Good Afternoon Everyone!

We are on day 2 of week 2 of the “Perfect Combo” Challenge!  One of the goals for this challenge is to achieve 6-8 hours of sleep every night so I wanted to send out an email that would help us all create some healthy sleep patterns :).

Why is sleep so important?  According to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, scientists have discovered that sleep plays a critical role in immune function, metabolism, memory, learning, and other vital functions. 

Well, from our own personal experiences, I think we all could make the comparison between how we feel with some quality zzz’s and how we feel when we’re sleep deprived.  When we’re well rested, we can TAKE ON THE WORLD (possibly even caffeine free)!!!  When we don’t get the amount of sleep our bodies need, our immune systems weaken, our hunger hormones go haywire which can lead to us craving junk foods and our brain doesn’t function the way we want it to.  Let’s get some quality zzz’s tonight by following of few (or all) of these 8 tips :).

How to get your best zzz’s:

1. Figure out how much sleep YOU need.  We all need somewhere between 6-9 hours of sleep daily.  If you get too little or too much, you’ll be tired, foggy and unproductive.  If you don’t already know what your magic number is, there are a few things you can do to figure it out:
   • Use an app to help you track the hours you slept and your sleep patterns.  Make note every morning after you wake up about how you feel – refreshed and ready for the day or sleepy and ready to go back to bed.  Here’s an article about someone who achieved their best night’s sleep through using apps and trackers: http://lifehacker.com/5828581/how-i-achieved-better-sleep-with-the-help-of-technology

                                i.      Fitbit – wear on your wrist ($90 – $200) – accurate

                              ii.      Wakemate – wear on your wrist ($60) – accurate

                            iii.      Sleep cycle – iOS – keep you phone under your pillow – not as accurate

                            iv.      Sleep Bot Tracker – Android – keep under your pillow – not as accurate

                              v.      Or just keep track of the time you lay down to sleep and when you wake up

 

2. Turn off your tablet, phone, TV and any other blue-light sources 30-60min before you plan on going to sleep.  Try reading a book with soft lighting before bed.
3. Alcohol – 1 glass of wine, cocktail or beer can cause you to feel sleepy but any more than that could also cause you to wake up in the middle of the night and keep you awake.  If you’re having problems staying asleep and you have more than 1 cocktail at night, try cutting back to see if that makes a difference. 
4. Drink Chamomile tea.
5. Do 30 – 60 min of Steady State Cardio right after work.
6. Waking up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night?  Try to stop drinking water 2 hours before bed.
7. Listen to some calming and relaxing music.  Here are a few apps:
   • Relax Melodies
   • Relax & Sleep by Glenn Harrold
   • Pzizz Sleep
   • Sleepmaker Rain
8. Alternate Nostril Breathing for overall stress relief – try LEFT nostril breathing to help relax you, clam your mind and get you ready to sleep.  The following article explains how to do alternate and left nostril breathing…it really works!!! http://thehealthylivinglounge.com/2009/06/16/12-great-reasons-to-start-alternate-nostril-breathing-today/