Sleep + Stress
If you are under stress then you won't sleep & If you are not sleeping then you will feel more stressed. This is one of life's most beautiful Catch 22s, but we are here to help!
Sleep: Remember you need to get 7 hours of sleep minimum and more if you are younger and still growing. Drop the temperature of the room down and also either use black out shades or a sleep mask. Darkness is a necessity.
Stress: Meditation, Cardio, and Prayer all have the same physiological effect on the body which is to reduce the influence of the sympathetic (fight or flight aka "wind up") portion of the nervous system and increase the influence of the para-sympathetic (energy conservation aka "wind down") portion of the nervous system. Here are some other things you need know
Tips for Falling Asleep…
Try a wind-down ritual for 2-3 hours before bed. The nervous system has inertia so don’t wind it up when you should be winding it down. Part of the wind-down routine should also be blocking blue light.
Try Blue Blocking Glasses. If blue light enters the eye it will tell the body to halt the natural hormonal cascade (including Melatonin release) that is supposed to happen before bed.
Try a shower with a transition from warm to cold at night as part of your routine. One of the main indicators for our body that it’s time to go to sleep is temperature. A transition from warm to cold doesn’t always happen because we live in houses, but we can simulate this with a shower that starts on the warm side and ends on the cooler side.
TIPS FOR STAYING ASLEEP…
Sunlight ASAP in the morning. Get those peepers exposed to NATURAL light as early as possible to start the production of Melanopsin which is the precursor to Melatonin. P.S. Make sure there are no eyeglasses or contact lenses to obstruct the sweet sweet sun.
Visualization meditation. Dreaming, imagination, and visualization all have similarities in the brain. If you want to stay asleep longer do some direct exercise for that part of the brain while you are awake by frequent visualization meditations.
Eye mask + Ear Plugs. If you can’t get the room dark enough put on one of these eye masks and help see your way to a restful and restoratives night's sleep.
Stress - A Mindfulness Practice
We preach exercising the body daily as an important part of your routine and THE ONLY thing we would consider placing above it is exercising the mind. Having the ability to get just a little bit of space from emotions can give you a shot at understanding them that much better. We are also huge into education and HEADSPACE educates on the nature of the mind better than anyone else we have seen. Don’t believe us? Try it for 14 days on us by clicking on the image to the left
Stress - Talk to a licensed Psychological Therapist
Emotions are like a faucet. On one side you have a "warm-positive emotion" water supply & on the other side you have a "cold-negative emotion" water supply. It would be nice if you could turn off the cold-negative emotions, but that's not how the brain works. You can either turn off the faucet as a whole and be numb or turn it on to some degree, but you don't get to choose which emotions you feel. If you want to start to feel warm-positive emotions you have to do that while draining the tank of the cold-negative emotions. Just like you would see a physical therapist to deal with a painful shoulder you should hire an expert to deal with anything on your mind. Everyone can benefit from seeing a skilled therapist.