Sweet Dreams - Tips for Restful Sleep

Mar 11

Most of my life I’ve had a bit of a love/hate relationship with sleep. On one hand, I love sleeping because I feel like I’m always tired, but I feel like I’m always tired because I have disturbed sleep with a lot of restless, vivid dreams. I think it’s kind of cool that I have episodic dreams that feel like adventures, and have had a number of prophetic dreams in my life (including seeing my daughter clearly before I became pregnant - golden ringlets and all!), but those kind of dreams are just not conducive for feeling well rested and productive. Now with the pandemic, I feel like so many people who previously did not previously have trouble with their sleep have newly developed sleep issues similar to the ones I’ve lived with my entire life - whether from stress and anxiety, schedule changes, or activity level changes.

Over the years, I’ve read and read and read up on sleep hygiene and tested so many ideas. Don’t get me wrong, I still struggle with sleep because I struggle with consistency and discipline which means that even if I know what helps me, I don’t always act upon that knowledge.

So, here are some of my best restful sleep tips which I’m hoping will help both long term sufferers and those who have been having trouble since the pandemic started. I don’t expect anyone to be able to do ALL of these things ALL of the time, but I recommend trying out what’s practical for you and seeing if it helps!

Sleep Environment

The environment we sleep in can have a huge impact on quality of sleep and our ability to fall asleep quickly.

Temperature - Studies show that people sleep better in cooler temperatures, this study even states that temperature is the MOST important factor that can affect quality of sleep. The Sleep Foundation recommends an ambient bedroom temperature of about 65°F for the best quality of sleep, though it varies from person to person generally within a range of 60-67°F. Warmer temperatures increase wakefulness and decrease slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep - both of which are important for restful sleep. This doesn’t mean that you should be cold at night, definitely pile on the blankets and wear what makes you feel comfortable, but keeping the room at a lower temperature can greatly improve your sleep experience.
Light - How much light is in your sleeping environment can have a huge effect on your sleep-wake cycles. Darkness is absolutely essential for quality of sleep - both falling asleep, and staying asleep. Melatonin, a hormone produced in the brain, signals the brain that it’s time to rest, and light exposure inhibits the release of melatonin which consequently makes it harder to fall asleep.
- Prepare for sleep by lowering the lights before bedtime
- Use a blue light filter and dim the settings on any electronics before bed, blue light has a stronger effect on sleep onset than warm lights
- If you can, stop using electronics before bed to reduce light exposure
- Use blackout curtains if you have streetlights nearby or if you your schedule requires sleeping before sunset/after sunrise
- Remove or cover electronics in the room that have lights on them
- If you need a nightlight, use one that is dim with a warm light. I recommend using a Himalayan Salt Lamp for a pleasant warm glow with low impact on sleep.
- A sleep mask or even a pillow covering your eyes can be excellent solutions for quickly reducing light exposure during sleep if you can’t make your room completely dark. I use this soft, Bluetooth Sleep Mask sometimes because it has the added bonus of allowing me to listen to quiet relaxing music or binaural beats as I sleep without disturbing my partner.
Clean - A clean sleep environment is more relaxing than one filled with clutter or messes. There are few feelings better than slipping into a neatly made bed with freshly washed sheets. According to the National Sleep Foundation, people who wash their bedding regularly reported 19% better sleep at night than those who don’t. Additionally, regular vacuuming and dusting improves air quality which in turn can improve sleep.
- Feng Shui principles state that clutter disrupts the natural flow of energy throughout the room making it stagnant or move chaotically which in turn drains your energy. Reducing clutter allows for the healthy flow of peaceful energy in your sleep space.
Limit Disruptions - Sleep quality isn’t just gauged by number of hours slept, but also how often you wake. Chronically disrupted sleep greatly reduces sleep quality and can lead to long term detrimental effects from daytime tiredness to neuronal degeneration which can contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Ways to limit sleep disruptions may include:
- Reducing Light
- Blocking out sound from streets, noisy sleep companions, roommates, etc. You can use Ear Plugs to block out noises or a white noise to mask external sounds and create a consistent sound environment.
- Limit disruptive sleep companions - I love sleeping with pets, they help me sleep more soundly to have them nearby and one study has found that women in particular tend to sleep more soundly with dogs as a bed partner due to feelings of heightened safety and security. However, not all bed partners are created equal and if your pet is restless at night or tends to wake you frequently, it may be beneficial to consider removing them from the bedroom.

