ILLUMINATION Book Chapters
My Smart Sleep Habits — Chapter 5
In the book titled “Powerful Life-Changing Hacks That Truly Transformed My Life” by Dr. Mehmet Yildiz
Are you suffering from disturbed sleep and insomnia?
Introduction
Disturbed sleep and insomnia are not fun at all. I know the magnitude of suffering because I experienced them severely for many years. I thought my insomnia and sleep disturbance were genetic and chronic.
Yes, there was a genetic predisposition to them but learning some valuable tips related to sleep hygiene allowed me to recover from these conditions naturally.
I tried many sleep aids like supplements and sedative teas. They made it worse. I even tried prescribed sleep medicine which almost ruined my health. I gave up quickly on the advice of reliable healthcare professionals.
Sleep is essential in our lives, both short-term and long-term. It plays a vital role in every aspect of our health. Everyone knows this and makes a conscious effort to sleep every night. Studies associate quality sleep with many benefits, such as better mood, better memory, better libido, and lower cardiovascular risks.
In this chapter, I share eight effective techniques that I used to improve my sleep quality. Improving my sleep had a tremendous effect on my life. The most prominent one was optimizing cortisol levels which had been caused by excessive stress and insomnia. If only I had known these tips when I was younger.
1 — Increased Magnesium Intake
The intake of magnesium tablets an hour before my bedtime contributed to my sleep quality. The usual dose of magnesium I take is around 400 Mg. More than this caused digestive issues for me.
Because of the poor digestion of magnesium intake, I learned the effective use of magnesium through the skin. The most enjoyable way was taking a bath before going to sleep.
Taking a bath with Epsom salts is not only fun but also therapeutic. Epsom salts are the sulfate form of magnesium and are well-tolerated by the skin.
In addition to the bath, sometimes, I use magnesium cream topically if there are any sore muscles in my body, especially on days with strength training.
Apart from relieving stress and providing muscle relaxation, I learned that optimized magnesium in our bodies has many other benefits for our metabolism. Since I am mostly in ketosis, I supplement with magnesium daily, either in tablet, bath, or cream form, to ensure my magnesium levels are optimal.
Magnesium is a crucial nutrient for our body. As confirmed by the NIH: “Magnesium is a co-factor in more than 300 enzyme systems that regulate diverse biochemical reactions in the body, including protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function, blood glucose control, and blood pressure regulation”.
2 — Sleep Monitoring
I learned the importance of sleep when I was very young and adopted the conventional wisdom of going to bed early and rising early. My aim has always been to get at least eight hours of sleep.
Until recently, I thought sleeping eight hours was enough, so I never suspected that my terrible weaknesses some days were related to sleep deprivation. Feeling sleepy after eight hours of sleep was a mystery to me.
The awakening happened when I purchased my first fitness smartwatch over five years ago. It was a Fitbit device. It monitored how many hours I slept, how many times I was restless, and the quality percentage of my sleep. It was accessible from my phone, tablet, or PC.
After a few days of monitoring my sleep, I noticed that I sometimes had less than six hours of quality sleep, even though I allocated eight hours for sleep. Two hours were recorded as awake or restless. It was devastating when I noticed that.
Based on this information, I increased my sleep hours and ensured that the quality hours were at least eight hours. Then there was a massive change in my mood, energy level, and overall feel. I felt wonderful on those days when the quality of sleep was recorded at eight hours or more. It was an important lesson to learn that not the total sleep hours but the quality of sleep hours mattered.
Another benefit of sleep monitoring is to see how long it takes to fall asleep. This small piece of information may have significant effects on establishing sleep patterns. If I cannot fall asleep for 20 minutes, I get up and try to perform some sleep-inducing activities recommended by CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) practices.
Nowadays, I consistently use my smartwatch to monitor my sleep daily. Every morning I check my Fitbit dashboard for the amount and quality of sleep I get. If I get less than eight hours of sleep for any reason, I take informed actions to rectify it.
Here is one key hack I learned about dealing with short-term sleep deprivation to be effective at work or whatever we were supposed to do that day. I use a supplement called N-Acetyl-Tyrosine. Tyrosine is an amino acid, and this acetyl version can pass the brain-blood barrier. It helps me to stay alert for at least six hours with good feelings. I rarely need to use it, but when I need it, it works wonders for me.
3 — Cancelling Noise
I am susceptible to sound. If any noise is made when I am in bed, I wake up immediately, even in the middle of the night. Unusually, minor noises can wake me up quickly. My amygdala must be overactive. It sounds like a genetic predisposition.
