Initially, I quelled the desire to write a long blog post detailing how and why sleep is an Innate Essential. It’s been done a million times over. Ultimately though this blog wasn’t started just for me as a creative outlet but was intended to be a resource for my patients that I care for.
So, in that spirit, I feel the need to have a simple blog post detailing out routine habits that create the promise of amazing sleep. In this day and age, it’s really not as simple as laying your head on a pillow and letting your Innate take care of the rest.
The body needs certain natural elements to function properly day to day just as it needs certain nutritional factors day to day for proper function. For this, I have detailed out some ideal habits to incorporate into your day to day routines that are congruent with your genetic code.
“While other professions are concerned with changing the environment to suit the weakened body, chiropractic is concerned with strengthening the body to suit the environment.”
– BJ Palmer
Routines Build Dreams
Remember, it’s your routines that make you who you are. The more you practice good routines, the more you build the life of your dreams.
Most of this information can be found in Dr. Matthew Walker’s best selling book Why We Sleep.
23 Routines That Build Dreams and Amazing Sleep
- Make a plan. Scientists recommend 7-9 hours of sleep. Plan according to how you feel based upon that first hour you wake. I do well with 7-8 hours a night.
- Consistency is key. Whatever plan you choose, make sure it is consistent. Your head should hit the pillow around the same time every night. I prefer 9-5. It allows me some wiggle room to wake up early to get a head start on my day. If I’m struggling to fall asleep, I can wake up later without sacrificing my other routines of the day.
- Eliminate discomfort. This isn’t concise advice, but more or less understanding that pain is a problem for many who lack sleep. Find a good chiropractor for your physical issues. Find a good psychologist for your emotional ones. Sleep is where the healing ultimately occurs, Physically and Emotionally.
- Stop late-night eating. Plan to eat your last meal roughly 3 hours prior to your chosen bedtime.
- Get outside. Go for a walk after dinner and let the food digest. Burn off the last of your energy and reconnect with nature for a peaceful sleep. Enjoy the fresh air.
- Get outside early when the climate allows. The sun is one indicator that your body uses to signal the release of certain chemicals. Daily exposure to sunlight is directly related to your melatonin levels. Get outside and synthesize some Vitamin D.
- Turn down the lights. Follow the natural rules of the world. The sunset is a natural indicator that a shift is taking place. This should also signal to you that your day is coming to an end. Start reducing light and light-emitting objects from your space. Dim the lights, light a candle and relax. Blueblox glasses, recommended by most sleep scientists, are great for those that cannot turn down the lights right away.
- Separate from your phone. Turn off, Tune in, Drop Apps. Your phone needs to be out of your hand sometime around dusk. Again Blueblox glasses help those that stare at their screens for many hours.
- Don’t synthetically induce sleep. Your body doesn’t need help to sleep, it just needs no interference. Sleep aids have the ability to render you unconscious. This is not the same as quality sleep. Alcohol, drugs, and pharmaceuticals are primary examples of sleeping agents. Marijuana is natural but still shown to interrupt sleep quality.
- Do encourage natural sleep with proper nutrition. Magnesium is depleted due to stressors. Incorporate foods high in magnesium and supplement when necessary. Which in today’s high-stress world is almost everyone. Here is what I use. Melatonin can be appropriate when trying to resume normal sleeping patterns, but should not be used regularly, if necessary, until old age.
- Don’t alter your energy where possible. Caffeine should be consumed only if needed in the first few hours after waking up.
- Hot shower before bed. A warm shower encourages a healthy body temperature ripe for sleep. A 10-minute bath or shower an hour or two before bedtime is the best. If you are into cold showers for asceticism or because WimHof said so, then do it earlier in the day.
- Sleep Naked. This is the advice that every husband wished his wife knew and would follow. Again though, this is good advice for regulating core temps and not just for wishful thinking. Sleep with as little clothing as possible, whenever possible.