Additional Niceties for a Positive Sleep Environment

Sleep Pillow - Gold & Brown-1-4.JPG — **Aromatherapy** - Using essential oils or dried herbs for aromatherapy can help relax the nervous system and improve quality of sleep.

Herbal Sleep Pillow or Satchet - these sleep pillows are filled with herbs and botanicals traditionally used to promote restful sleep including Hops, Lavender, Calendula, Rosemary, Chamomile, Thyme, & Blue Vervain

Some Essential Oils for Sleep and Relaxation:
- Lavender - relieves stress and anxiety, promotes restful sleep
- Ylang Ylang - known for its sedative effects
- Marjoram - calms and relieves stress
- Frankincense - relieves stress and promotes relaxation
- Cedarwood - a natural sedative
- Chamomile - calming and lifts symptoms of depression

Essential Oil Diffuser - I love these diffusers for filling the entire bedroom. The large size allows it to continuously diffuse all night! If you have pets, diffusing some essential oils can be hazardous to their health, so please use caution and make sure to research before use.
Essential Oil Rollers - A great option for if you have pets or partners with smell sensitives, you can apply essential oils diffused in a carrier oil to your temples and pulse points for their aroma therapeutic benefits.
Linen Sprays - Spritz a relaxing mist on your sheets and pillow before bed is another great option for relaxing aromatherapy and can be incorporated as part of your bedtime ritual.

White Noise - Many people benefit from having white noise in the bedroom to mask disruptive sounds and with a consistent sound environment. Some ways to incorporate white noise:
- Turn on a fan
- Use a white noise machine
- Use a fountain or aquarium with filter - while my partner has to have a fan going all night to sleep, I love having a small planted aquarium in the bedroom. The gentle babbling brook noises are pleasant and provide the needed sound masking, while bringing in a water element and plant energies to the bedroom energy.

**White Noise**

For our purposes white noise is essentially any ongoing sounds that are used to create a consistent auditory environment. This means that sudden disruptive noises, such as a car door slamming outside, or the dog scratching himself, are muffled by the consistent noise that’s masking it. Fans and white noise machines are great for this, but my favorite addition to my sleep environment is my planted aquarium. The running filter creates a pleasant bubbling noise environment and the plants make my soul happy!

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himalayan salt lamp-5654.JPG — Himalayan Salt Lamps make for the best nightlights as their warm glow is less disruptive for sleep cycles. I keep one in both my daughter’s and my bedrooms.

Metaphysical Helpers

Crystals

I keep a collection of crystals on my nightstand to help me sleep. My favorites are Amethyst to help reduce nightmares, Shungite to absorb negative energy, and Selenite for clearing and cleansing energies including the space, my other crystals, and, of course, my person. Here’s some of the best crystals for restful sleep:

Amethyst - This calming stone is believed to reduce nightmares by removing negative energies. It promotes restful sleep, is highly protective, and combats insomnia.
Shungite - A powerful protective stone, shungite combats insomnia and normalize sleep patterns while shielding you from negative influences.
Selenite - Also known as satin spar, assists in recharging your energy and helps clear your aura as you sleep. I love these Selenite Tower Lamps (pictured above from my night stand). The vibrations coming off of them are incredible! However, if you find that excessive dreaming is keeping you from feeling rested, you may want to pass on this stone as it can open the gateways for prophetic dreaming.
Smokey Quartz - A grounding stone that dispels negativity and releases anxiety and fear which helps promote restful sleep.
Moonstone - This calming stone helps reduce emotional tension to help you sleep easier.

