You’re catching a flight at 5 am tomorrow. His boss, a real early riser, set up a weekly meeting very early. School is back to school, and you have to stand up and shine to cheer up the family. The alarm clock has gone off again and suddenly you are getting out of bed sleepy.
These are the nights when you go to bed early and beg for sleep—often in vain.
“This has happened to me many times, unfortunately,” said Phyllis Zee, director of the Center for Circadian Medicine and Sleep at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
“If you can’t sleep, don’t worry about it. Worrying won’t help.”
Sleep expert Raj Dasgupta has a similar orientation.
“My general advice is ‘don’t force it,’ because this worry about getting those drowsiness will start to ruminate in your mind, making things worse,” said Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University’s Keck School of Medicine. from southern California.
“The reality is that often the more we try to relax and transition to sleep, the more we worry that we are losing precious sleep time, making it difficult to get a ‘good night’s sleep’,” he said by email. mail.
If your sleep chronotype—the time your body is naturally programmed to want to sleep—is that of a night owl (late to sleep, late to wake up), these nights (and days after) can be especially difficult, say experts. experts.
Here are some tried-and-true tips from experts on how to alleviate those “please let me sleep” worries.
don’t try the impossible
First, unless you’re a morning lark, don’t try to fall asleep at 9 pm, which can be too early for your biological clock. It just makes you worry.
Instead, “start dimming the lights from 8pm to 9pm,” Zee advised, and aim for a bedtime at 10pm.
You also want to avoid blue light, which tricks your brain into “thinking it’s still daytime. This prevents the release of key hormones like melatonin, which help you sleep,” said Dasgupta.
“Blue light is emitted by electronic devices like smartphones and computers,” he said, so avoid them, as well as bright lights, during the two hours before bed.
Meditation, mindfulness and breathing
Being stressed about sleep is “a huge barrier to getting restful sleep,” Dasgupta said, and it can “make existing sleep problems like insomnia worse.”
Struggle with mindfulness and meditation to promote calm, he suggested. “(These practices) can help calm the mind and body, making the transition to sleep easier and hopefully enjoyable,” he said.
One of the best ways to help you fall asleep is to focus on your breathing, experts say.
“One technique is the ‘4-7-8 breathing method’, which has been shown to reduce stress,” Dasgupta said. “Breathe deeply for four seconds. Hold your breath for seven seconds, then slowly release your breath and exhale for a count of one to eight. Repeat these steps several times and then take a break and see if you feel more relaxed.”
Introduce daylight
When the very early alarm goes off, immediately turn on the bright lights, Zee said. This tells your brain it’s daytime and helps turn off melatonin production.
Then get into the sunlight as quickly as possible, experts suggest.
“Natural sunlight during the day helps keep your circadian rhythm healthy,” Dasgupta said. “This improves daytime energy as well as nighttime sleep quality.”
plan a nap
You can plan for a 20- to 30-minute nap in the early afternoon that day and then try your best to get to bed earlier that night too, Zee said. Your “sleep drive” will be high, she said, due to being “sleep deprived the night before.”
It will be “easier to fall asleep around 10pm to 10:30pm and catch up on sleep,” Zee said.
Avoid alcohol and sweets
Avoid consuming caffeine after lunch and avoid alcohol close to bedtime, “as both can disrupt sleep,” Dasgupta said. “If you’re hungry after dinner, keep snacks small, sugar-free, and easily digestible so you don’t get in the way of sleep.”
That call in the middle of the night
And if you’ve done all that and dozed off happily, but you get a call around 6 or 7 am, here’s what to do:
Here are the rules for that scenario, according to Vsevolod Polotsky, professor of medicine and director of sleep research in the Division of Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
- Do not turn on the light;
- Try to calm down, end your conversation promptly and go back to bed;
- If you can’t go back to sleep in less than 10 minutes, go to another room, turn on a dim light, and try reading a boring book. (Electronic devices are not allowed, Polotsky said. They emit blue light that will wake you up.);
- Do not check your email or text messages. In fact, don’t use your smartphone, computer, e-reader or TV (again, due to blue light stimulation);
- Do not wash dishes, go out or exercise;
- Meditate or relax and think of something pleasant;
So relax, don’t worry and sweet dreams!
Source: CNN Brasil
