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What I know about sleep
Daylight Savings Time is a crock. We're giving everyone in the US jet lag for a week, for no reason. It doesn't save any energy, and there are more traffic accidents, so it costs lives.
Since y'all are going to be sleep deprived for awhile, I thought I would share what I know about sleep.
Same time to bed, even on weekends.
Melatonin works, but its tricksy
Sleep aids generally depress REM sleep.
There are mental things you can do.
Kindle in Dark Mode
Same Time To Bed
If you stay up late on weekends, come Monday, you've inflicted jet lag on yourself every week. Don't do it. Get up at the same time, go to bed at the same time.
Melatonin works, but you have to use it thoughtfully
If you're expecting Melatonin to knock you out, that's not how it works. Melatonin is the hormone released by your body when the sun goes down, and when you supplement with it, it makes you sleepy in 20 minutes. But you can easily push through that sleepiness. So if you're going to use it, take it 20 minutes ahead of time. Also, taking more doesn't make you more sleepy.
I generally use the dual layer flavor, so I get the burst of sleepiness and some additional throughout the night. This is important, because if you take melatonin reactively when you can't sleep, it resets your clock, so you end up not being able to sleep the next night...
Sleep Aids generally depress REM sleep
REM sleep is when your brain gets all its rest. Sleep Aids generally prevent REM sleep, so they're only pretending to help. Also, if you're a man, REM sleep is when the body runs its "system test", and you get erections. REM Sleep is better than Viagra (so Melatonin is better than Viagra).
Mental Tricks
If you're awake in the middle of the night because your mind is racing, you can do something from Qigong called small circulation. Your problem is that your body is funneling energy to your brain from your day, and you need it to stop. You do that by imagining your energy from your brain around the different areas of your body. Look at the following diagram:
For Small Circulation, on the inhale, you picture your breath going down your front to your groin. On the exhale, picture it going back up around the top of your head to your upper lip. Repeat.
Kindle in Dark Mode
I keep a Kindle by my bed. When I can't sleep, I can roll over, pickup the Kindle and read without getting out of bed or disturbing my wife. I used to get up and read for an hour, now I only need to read for 15 minutes
I hope that helps you all, share with others, so we all get a good nights sleep next week!
h/t: Photo by Михаил Калегин on Unsplash
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