Witch’s Balls

These glass baubles when hung in window and doorways are believed to trap or confuse negative spirits and unwanted entities that would enter the home to do harm. They oftentimes are made with colored glass and have inclusions. I had mine custom commissioned by Georgia glass blower Danielle Colón to match our bedrooms. If you believe that nightmares or insomnia may be due to outside influences, these may help bring more restful sleep.

Dream Catchers

Hung over or near the bed, Dream Catchers shield the sleeper from bad dreams - some say that bad dreams are caught in the web and good dreams are allowed to pass through. Mine, pictured above, was handmade by Keli of PureMysticalMayhem1

Create a Bedtime Ritual

Establishing a consistent bedtime schedule with a daily ritual can help mentally prepare yourself for sleep. Try to keep to it daily to encourage your brain to initiate melatonin production on a schedule.

Keep a regular sleep schedule - sticking to a consistent bedtime and wake up time provides higher quality sleep. Most people are naturally on a 10pm-6am circadian sleep cycle, but individuals who are not neurotypical (such as those with ADHD) are more likely to run on a 2am-10am sleep cycle. If your work/life schedule allows it, stick to whatever your natural sleep cycle is. Committing to that regular schedule improves ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Make your bed - my bedtime ritual includes making my bed before climbing in. I generally get up and start going in the morning, and don’t get around to making my bed till evening, so if you’re like me and don’t make your bed in the morning, I’d highly recommend doing so before bed as part of your nighttime ritual. Fighting with twisted blankets and sheets or grabbing for blankets that have been pulled or pushed off the wrong side of the bed is a recipe for disrupted sleep.

Lavender Bath Salt Scrub -1-2.JPG — **Take a bath**

Taking a warm bath before bedtime can help you unwind and fall asleep faster. For added benefit, you can incorporate some relaxing Lavender Aromatherapy Bath Salts. Adding a few drops of Lavender Essential Oil mixed with a tablespoon of carrier oil such as Sweet Almond or Jojoba Oil to a warm bath before bed can provide relaxing aromatherapy benefits.

Do some light stretches - For those of us who have cranky bodies, chronic pain, tightness, and discomfort can contribute to poor sleep quality. Doing some stretches before bed to release tight muscles can help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Supplementing magnesium can also help reduce muscle tightness and the associated discomfort, see below for more info on sleep enhancing supplements.
Make a to-do list or journal - for stress related sleeplessness, sometimes just taking the time to write down all the things that are weighing on you can help reduce the cyclical, ruminating thoughts that keep us up at night. This may mean writing out a to-do list for the next day so you won’t be worried about forgetting, or journaling about how you are feeling and what has transpired that’s causing you stress or anxiety.
Read in bed - Now, I’m not talking about a great novel that you just can’t put down because we all know that reading in bed can keep us up all night needing to finish “just the next chapter", but instead reading in bed something a bit less eventful with a low, warm light can help you unwind and get sleepy. I recommend using a reading light, or very soft lamp and bright or blue tinted lights can wake the brain back up.

Diet and Supplementation for Restful Sleep

Diet plays a huge role in so many of our bodily functions, so it should be no surprise that what we put into our bodies can influence the depth and quality of our sleep.

