Sleep is more important than diet and exercise combined. According to author and health expert Shawn Stevenson, even the richest man in the world says he focuses on getting great sleep because it helps him to do one thing that helps make him wealthy.
Additionally, better sleep will help you to look more attractive, improve your mood, burn, more fat, build more muscle and improve your ability to focus.
Here are some main ideas from the book “Sleep Smarter” by Shawn Stevenson.
Know the value of sleep
The first way to optimize your sleep is to know the value of sleep. In addition to the insane benefits of sleep mentioned above, it strengthens your immune system, balances hormones, increases metabolism, boosts physical energy and improves brain function.
Get more sunlight during the day
Morning light signals your hypothalamus to wake up. It also regulates your natural body clock and promotes a healthy secretion of melatonin, which helps you fall asleep at the right time.
Sunlight is best absorbed between 6 am and 8. 30. Am 90 minutes of direct sunlight is optimal.
Avoid screens before bedtime
This one is a challenging one blue light from electronic screens causes your body to produce more daytime hormones like cortisol and it suppresses melatonin production. So turn off the screens. At least 90 minutes before bed, at the very least, install f.lux on your mobile device or wear blue light blocking glasses number.
Have a caffeine curfew
You coffee lovers are gonna hate me, but have a caffeine curfew. Adenosine is a chemical that builds up in your body throughout the day when enough is built up. It causes you to be tired, signaling you to go to sleep, but caffeine blocks adenosine buildup, and so you are tricked into staying awake longer when your body is actually begging you to sleep. Caffeine is also a nervous system stimulant so avoid having it after 2 pm.
Be cool
When it’s time for your body to rest, your core body temperature drops to help initiate sleep. If your bedroom is too hot or cold, it can cause sleeping difficulties. Studies have found that between 60 and 68 degrees fahrenheit is ideal.
Get to bed at the right time
For most people, you get the highest quality sleep between 10 pm and 2 am. This is because it aligns with the natural rhythms of your body and nature. Around 10 pm internal metabolic energy is increased to repair, strengthen and rejuvenate your body when you’re asleep, but if you’re awake when this is happening, you may experience a second wind of energy and find it difficult to sleep
Rub magnesium into your skin each day
Eighty percent of the population in the us is deficient in magnesium, an anti-stress mineral that serves countless important functions. Research shows that a large amount of magnesium in supplements is lost in the digestive process, so use an oil to rub it into your skin for maximum absorption.
There is, however, some controversy on this, so we recommend doing your own research.
Create a sleep sanctuary
Your bedroom should only be for rest. Do not work in your bed. Otherwise, your brain associates your sleeping space with work and your mind, will have difficulty relaxing. Open a window or use an air purifier to ensure the air you’re breathing is negatively charged, invest in one house plant to improve air quality in your home. Even the sheer sight and smell of plants promotes calmness and encourages healthy sleeping patterns.
Exercise in the morning
Cortisol spikes in the morning for the purpose of encouraging you to exercise your body isn’t designed to exercise too close to bedtime. A study showed that people who exercised at 7am instead of 1pm or 7pm, slept longer and had up to 75 percent more deep sleep stevenson also suggests lifting weights instead of running because lifting triggers your body to release anabolic hormones that help you sleep better.
Keep electronics out of your bedroom
A study found that using cell phones before bed caused people to take longer to reach deep stages of sleep, and they spent less time in deep sleep phones emit ems which can disrupt your sleep.
The who has classified sulfone radiation as a class b carcinogen, if you can’t remove the phone altogether at least put your phone into airplane mode at the very least, to prevent the electromagnetic demons of the underworld from eating you alive.
Lose body fat
Being overweight puts stress on your organs, nervous system and disrupts your body’s hormonal system. You produce more of the stress hormone cortisol that wreaks havoc on your sleep and the worse. Your sleep gets the more weight you gain. It’s a vicious cycle.
Stevenson suggests you eat more protein and fats than carbs, so you can tap into a fat burning state.
Go easy on the alcohol
Alcohol disrupts a super restorative sleep! That’s why you feel like crap in the morning.
Sleep in the ideal position for you
Your sleep position affects numerous things.
Meditate
Meditation in the morning has been proven to help test subjects sleep better at night.
Be early to rise
Research published in the journal of applied social psychology showed that early birds are more proactive than evening people and they tend to do great in business.
It also showed that early birds anticipate problems better and minimize them more effectively, which stevenson argues is a huge leverage point in business today, keep in mind that you may have a chronotype which causes you to rise later than most people, and that’s absolutely fine.
Wear light and comfortable clothing to bed
Don’t wear more than you need to and don’t go crazy with covers, and electric blankets wearing comfortable pjs not only acts as a psychological trigger to tell you it’s time to sleep, but it also has to do with regulating your body temperature.
Get grounded
Research is growing that shows the benefits of earth’s electromagnetic energy, making direct contact with the earth’s surface grounds your body and allows negatively charged antioxidant electrons to enter your body and neutralize positively charged free radicals at sites of inflammation, walk on grass during the day or sleep on a grounding mat to reap the benefits and, lastly, follow an evening routine.
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