I’m Lucie Fink and this week is five days of getting better quality sleep.
Hey everyone and welcome back to Try Living with Lucie.
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And give this video a thumbs up if you’re ready to learn about sleep.
I have recently and pretty much all of my spare time been reading books and books and
books about how to get better quality sleep.
I’m not quite sure why, but I’ve become obsessed with the topic.
Two of my favorite books on the subject are Shawn Stevenson’s book Sleep Smarter and
Arianna Huffington’s book The Sleep Revolution.
And when I say I’ve been reading these books, I mean I’ve been reading them.
Like, with a pen, hardcore taking notes, writing down everything, soaking up so much information.
And now I just can’t do anything else but share it with you.
Some of my favorite videos in this series have been things like five days of zero waste
or no plastic, five days of ayurveda, videos where I myself have really taken a deep dive
into a specific topic and then they whole video is about sharing what I’ve learned with you.
So this video I hope will be very helpful.
And it’s honestly my goal to improve at least some of your sleep qualities out there.
And then hopefully overall that will have some major positive effects in your life,
including overall health.
So get your notebooks out, get your pencils out and get ready to learn.
So we all know that in our society, sleep is not notoriously sexy.
It’s actually a lot sexier to stay up late and to be creative and to party and to work
your a** and hustle.
And so in our world, millions of people are sleep deprived and are suffering from the
effects of it.
Sleep regulates a lot of our bodies hormone production and it’s actually during sleep
that our body releases much of our growth hormone to maintain and repair muscle.
So here’s a short list of some of the effects of getting poor quality sleep.
Relationships suffer, work productivity declines, cortisol, your stress hormone, is higher.
Insulin doesn’t work as well and it can through your blood sugar way off.
You’re probably feeling pretty grouchy.
You may have dark circles under your eyes, a higher risk
of more diseases and a lot more.
But when you actually sleep well and get good quality sleep, here are some of the positive side effects.
Better skin health and appearance, better relationships and emotional state.
Lower levels of inflammation, fewer accidents happening in your life, enhanced immune system
function, hormone balance, and a decrease risk of many diseases.
So there are obviously other factors in our lives that effect all of these things, but
I would say that the top three most important are eating real food, getting in some movement,
and and getting proper quality sleep.
You do have to read some of these books on your own if you want to truly grasp the value
of sleep for yourself.
And there are so many studies cited inside with a lot of juicy information.
So this week is about spending each of the five days implementing some of these tips
that I’ve been learning recently so that I can jumpstart the improvement of my sleep
quality.
So let’s start with Monday.
Going into Monday, the first thing I did was set up a sleep schedule.
If sleep is as important as these books say it is,
then I need to pop it into my calendar as a high priority event.
It needs to be in there just the same as if I had a work meeting or a doctor’s appointment.
I can’t be late, I can’t miss it, and I can’t cancel.
So on my calendar I scheduled in a stop time for work at 6pm.
My plan is to eat dinner at seven and then starting at 7:30 I am going to be getting
ready for sleep.
Winding down, starting all my self-care practices, I once heard someone equate it to almost having
foreplay with sleep.
You can’t just lie down and expect to fall asleep, you have to tease it and ease into it.
So once I was fully set up for the week, my Monday was focused on the morning time.
A great night’s sleep actually begins first thing in the morning.
Your body’s circadian rhythm is basically that 24 hour cycle that tells you when to
sleep, when to wake up, and when to eat.
And in the past before the introduction of artificial light into our world, it was the
sunlight and that predictable pattern of lightness and darkness that controlled these sleep cycles.
There are a lot of reasons why getting proper sunlight exposure helps our bodies and helps
this circadian rhythm.
Firstly, and I think this is really cool, sunlight triggers your body to produce optimal
levels of daytime hormones.
First on that list is serotonin, and as soon as the receptors in our eyes catch that natural
sunlight, we produce more serotonin, which is known to bring about feelings of happiness
and wellbeing.
Next is melatonin and you’ve probably heard about people taking melatonin to help them
sleep and it’s secreted naturally in our bodies as it gets darker outside.
But one of the reasons it’s important to get natural sunlight during the day is to
essentially tell your body that it’s the day time so that it knows when it’s nighttime
and it can coordinate that natural production of melatonin at night.
And third is cortisol.
Cortisol is notorious for being the stress hormone and of course you don’t want it
to be overproduced or underproduced in the body.
But at its normal levels, cortisol is actually what gives us the energy to be awake and alert
all day.
So we need cortisol.
So yes, when you get that daytime sunlight exposure, it encourages the production of
cortisol, which helps set that natural rhythm of cortisol in the morning and melatonin at night.
Another thing that’s important to note here is that it’s not just the sunlight that
helps tune up the circadian rhythm, but it’s also what time you wake up.
According to psychiatrist and psychotherapist Tracey Marks, going to sleep early and waking
early syncs the body clock with the Earth’s natural circadian rhythms.
And this is apparently a lot better than trying to sleep in the middle of the day when the
sun is high up in the sky.
So if you’re not a morning person, I’ve already made an entire five day challenge
video where I try to become one, so be sure to check that one out right after this.