- Ventilation for fresh air. In ideal climates and environments, you should open or crack a window for clean fresh air to enter and stagnation to exit.
- Calming sounds. Scientists relate that quiet is best. For me, that seems to be true. For my wife, not so much. In this case, pick something light and soothing. Ocean waves, white noise, etc.
- Darken your room. I already alluded to the fact that blue light wrecks your sleep patterns. A dark room is important for the best quality sleep. Sleep Masks may also be appropriate.
- Invest in your sleep. I prefer a firm mattress with a pillow top. The firm mattress keeps your spine in line which is very important. The pillow top gives you some comfort. I usually universally recommend the Purple bed or something similar in my practice.
- Sleep positions make a difference. Deep quality sleep can be had in any position. The dilemma is how long will you last in the position before pain and discomfort arise. What’s the long term damage when sleeping like a contortionist?
- Re-program your internal clock. Avoid alarms if at all possible. Obviously, this doesn’t apply to everyone. Truth is, I will use one when needed. I set it 5 minutes earlier than needed and do this daily for a month. After that I will remove it from the days I don’t need it and I will set it at the time I need to wake up. As you may have inferred, my body’s internal clock will take over and regulate. I will usually be up before the alarm to start my day. New daylight alarms are recommended when your internal clock just doesn’t seem to work.
- Practice breathing techniques before bed. This is to center your body and down-regulate your drive to consume. I also like to do these in the morning to start my day.
- Meditation and prayer. This runs in parallel to breathing techniques. The practice of meditation or prayer is to center yourself. Take a moment to let your Innate intelligence and universal intelligence communicate.
- Movement is life. Exercise during the day. Lack of movement creates a lack of sleep. I prefer the mornings before my brain knows what I am doing. Move with purpose before bed. Stretching, Tai Chi, or ROM work.
- Write it out. This is the best way to calm your anxiety, set clear intentions, and resolve the task. Do this proactively, but also when you can’t sleep. Get up out of bed, write, pray, listen to God speak to you and with focus. You’ll tire out fairly quickly. Whatever you do, Don’t activate your anxiety centers by mindlessly clicking onto your favorite social media app.
“Every organ in your body is connected to the one under your hat.”
– BJ Palmer
Chiropractic Soapbox
Chiropractic is centered around the Neuromusculoskeletal system. It is a really fancy way of saying that Chiropractors adjust the spine to remove mechanical joint dysfunction and decrease interference in the nervous system.
For many Chiropractors, their treatment is centered around pain relief and correction. For others, their purpose of applying an adjustment is to remove a subluxation only. The subluxation interferes with the body’s innate ability to adapt to its environment through the nervous system. This in turn can cause all kinds of dysfunction and dis-ease within the organism, including pain.
In reality, the intention makes a difference on what the practitioner is focused upon and does not always dictate the outcome. A subluxation free body and a pain-free body both respond similarly when it comes to sleep. Sleep.org
Anecdotally Chiropractors can tell you one of the first things a new patient will tell them after his first few adjustments is how much better he/she is sleeping. It’s one of the more common subjective findings reported.
Unfortunately, there is not enough research out there to state that in fact being adjusted will help you sleep better. I will say though, that with all of the other benefits Chiropractic provides why wouldn’t you give it a shot. It’s a win-win situation. In my opinion, an adjustment is integral to the function of all 12 systems of the human body.
One Adjustment Action Step
1.) Incorporate some new habits. Routines Build Dreams.
2.) Check out some of my other blogs on sleep.
3.) As always, get adjusted. It’s a simple part of a great wellness routine. Subluxation free.
As I preach to you about what should be done to live a healthy lifestyle. Remember that no one likes an extremist. Find some wiggle room to explore a 90/10 Lifestyle and give yourself a break from trying to be perfect.
Commitment is needed in some shape or form. I have committed to practicing the O.A.T.H. every day. One Adjustment Towards Health every day.
P.S. Most of the helpful routines above for sleep also apply to help the immune system function better.
Nick the DC
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