The universe is nothing but energy waves in constant vibration. All the galaxies and planets and our solar system too, vibrate with the energies of the universe. These vibrations follow a cyclical pattern in a complex concatenation, precession, revolution, rotation and such motions. The pattern of such motions sets up circadian rhythms of energies that ebb and flow all around us. A healthy body will be in alignment with such circadian rhythms and will naturally respond to the cyclical energies. Sunrise, sunset, response to natural and artificial light and so on. An unhealthy body will be out of sync with the circadian rhythms and the first thing that happens is that the sleep patterns are disturbed.
A lot of research has been done and reveals the links between sleep disorders and chronic illnesses. People who don’t sleep well, have a 50% increased risk of viral infections including covid like disorders.
When we sleep, our immune system is activated and does its job of restoring and repairing the body, and the brain also processes emotional data experienced through the day, to resolve unfinished matters of relationships and emotions.
An average of less than 6 hours of sleep a day, is linked to infection, insulin resistance, obesity, diabetes, CVD, cancer, arthritis, mood disorders. Insomnia is an early symptom of depression, and depression, we can say, is a late stage manifestation of insomnia. Work and life stress is also highly correlated with sleep disturbances.
Sometimes, diabetics, folks with prostrate gland enlargement, need to wake up at night to relieve themselves. If this happens more than once a night, then it is a disturbance in your sleep pattern.
The biggest mistake people make is not giving enough importance to sleep. Believe me, a good sleep cycle is the foundation of good health, just like any foundation of a building. If you want to build a good building, you need to have a good foundation, if you want to have good health, you need to begin with good sleep. Sleep helps you align your body to the circadian rhythms and live a joyful, happy, vibrant and flowing life.
A second big misconception is not having a bedtime ritual. The mind and the body needs time to wind down and slow down in preparation for sleep. If you simply come from a hectic schedule and crash into bed, totally exhausted and not relaxed, chances are your sleep will be disturbed or stressful. A bedtime ritual is like a cool down ritual that allows you to gradually move into a relaxed mind-body state and allow sleep to come naturally and rhythmically.
If you are one of those to whom sleep comes easily and you sleep non-stop for 7-8 hours, then this conversation would help you understand the value of your good foundation. If you are one of those who average less than 6 hours of sleep per night, interrupted by wakeful periods, anxiety and stressful thoughts, then this conversation might help you understand the need for addressing your issues. In case of the latter, it always helps to speak to a Health Coach about Sleep coaching.
If you ask me, “What is Sleep Coaching?” Well its a totally empowering set of conversations you can have with your health coach on so many aspects of sleep. Begining with your bed and how it enables you? your bedroom? who you sleep with? what are their sleep patterns? What are your current sleep patterns? What is the value and meaning you give to sleep and your own health? What are the LAN patterns or light at night that you are normally exposed to? Do you take frequent naps during the day? What do you do for the last one hour before getting into bed? what kind of food you ate, and how much water you drank, before sleeping and how did it affect your sleep? A sleep coach will help you with getting to a healthier sleep by exploring workable solutions to some of these issues. A total transformation of your health can take place, just by adopting a proper bedtime ritual that works for you!
Light at Night is the biggest influencer of sleep and our circadian rhythms respond primarily to sunlight.. Thomas Edison patented his electrical lightbulb in 1879, approximately 150 years ago and we now have light at night. Before that we had only sunlight to govern our circadian rhythms. Sunlight provides full spectrum of light to our eyes and our bodies. Out of this sunlight, it it the UV or ultra-violet light spectrum that impacts our circadian rhythms more than anything else. Of late, we have tubelights, LED lights which emit a lot of UV spectrum light in our homes. And, also screens on your mobile, laptop, television and now on your wearable gadgets like watches too, all emit a large amount of UV light. This tricks the body into believing that it is not yet nighttime, as a result, the brain does not slow down as it becomes evening, twilight and night. Our circadian rhythms get disturbed. So, for at least an hour before you sleep, an important bedtime ritual is to shut off the white lights, and keep a romantic mood lighting with yellow spectrum lights, which tell the body, that night time is here. Today even my mobile phone and this laptop too, is equipped with a setting that turns of the blue colours in my screen after 7pm every day.
White LED lights are everywhere, including in my home, so I make it a point to keep only my bedside lamps which have a yellow LED bulb and a red colour lampshade on at night, especially after dinner. My mobile and laptop have a blue light filter setting which is switched on automatically. I sleep at the same time and wake at the same time everyday (a couple of days a month social life does not permit me to do this) I like to keep at least two hours gap after dinner before I sleep so that food has left my stomach and is now being processed by my intestines. The stomach heaves and moves a lot when it is digesting food, and that can lead to disturbed dreams and sleep too. I like to take the last few minutes before going to bed everyday to moisturize my body and massage my legs and knees which are tired after the whole day of activity. I rarely watch TV at night, but once I experimented with watching spiritual lessons from the gurus before sleeping, and I must say I had great positive dreams those nights and slept really well. I understood that the last thoughts before sleeping actually trigger a series of thoughts in your brain and subconscious and that sets the tone for your sleep. Some words of gratitude for the day and affirmations for myself.
Don’t undervalue the importance of sleep in your life. Get to a Health Coach who understands your needs and contexts, and can help you work through not just your bedtime rituals, but also your food habits, and your stress levels which all affect your sleep patterns. A Health Coach will look not only at bed time rituals, but also at your levels of hyper arousal during the day, stress levels, what your relationship with sleep time is, what are your thoughts and dreams during sleep interruptions. A Health Coach may also advise you to wear a watch like the one I am wearing, that tracks your sleep patterns during the night and how much deep sleep, light sleep, REM sleep and waking moments you had, your snoring patterns, and periods of time when your oxygen levels fall below 90%, because many folks have another condition called sleep apnea when they stop breathing due to obstruction in their breathing. Bedtime Rituals are just the tip of the iceberg to dealing with sleep deficit disorders.