One of the most important ways to improve your sleep quality is to truly focus on the
environment of your bedroom.
And firstly, we have to train our brains to know almost habitually that the bedroom is
meant for two things and two things only: sleep and sex.
This means we have to stop doing things like watching tv in bed, binge watching Netflix
in bed, bringing our laptops to bed to do work, scrolling through our phones and chatting
with friends because all of these things tell our brains that the bedroom is a social space,
but we want the brain to think of it as a sleep sanctuary.
Next we’re going to talk about the air quality in the bedroom because even though this is
something we can’t see, it is vital.
If you have the budget for it, getting an air ionizer is a great way to add more negative
ions into the air, which can then bind to dust, bacteria, pollen, and other allergens.
Some cheaper ways to re-energize that stale air in the bedroom would be to just open the
window during the daytime, turn on a fan to get things moving, try using a humidifier,
or just add some plants to your bedroom.
You might be surprised at how good some houseplants are at filtering the air.
So I recently got a snake plant that absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen at night.
Another major adjustment that you can make to your bedroom to improve your sleep quality
is to make sure your room is one hundred percent dark.
I mean blacked out when you go to bed.
Get yourself some blackout curtains, unplug your nightlights.
Make sure if you have an alarm clock, you’re covering up those lit-up digits.
I live in New York City, so there’s a lot of light pollution leaking in from outside
of my windows.
There are car lights, other apartment lights, and just general brightness from whatever
the heck is going on down there.
I do know of many people that sleep with their shades wide open so that the sunlight leaks
in in the morning and they can wake up naturally.
But what I’m learning from these books is that it’s a lot better to blackout your
room, sleep in complete darkness, and then when you wake up in the morning, open up your
shades and let the sun shine.
Using an eye mask can be helpful and I actually have a ton of eye masks to choose from.
But eye masks are not one hundred percent effective and I think that the study in the
book Sleep Smarter that I found to be the most interesting is one that proves that it’s
not just light that’s visible to our eyes that causes the sleep disruption, but it’s
actually any light that comes in contact with our skin.
So the study put a fiber optic cable behind the knee of a test subject and illuminated
a little patch of their skin about the size of a quarter.
And even though the whole rest of their body was in darkness and their eyes were being
shielded from the light, just that one little patch of light behind their knee was enough
to affect their overall body temperature and also their melatonin levels.
Mind blown.
So Monday was spent focusing on the morning time and Tuesday was all about the bedroom
environment, but I know there are a bunch of things we can do throughout the course
of our day to improve our sleep quality for later that night.
So here are two things that can help.
Starting with physical activity and exercise.
One thing I find fascinating about exercise is that everyone thinks that the moment they
leave the gym, they’re so much stronger than when they first walked in.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Working out and exercising actually creates thousands of micro tears in your muscle fibers
and actually leaves you in way worse shape than before you walked into the gym.
On his podcast called The Model Health Show, Shawn Stevenson talks about how if you were
to go to the doctor right after going to the gym and if you were to get bloodwork done,
your doctor might actually think you were sick because your stress hormones would be
elevated, your inflammatory markers would be way up, your blood sugar levels might be
off, and so much more.
So where am I going with all this?
Well exercise doesn’t actually pay off and build us up until we’ve properly slept.
Another important tip that I implemented on Wednesday is to exercise early in the day.
I was probably the first person at the gym on Wednesday, it was totally empty, and there’s
a whole chapter in Sleep Smarter about how our body temperatures naturally fluctuate
during the day and to make a long scientific story short and easily digestible, when it’s
time to sleep, there’s an automatic drop in our body temperatures to help us with that.
In fact, we’re actually supposed to sleep with our rooms between 60 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit,
which is pretty cool.
And I don’t mean cool, I mean cool.
So knowing that our body temperatures are supposed to drop when it’s time for sleep,
it makes sense why evening exercise is not ideal.
Working out can significantly raise your core body temperature and then it’s going to
take some time for that temperature to come down.
Also going back to the cortisol that we talked about on Monday, exercise can help encourage
that natural release of cortisol.
So exercising early in the morning is helpful for helping to put your cortisol cycle on track.
A lot of these books have great information about what type of exercise is best, but I
will give you a little hint and let you know that Shawn Stevenson from Sleep Smarter is
a big fan of weightlifting.
And secondly, aside from physical activity, another thing we can do to improve our sleep
quality is to set a caffeine curfew.
Or as I like to call it, a coffee cutoff.
Even though I’ve tried five days of no coffee before, I’m personally back on the coffee train.
I love a good cup of coffee and I do subscribe to the idea that good quality coffee is really
good for you.
The issue with coffee and sleep is the caffeine content.
So what many people don’t know is that caffeine has a half-life from around five to eight
hours, it’s a little different for everyone.
And this means that after that five to eight hour window, half of the substance is still
active in your system.
So let’s say based on your unique biochemical makeup, it’s an eight hour half-life for
you.
This means that if you had 200 mg of caffeine at ten am, by 6:00pm you still have 100 mg
in your system, by 2:00am you still have 50 mg in your system, and so on and so forth.