Food Factors
- Alcohol, spicy foods, caffeine, and sugar intake can all reduce quality of sleep
  - Alcohol represses REM sleep, so while it can help individuals fall asleep faster, the quality of sleep is reduced from the lack of REM sleep.
  - For some individuals, eating spicy foods before bed can cause indigestion and discomfort which reduces quality of sleep. Additionally, it can raise your body temperature which disrupts sleep cycles as well as thermal regulation is one of the most important factors for sleep quality.
  - Stimulants - it should go without saying that taking stimulants before bed, whether it be caffeine, nicotine, sugar, or prescription medications promotes wakefulness and can cause disrupted sleep.
- Eating too close to bedtime can cause nighttime arousal and poor quality sleep due to digesting
Supplements to Promote Sleep
- Magnesium - As I mentioned earlier, magnesium is one of my favorite supplements for promoting sleep. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the system responsible for getting you calm and relaxed, regulates the production of melatonin (which guides sleep-wake cycles), and binds to GABA receptors to quiet nerve activity (in the same way that the sleep medication Ambien does). Basically, it calms and relaxes the body and the mind. One of the big benefits in my book is that it relaxes muscles and reduces disruptive nighttime muscle cramps, clenching, and muscle tightness discomfort. Natural Vitality Calm Magnesium is my favorite form of supplementing - it’s in powder form and I like to drink it as part of my bedtime ritual.
- Herbal Sleep Teas - These are teas that utilize plants traditionally used to relax the system, reduce anxiety, and induce sleep. These can be very effective for inducing restful sleep naturally and are readily available in grocery stores. My herbal sleep tea blend includes:
  - Passion Flower, Passiflora incarnata - A natural sedative, studies show this herb may relieve anxiety and insomnia by boosting the level of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in your brain. This compound lowers brain activity, which may help you relax and sleep better.
  - Lemon Balm, Melissa officinalis - Reduces anxiety and improves sleep quality.
  - Chamomile Flower, Matricaria recutita - Reduces anxiety and has been shown in studies to improve sleep quality.
  - Valerian Root, Valeriana officinalis - A natural sedative, this herb is used widely to combat sleep disorder, especially insomnia. Additionally used to treat anxiety, Valerian root contains valerenic acid which has been found to inhibit the breakdown of GABA in the brain, resulting in feelings of calmness and tranquility.
  - Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris - Known to soothe anxiety and promote calmness, but Mugwort is best known for its association with the moon given that it's Latin botanical name comes from the Greek Goddess of the Moon, Artemis. Mugwort is used to promote magically to promote lucid and prophetic dreaming
  - Hops, Humulus Lupulus - Promote calmness, relieve anxiety, and are used to treat sleep disorders. It has sedative properties whose pharmacological activity is due principally to its bitter resins, especially to the α-acid component 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol.
- Melatonin - This is one of the most popular supplements for sleep. Melatonin is a hormone primarily released by the pineal gland at night which is associated with control of the sleep–wake cycle. Supplementing it can be especially helpful for people who have a delayed natural sleep schedule, but need to fall asleep earlier than their bodies would normally want. For example, if you naturally sleep from 3am - 11am, but your job requires you to be up at 8am, melatonin may help you fall asleep early enough to be rested for your job. However, I have found that for some individuals, melatonin can contribute to nightmares or disruptively vivid dreams.

Other Suggestions

Relaxation Exercises - This is the number one thing I’ve found to help me with the initial falling asleep stage. From middle school through my mid twenties, I suffered from frightening hypnagogic hallucinations which are auditory and/or visual hallucinations that happen as you’re falling asleep. It wasn’t until this past year that I found the term for the phenomena. But I used to get so tense and anxious due to the disturbing images I’d see and voices I’d hear at night that it became very hard for me to relax and fall asleep. My solution was to utilize yoga based relaxation exercises:
- While lying on your back, consciously go through your body, releasing and relaxing you muscles one by one.
- Find sources of tension and breathe into them, willing them to relax until you feel like you are melting into the bed.
- Practice deep breathing by drawing breath deep down into your belly, letting it rise and fall as you fill it with air as slowly as you can and breathing back out as slowly as you can, taking long rhythmic breathes. Starting with counting to 5 as you breathe in and then counting to 5 as you breathe out. You can increase the length of your breathes if you feel comfortable.
- Keep deep breathing and allowing your body to melt into the bed, clearing your mind until you fall asleep.
Binaural Beats - Listening to binaural beats while sleeping may help force the body into deeper, restorative sleep phases. Try listening to them at a low volume while you sleep. I like to use this Bluetooth Sleep Mask, so that I can listen without disrupting my partner’s sleep. This is the track I use.

I know that was a whole lot of information! I’ve spent so many years on trial and error trying to get my sleep in order, so I’m hoping that my experience might help in some way. I am in no way a medical professional and my ideas here are not a substitute for professional medical care, but feel free to post comments and questions below and I will do my best to answer.