sleep rebel and luxuriate in the wonder of a full night’s sleep.