I love to sleep, probably as much as I love to eat, sing, and do crossword puzzles.

They say we are supposed to sleep an average of 7-8 hours a night, but did you know you can actually develop a sleep debt over time?  Your body actually keeps an account of those power-4-hours and nights of tossing and turning, and won’t relent until you make them up. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t an excuse to sleep in to 1pm, but it IS a red flag that you may be sleep deprived, and may want to reconsider getting to bed at an earlier hour, and in artful way.

Did I just say artful? YES. There is an ART to sleeping, believe it or not.

And by mastering sleeping, you might just be blown away at what it does for your health, your mood, your skin, your energy, your memory, and your waistline. Catching up with sleep on the weekends can be great, but why not be a little more ALIVE right now?

Your body repairs and restores itself at night and the more time and higher quality the sleep, the better you can recover from a mentallly and physically demanding day! Wouldn’t it be great to feel rejuvenated each day, with your energy, memory, and mood on-point? Get some consistent, artful sleep and see what it does for you. How do you sleep more artfully? Here are:

My 5 Tricks to More Blissful Sleep…

1. Go to bed at the same time each night: Your body works in cycles called circadian rhythms that repeat themselves every 24 hours, taking cues from various external cues, like light and the activity you engage yourself in. This means that evolution has primed our bodies to repeat patterns (like going to sleep!) every 24 hours. By going to bed at the same time each night you are training your body to repeat that cycle of falling asleep at said time each night. Practice makes perfect, and through repeating good habits you can become quite the adept sleeper.
2. Make it dark as possible in your room: You know that alarm clock, cell phone, glow in the dark stars (for those of you who grew up in the 90s), and TV light shining back at you? As tiny as they may be, they may actually be disturbing your sleep. Try covering up these lights as much as possible when you go to snooze, keep dark curtains over your windows if the street lights are shining in, and when all else fails try a sleep mask. You want your room pitch black.
3. Keep your surroundings dimly lit before you head to bed: Do you watch television, play on your phone before you go to bed? That’s cool. Just know that it may contribute to you not being able to fall asleep as easily. Those bright lights are confusing for your body, who still thinks it’s daytime. This also goes for all of you who keep your overhead lights bright until it’s time for “lights out.” Think about how the sun sets. Is it a gradual process or does it just drop from the sky (please say it doesn’t)? Try dimming your lights in the evening hours, or use a lamp before you go to bed.
4. Don’t eat within 3 hours of laying down: By putting food in your body late at night, you are essentially feeding your body energy. When you try to fall asleep your body says, “HEY what are you doing!? I have all this energy! I’m ready to go!” Not to mention, once you do fall asleep your body functions slow down, including digestion. Your digestive track might say something like, “I’m tired. I’m just going to store all this excess food in your belly. He he he…” If you are near death famished, have a piece of fruit. Fruit when eaten by itself can digest in as short as 30 minutes!
5. Avoid drinking water late at night: A lot of times people will tell me they sleep well, but when I ask if they ever get up in the middle of the night, they say “Yes, of course! To pee!” Well guess what? That quick trip to the bathroom is interrupting your sleep schedule and may be disturbing your sleep more than you realize. Not to mention the bright light from the bathroom throwing your body for a loop. “Sun? Is that you?” Try drinking more water earlier in the day, and putting a dim nightlight in your bathroom in case it’s the middle of the night and you just gotta goooo!
6. Fill in nutritional gaps: Magnesium is one of the most common mineral deficiencies, and can lead to cravings and muscle cramps. By taking magnesium isotonically before you go to bed each night you’ll allow your body to relax and drift off into a sleepy mode. I take this Magnesium along with Bliss, a combination of calming herbs, each night before I go to sleep. What about melatonin? Save it for times when you need to get your sleep cycles back on track (flying to a different time zone would be a good call for this). You don’t want your body to become reliant on it, but every once in a while it’s okay. Try PRIME dreamz to get your sleep cycle back on track.

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