Sometimes we focus so much on what we should be adding in to our daily routines, more collagen, smoothies, vegetables, yoga, meditation, gratitude work, self-care, stretching, etc. But when we're maxed out, sometimes it's easier to focus on taking things out or optimizing the things we're already doing. Stop the netflix binge, call your family/friends another day and put the phone away. Focus on doing the basic things well. And start with sleep. It's imperative and poor sleep is linked to nearly every single chronic health condition there is -- It always amplifies underlying problems.
SLEEP. Sleep will restore your immune system, allow your cells to repair and allow the mind to file away the happenings of the day. Quantity doesn't always equal quality - so start with what seems feasible. Here are 6 simple tricks to improve sleep quality 1. No am/fm radios, portable/cell phones or transmitting devices of any kind within 2 m of the bed. (Off doesn't mean they stop transmitting!) 2. Keep the room DARK and your body COOL (thermostat to 16 celsius, & warm shower before bed) 3. Avoid alcohol within 4 hours of bedtime [better yet - cut it out altogether or drastically reduce] 4. Eat your dinner early [5-7pm] - eating too late at night has our body too busy digesting to fall into a restorative sleep. And our body temperature remains elevated - especially with those heavy protein meals. This interferes with sleep.
5. Get into bed! Sometimes we avoid bed because it's the only time we have to ourselves in a day... spend it under the covers. And potentially shift to morning self-care routine.
6. Caffeine. Watch your consumption. The average cup of coffee is about 100mg - and it takes the average human 6 hours to metabolize half of it. That means if you drink 2 coffees at 9am - by 3pm you still have a full coffee in your system and at 9pm half a cup. This sneaks up on us - especially with afternoon chocolate and coffee indulgences as we can perpetually have enough caffeine in our system to prevent a good solid sleep. My favourite first step - is switching people to half-caff coffee. So that you don't have to change the volume, just the bean. Start there and maybe in a few months you can work on the volume. Now those all seem reasonable and may be the difference between surviving and thriving! If they don't work - lets talk about some other options.