So if you’re one of those people that’s knocking back late afternoon coffees, or somebody
that’s having a coffee or cappuccino after dinner time, just know that this caffeine
can be causing major sleep disturbances.
Shawn recommends a 2:00pm caffeine curfew if you want to make sure that by 10:00pm at
least half of the caffeine content is out of your system.
I’m sure some of you out there watching this right now are thinking “Uh, well it’s
the late afternoon already, I didn’t get any sun exposure, I didn’t workout today,
I just had coffee like ten minutes ago, so what can I do right now to sleep better tonight?”
And I hear you, I’m about to help you.
A few things you can do right before you go to sleep to drastically improve the quality
of your sleep are number one, stop looking at screens at least a half an hour before
you go to bed.
Computers, phones, tvs, iPads, these have all got to go.
All of these devices put out this artificial blue light that triggers our bodies to produce
more cortisol and stifles our body’s natural melatonin production.
And if you’re sitting there right now saying to yourself “I just can’t think of one
thing to do at night that doesn’t involve looking at a screen,” here’s a quick list.
Talk to somebody.
Whenever Michael gets home from work, we sit on the couch and we talk.
Read a book.
Maybe one of the books I’ve already mentioned today.
Water your plants.
Write a letter to someone you love.
Prep a meal for the following day.
Practice playing an instrument.
Look up at the stars.
Honestly, the possibilities are endless.
This list does go on and on and these are all things that our ancestors used to do before
the invention of the internet and technology.
Now listen, I love the internet just as much as the next YouTuber.
I’ve built my whole business and my whole career on it.
But that doesn’t mean I have to be constantly connected, especially just before I’m about
to fall asleep.
Alright, now here’s the second thing you can do tonight to improve your sleep quality.
Going back to our discussion about core body temperature, make sure you’re sleeping in
loose, breathable clothing.
I know that for so many people they just pile on the clothing.
Sweatshirts, sweatpants, robes.
Going to sleep they’re like going off to the Arctic Tundra.
But you’re going to sleep a lot better if you’re just a little bit cooler.
I wear baggy, oversized clothing to bed, a bunch of it is Michael’s hand-me-downs.
And it really helps keep me at a comfortable temperature.
And the third thing you can do I don’t want to say right now because you might not have
this product right now, but next day delivery, order it now, you’ll have it by tomorrow,
spray your body with magnesium oil before you go to bed.
Magnesium is necessary for many of the functions in our bodies, but today a large portion of
the population is deficient in it.
And actually one central symptom of a magnesium deficiency is chronic insomnia.
It all comes back to sleep.
But as Shawn shares in his book, research shows that a large percentage of that magnesium
is lost in the digestive process.
So then what’s another way to get that magnesium inside of your body effectively?
And the answer is, putting it on your skin.
So take a look online and do some research to see which brand you’d prefer, and then
keep it next to your bed and just before you go to sleep, spray it onto your chest, your
neck, your shoulders, or really anywhere that you’re feeling sore.
Friday has come, as it always does, and we’ve just gone through tons of tips.
But honestly there are so many other things to look at too that are very important here.
To name a few, alcohol consumption, the food you eat and the health of your gut microbiome,
the mattress you’re sleeping on, the various positions you sleep in, and a lot more.
First let’s look at alcohol.
It’s no secret that alcohol helps a lot of people fall asleep faster, but what it’s
really doing in there is disrupting your REM sleep cycle, so you’re body and brain are
not able to full rejuvenate.
So wrap up those drinks at least three hours before you try to go to bed and be sure to
drink a ton of water alongside your alcohol to stay hydrated.
Up next, your gut.
I did an entire episode on gut health, so be sure to check that one out.
But just remember you are what you eat and whatever you choose to put in your body can
do a major number on your overall health.
Also 95% of your body’s serotonin is found in your gut.
And do you know what else is in your gut?
Melatonin.
So if things are running smoothly down there, you will have a tremendous increase in your
quality of sleep.
If you’re sleeping normal hours, approximately one third of your life will be spent on your
mattress.
So I recently swapped out my mattress for a new organic mattress that has no toxic dyes,
no chemicals, and also no flame retardants, which can release toxic gasses into the air.
On my own YouTube channel, I either just released or am just about to release a whole video
about this.
It’s called 17 ways to make your home more organic, so definitely go check that out.
And lastly your sleeping position.
So here are some of the sleeping positions that we tend to gravitate towards: the fetus,
the log, the yearner, the soldier, the freefaller, and the starfish.
I’m personally a starfish sleeper, but comment below and let me know your sleeping position.
There are some pros and cons to each position, so just make sure you’re reading up about
the differences.
And also make sure you’re making any necessary adjustments to correct any mistakes you’re making.
Obviously I’m just starting to scratch the surface here when it comes to sleep and truly
understanding how important it is for our bodies and minds, so if you have any more
tips or anything else you want to share, comment below now.
And if all else fails, have safe consensual sex.
As I heard Arianna Huffington say on a podcast recently,
Interesting.
Good to know.
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