How to Improve Your Sleep…

Sleep disorders are one of the today’s most common health problems, insomnia being the most frequent complaint. Sleep deprivation can make you too exhausted to work or exercise efficiently or to eat in a balanced way. One in three adults get less than the recommended seven or more hours of sleep each night, which can lead to an increased risk for infection, insulin resistance, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, cardio-vascular disease, cancer, arthritis and mood disorders. Many times people with sleep problems suffer in silence and they enjoy life less, are less productive and undergo more illnesses and accidents. If sleep problems have compromised your daytime function for more than a month, professional help is advised. Some people are so accustomed to sleep deprivation, they don’t recognize they’re tired and might think of themselves as unmindful or not motivated.

When landing in bed, more often than not, we bump into ascending feelings and emotions, and we go back up into the thoughts on our minds.  This hyperarousal is linked with high metabolic rates and brain activity and is strongly related with sleeplessness and insomnia. Basically, we don’t sleep well because we are too energized at night. Occasionally, unavoidable stress or problems keep you up at night but so do habits that you can manage. Since insomnia is a symptom, it’s very important to find the cause. In many cases, it’s due to psychological or emotional difficulties. Prescription medications are not the best option, especially in chronic insomnia. These drugs mimic or counteract the effects of several sleep related neurotransmitters but they have harmful side-effects. Although they can help some people for short-term insomnia, research suggests it’s better to make lifestyle changes or therapy. With adequate treatment of the implicit cause, the insomnia usually fells away.

When sleeping the body performs several essential functions for our optimal health, such as:

• Restoring your mind by clearing out irrelevant information and encoding important memories;
• Growing and repairing tissues and muscles;
• Cleaning toxins, and;
• Activating the immune system, helping to fight infections.

Several factors can influence how a person sleeps and aging is one of them. Also, certain substances such as coffee, alcohol, tobacco or junk food can interfere with your sleep quality, even if you can fall asleep after having them. Besides food and substances, we also consume information and light. More often than not we’re exposed to both poor quality information and light. Moreover, we are also increasingly exposed to light at night. While our body sleep mechanisms are self-regulating, they do react to certain external factors such as light. The melatonin hormone induces sleep and its levels increase after dark and decrease after dawn. Even small amounts of light at night will momentarily suppress melatonin production interfering with circadian rhythm and sleep quality. Many people diagnosed with insomnia may in reality have a circadian rhythm condition.

The first step is changing lifestyle habits. Thus, a Health Coach can be an important partner helping evaluating your sleep quality and targeting and monitoring necessary strategies and solutions to improve sleep hygiene and routines. These solutions may comprise many different actions depending on the situation, including: keeping a sleep diary; stress management strategy; avoiding eating within two to three hours of bedtime; eliminating foods that cause acid reflux; avoiding drinking any fluid too close to bedtime; improving your microbiome; adopting a low carb diet; managing emotions and finding ways to take worries off your chest instead of taking them to bed; adopting an exercise routine; creating a sleep sanctuary; stimulus control strategy; establishing rest and relaxation routines; recommending dietary supplements or herbs; recommending internet-based programs or apps to monitor and improve sleep, among others.

Most importantly a Health Coach will help in committing yourself to regain confidence in your natural ability to sleep well. The good news is that, with the adequate approach, solving your sleep problems is possible and will result in more energy, mental and physical well-being, productivity and overall better quality of life.