Posts From Category: health

Stopping the sleep screams

I have this sleep thing which is one part hilarious one part terrifying. When I’m in the first stages of sleep I have a startle reflex that makes me jump up in bed and start screaming at the slightest noise (even if I make the noise myself). Vicky my partner is often woke by me yelling “HELP, VIC” and it leaves me totally confused and thinking I’m dying. Every. Night. For 12 years.

Recently I’ve found a way of pretty much stopping it altogether. I’ve put together a cheat sheet below of how I stopped the old SLEEP SCREAMS. It’s a combination of information from Shawn Stevenson’s Sleep Smarter, Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning, web research and personal anecdotal evidence.

Sleep Cheat Sheet 1.0

  1. Get up nice and early (I tend to get up between 5:30am - 6:00am)
    • Meditate.
    • Get outside. Natural light exposure triggers the production of more serotonin. The best time to get natural light is early in the morning - 6:00am - 8:30am for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Exercise
    • Lift heavy if you can bro. If not go for a walk or run - try to do this around 7am.
      • Use topical magnesium on anywhere that is sore before going to bed.
  3. Eat well
    • Alcohol - cut down or pack it up.
    • Cut carbs and sugar.
    • No caffeine after 2pm.
    • Use magnesium supplements.
  4. Winding down
    • Take a hot shower or a bath 90 mins - 2 hours before going to bed. After that wind down with a cup of camomile.
    • Go to bed at the same time each night. The best time to be asleep is between 10pm - 2am.
    • No screens an hour before bed. Or get some of them blue lensed glasses if you want to watch telly.
  5. Bedroom environment
    • Get a fan on or open the window.
    • Get yourself a weighted blanket. I love mine.
    • Get it dark - preferably so you can’t see your hand in front of your face.
    • Use red light if needed - it doesn’t affect your circadian rhythm as much as other lights.
    • Keep your room cool.
    • Put on some white noise - I use a river on my Echo - running water actually slows your heartbeat.

And one that I think is the most important. If you can’t fall asleep, don’t stress about it. It is what it is.

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