Sleep is vital to health and wellbeing, but many of us have trouble getting a good night’s rest.
If you are having trouble sleeping, awareness is a first step toward resolution. Ayureka’s Sleep Diary is a tool designed to help you build this awareness. As always, we believe you intuitively know what you need to do to stay healthy. We also know it’s surprisingly easy to ignore the things that stop you from getting there.
And before you spend time completing the tool, here are two major things to consider:
- The average person requires between 7 and 9 hours of good, sound sleep per night. Too much sleep will contribute to sluggishness, apathy and poor health. Similarly, too little sleep has its own list of consequences. Are you making it a priority to get the right amount of sleep for you? Sleep starts with a commitment to getting the right amount of sleep for you.
- Look around your bedroom. Is it conducive to sleep? If your blinds don’t completely cover the window, light might be keeping you awake. Similarly, do your clocks, alarm systems or charging docks cast light into the dark room? They might be disrupting your sleep. Sheets and bedding should be soft and comfortable. Are yours? How about your pillow? Is it an appropriate size for you physical structure? Your sleeping chamber may be in the need of a minor makeover.
If neither of these items apply, it is time to download Ayureka’s Sleep Diary. For the next week, take note of your sleep patterns and the things that commonly interrupt your sleep.
Here is an explanation of the questions listed:
- When did you retire? This question tracks when you “move into the bedroom” for the night.
- Lights out? When do you actually turn the light off so you can go to sleep?
- If a large gap exists, what were you doing? We all take a few minutes to get ready for bed. You probably wash your face and brush your teeth. However, if the time gap between when you started to bed and the time you turned-off the lights is greater than 15 minutes, what were you doing? Were you reading in bed? Watching TV? Looking at your tablet? Document your activities. In Ayurveda, the bedroom is for sleep and sex. If something else is going on in the bedroom, it might be limiting your sleep.
- How long to doze off? It should take your body a few minutes to settle in for a good night’s rest. How long does it take you to fall asleep once you have committed to it?
- Sleep disruptions? Keep track of the number of times you’re awakened during the night. Also track how long you’re awake and, if known, the reason for waking up. A hot flash is a different type of sleep disturbance than the need for a bathroom run. This distinction will help identify patterns.
- Wake-up time? This is the time you open your eyes and begin to re-gain consciousness. Note when your alarm goes off or, if you don’t set your alarm, what time your body clock wakes you up.
- Time out of bed? Do you lounge around awake in bed in the morning? If so, for how long? Track the time when you (physically) get out of bed.
- Hours of sleep? This is just a box for you to do your math. How many hours were you asleep from the time you got to sleep until the time your alarm (or body clock) said to get up?
- Quality of sleep? How did you feel in the morning? Well-rested? Were you tired? Did you feel frustrated or excessively groggy? Document what you were feeling when your feet hit the floor. Even include aches and pains.
What you do throughout your day impacts your ability to sleep at night. Track the areas below as you move through your day. Write as much detail as possible:
- Food stimulants? When sleep deprived, it not uncommon to reach for something to “energize” your body. Caffeine tops the list. Coffee is a definite stimulant, with 95 mg of caffeine per serving. (By the way, that same 8 oz. cup at Starbuck’s contains as much as three time the caffeine as other coffees.) Teas, many sodas and even decaffeinated coffee contain this stimulant. Energy drinks have become very popular, especially among younger people. These beverages not only ramp-up the caffeine content, they also contain additional—“natural” and (definitely) artificial—stimulants. Beyond sleep disruptions, energy drinks are also linked to irritability, rapid heartbeat and nervousness. Other foods and beverages can act as a stimulant and disrupt your sleep.Think about chocolate. (Sigh!) It can impact your sleep patterns. Foods high in processed sugar, especially if eaten right before bedtime, are among those substances that will take their toll on your slumber.
- Alcohol? Sad, but true. Alcohol is known to disrupt your sleep patterns. There is a strong correlation between alcohol consumption and early morning awakening (EMA).
- Stressors? Whatever is going on in your personal or professional life often plays itself out in your bedroom. Big work project? Relationship issues? Sick parent? A child needing extra attention? Intensely stressful and emotionally charged situations are known to disrupt sleep patterns.
- Evening device activity? Being “always on” is very common in today’s world. Research has shown that blue light from mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, is directly linked to sleep disturbances. Watching T.V., talking for hours on the phone and even having a “wired” home can all contribute to sleep problems. Track your usage and engagement with devices to determine if you are overloading your senses.
- Exercise? A gentle yoga class right after work might be the perfect thing to enable you to sleep. A late-night, intense cardio session, on the other hand, can bring on “gymsomnia.” Monitor when you are active and how vigorous your activity is. Note if you are inactive, too. Lack of exercise can definitely impact quality of sleep.
- Medications? Vitamins? Supplements? Many prescription medicines have the known side effect of stimulating your nervous system. Do your research. Review content labels and pharmacy printouts. Also, review the labels and inserts for any supplements or vitamins you take. For example, certain “blends” act as energy boosters. When taken near bedtime, they could have an undesired impact on your sleep.
- Naps? An afternoon power nap might be an occasional refresher. But on a regular basis, or to excess, napping can disrupt restful nighttime slumber. Be sure to document when you are taking it and how much time you are spending in a mid-day slumber.
- Dinner time? Your digestive system is designed to shut down while you are sleeping. Eating a late meal (within 3 hours of bedtime) can create sleep disturbances.
- General food log: This is pretty self-explanatory. List what you have eaten (and when) during the course of your day. As a general rule, the closer you get to bedtime, the greater the impact food will have on your sleep. Remember, this exercise is about raising awareness, not judging. Take note of everything you ingest! (For a tool to help you more completely track your diet and lifestyle choices, please click here.)
After tracking your sleep and activities for several days or a full week, start to look for patterns. Set aside some time to study your notes. Look for associations. Think about what you do all day. It might impact a good night’s rest.
As you overview each day, think about what led up to a night of sound sleep versus a night of poor sleep. Your sleep patterns vary from day-to-day based upon your daily diet and activity. Note this. For example, did you limit snacking and sleep more soundly that evening? Did you have coffee with dessert at dinner and have trouble falling asleep one night? In reviewing your chart, some things will jump out at you as “no-brainer” changes with very positive results.
And, although individual activities or meals will have an impact on any given night, if sleep deprivation is an overall issue, there is probably a “trend” contributing to it. If you can find this—and make a few minor lifestyle changes—you could have your ticket to healthy life-long slumber.
Go back to your Sleep Diary. Look for the trends. Are you eating late every night? Experiencing sensory overload? Eating spicy or garlic rich foods? On a raw food diet? Using electronic devices well into the night? Failing to set healthy boundaries with your work? Partying too much? You name it. If you are chronically not sleeping, 9 times-out-of 10 there will be a long-running diet or lifestyle choice contributing to it.
The beauty of awareness is that it empowers you to change things up. The beauty of Ayurveda is that it helps you understand what will work for you. Once you are aware of the root cause of an issue, this ancient science provides you with guidelines for exploration. At Ayureka, we help you connect these dots.
For more information on sleep, check out our “How Things Work: Sleep” section.