For many years, I didn’t know why I was waking up so frequently. Once I learned to use earplugs to reduce noise coming into my ears, my sleep quality improved.
I tried many forms of earplugs. Most of them were not as practical and comfortable as silicone earplugs. Only silicone earplugs worked for me.
After using the silicone earplugs, the frequency of my wakeups dramatically decreased. Besides, silicone earplugs are inexpensive and easy to find in many pharmacies or online convenience stores.
4 — Absolute Darkness
We are hardwired to sleep in the dark. Our brains are wired to produce melatonin naturally when it gets dark. Therefore, sleeping in a dark room is very important to have a restful sleep. Darkness is particularly crucial for maintaining deep sleep when the body is in a restorative and therapeutic state.
Even though I keep my room dark with good curtains, there are times some little light can enter the room through various means. As a secondary support mechanism to maintain absolute darkness, I use black silk eye masks.
I purchase high-quality silk masks and silicone earplugs from the same supplier. They might sound trivial, but after using the silicon earplugs and adding an eye mask to my sleep regimen, my sleep quality further improved. When I get quality sleep, my day proceeds smoothly, with optimism, joy, and happiness. Even the most prominent challenges look manageable.
5 — Relatively Cool Room
A cool room is another essential factor in maintaining quality sleep. Long ago, I thought a warm, cozy room would be great for sleep, but I was wrong. It was counterintuitive.
Once I learned to reduce my room temperature by around 18 Celsius degrees, my sleep quality improved further. Interestingly, my body got used to the cooler temperature.
The biggest problem with the warm room was waking up in the middle of the night with sweat and a tender body. I hated to feel itchy at night, which used to cause me to lose sleep and make me an insomniac. Therefore, I warmly embraced the cool temperature in my bedroom.
6 — Clean Air
We take air for granted. When we look at the big picture, nothing in life is as essential as air. Clean air is critical for our health.
I learned the importance of clean air for sleep too. Thus, I purchased an air cleaner for my bedroom. Many positive testimonials on its benefits led to my decision to invest in this device.
Adding an air cleaning machine to my bedroom made me feel the difference in breathing fresh and clean air at night. Such an affordable, quiet device is an ideal addition to the bedroom for improving the quality of sleep.
In addition, I also added Himalayan salt-based lamps to my bedroom. These lamps are believed to spread negative ions, attracting positive toxic molecules in the air. However, I don’t have a measure to prove the effectiveness of these lamps. They can be excellent additions to the bedroom. I like breathing clean air at home.
7 — Alternative Cold and Hot Shower
I am addicted to cold showers due to their remarkable benefits. I also have occasional hot showers. But the innovative solution was mixing them just before bedtime.
Since I started having 30 second cold and 30 seconds hot shower for around three minutes before going to bed, I felt a significant difference in falling asleep quickly and increasing the amount of my deep sleep.
My understanding of the mechanism for alternating cold and hot showers before sleep is that it resets the circadian rhythm naturally.
8 — Blue Light Elimination
As part of our circadian rhythm, it is essential to have natural blue light exposure during the day. However, exposure to blue light at night can be problematic, as this exposure can adversely affect our circadian rhythm.
However, there are practical solutions to address these. One of the most effective solutions is using blue-light-blocking glasses. We can also turn off blue light-producing devices such as mobile phones, tablets, PCs, and TVs at least an hour before we go to bed. Dimming lights and reducing blue light exposure even earlier, such as two to three hours before bed, is recommended.
Since I spend a fair bit of time on my PC at night, I use flux software on my PC to address this issue at night as a practical solution. My mobile phone also automatically goes to the night shift light scheme.
After learning the adverse effect of blue light on the circadian rhythm, I removed all the blue light-producing devices from my room. It was in many gadgets such as the alarm clock and even in my beloved air cleaning machine, so I covered its blue light with a piece of dark, sticky paper.
These eight natural and straightforward techniques, in combination, caused profound changes in improving my sleep quality. I reaped benefits when I made them daily habits.
Here’s How I Corrected My Sleep Issues in 7 Steps and Reaped Many Health Benefits.
Disclaimer: I shared my personal experience for information purposes only. This article does not provide medical or therapeutic advice. I presented my experiments as a biographical representation of my personal life experience. I do not make any claims or recommendations.
Other Chapters of the Book
Chapter 9: Powerful Life-Changing Hacks That Truly Transformed My Life
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