If sleep came in a capsule form we’d all be taking the maximum dose - it’s literally a miracle in terms of how many regenerative and life-enhancing benefits there are. When dealing with mental health challenges or recovering from drug and/or alcohol abuse, the importance of sleep is even more critical.

Getting a good night’s sleep consistently helps us not only to “recharge” and feel more energized throughout the day, but also plays a critical role in:

• regulating mood and processing emotional information

• how well we tolerate and respond to stress

• maintaining a healthy body weight

• immune function

• fertility and reproductive health

• our brain’s ability to “clean” itself (yes, this is a thing)

• overall mental health and cognitive functioning

In an article entitled Sleep and Mental Health from Harvard’s Mental Health Letter, they state the following: “…neuroimaging and neurochemistry studies suggest that a good night's sleep helps foster both mental and emotional resilience, while chronic sleep deprivation sets the stage for negative thinking and emotional vulnerability.

While “chronic sleep deprivation” could venture into the extremes of insomnia or not sleeping for days on end, even consistently getting less than our requirements (which for most people falls within 7.5-9 hours) can have these same effects.

And in the modern world, so many of us struggle with our sleep.

The Root of Our Sleep Issues

Contrary to what most of us think, a good night’s sleep doesn’t start at bedtime, but rather the moment we wake up in the morning.

In other words: our whole day factors into how we sleep at night.

As someone who struggled with sleep for most of my life it took me a long time to understand this, but once I did my ability to fall and stay sleep drastically improved.

When we “zoom out” on our sleep troubles, what we’ll see is that they often stem from our modern-day sedentary, overly caffeinated, stressed out, stuck indoors, glued-to-a-screen lifestyle.

… this way of living just isn’t conducive to good sleep.

While it may not be possible to change these things (at least not right away), there are are ways to mitigate them and get ourselves some quality shut eye.

So in this article I’m going to highlight a few simple ways in which our decisions throughout the day impact not only our ability to fall and stay asleep, but also to get the regenerative sleep that optimizes our health, mood, and ability to bring our best to whatever it is that we’re doing.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather a highlighting of10 habits that are somewhat “low hanging fruit” and can help you to take control of your sleep.

1. getting sunlight in your eyes/on your skin first thing upon waking

Our circadian rhythm (the internal biological clock) is largely governed by light. Exposing the eyes to sunlight first thing in the morning (direct, not through a window) helps to regulate our inner clock and plays a role in the timing of melatonin (the “sleep” hormone) being produced at night.

Just this simple act of spending 3-5 minutes looking toward (not directly at) the morning sunlight can help to improve sleep. As an added bonus, this practice can help to lower cortisol and adrenaline (the “stress” hormones) that play a necessary role in helping us to wake up, but can be detrimental if not “turned down.” This can result in a noticeable decrease in stress throughout the day.

2. Be mindful of caffeine intake and timing

One of the most empowering things to know about caffeine is that it has a 6-8 hour half life (which is how long it takes for 50% to clear from your system).

This means that if you have a large cup of coffee around 5pm… half of that caffeine is still active in your system at 11pm (or maybe even 1am depending on your level of sensitivity). Even if you’re less sensitive to caffeine and are able to fall asleep, this can still negatively impact your ability to sleep deeply.

What may be more obvious is that it’s worth being mindful of how much caffeine you are consuming throughout the day. Most people can tolerate (and potentially benefit from) a few cups of coffee/caffeinated beverages. But too much can dramatically impact sleep.

A worthwhile practice is to consume caffeine only with or after a meal, and to cut it off by 2-3pm (at the latest) to allow it time to exit your system prior to going to bed.

** For various reasons some people may be so sensitive to caffeine that even consumption first thing in the morning can keep them up at night. This may be worth considering if you regularly experience sleep problems.

3. Hydrate properly in the morning and throughout the day

Drinking a glass of water with a pinch of sea salt (the minerals in sea salt aid in hydration) first thing can help to lower stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline (just like the sunlight), and rehydrate the body and brain.

Hydration also plays a key role in our ability to think clearly and feel energized, so it’s important to consume enough (quality) liquids throughout the day. Foods like fruits and vegetables (whether whole or in the form of juice) can also help to stay hydrated.

According to the Sleep Foundation: “going to bed even mildly dehydrated can disrupt your sleep.”

… the trick here, though, is to hydrate properly throughout the day and not try to cram in liquids in the evening (which can result in waking up excessively to use the bathroom).

** Balance is key here. Overhydrating can also be detrimental. Contrary to popular belief, clear urine and constantly having to pee are typically signs that the body is taking in too much liquid and losing valuable minerals. Listen to your body and don’t over-consume if you’re not actually thirsty. Taking small sips of water or other liquids throughout the day is generally a better practice than drinking larger amounts at once.

4. Keep blood sugar balanced

Blood sugar dysregulation has far-reaching negative effects on our body and mind. Keeping blood sugar balanced throughout the day can help to prevent waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep (which is often the result of a stress response).

Some of the general (long-term) signs of dysregulated blood sugar include:

• Being irritable

• Trouble concentrating

• Trouble maintaining a healthy body weight

• Craving junk food

• Fatigue

• Anxiety

• Poor sleep

Two of the main things that disrupt our blood sugar are not eating frequently enough and not properly balancing the meals/snacks that we eat.

For people in early recovery and/or struggling with their mental health (from anxiety, to depression, to ADHD, to mood swings), blood sugar issues are very common.

A good rule of thumb is to avoid going longer than 2.5-4 hours without eating and to always have protein, carbohydrates, and fat (the best ratios will vary individually) together with each meal or snack to balance each other out.

You’d be surprised how much this one habit can change the way you feel throughout the day (both mentally and physically) and how well you sleep at night.

A few of the more immediate signs of low blood sugar to watch out for are:

• lightheadedness

• increased heart rate

• irritability, nervousness, worry, and anxiety

• feeling dizzy and weak

• shakiness

• feeling like you need to eat (you probably do)

Making sure to eat when noticing these symptoms isn’t just about “turning them off,” but also avoiding an excess of the stress hormones that are released when we get to this point. Eating regularly will not only help to prevent feeling this way throughout the day, but also keep stress hormones lower which can improve our ability to fall and stay asleep.

5. Get in enough quality movement throughout the day

Being sedentary has many negative consequences on our mental and physical health. As human beings, we are designed to get adequate movement throughout the day. Contrary to (another) popular belief, going to the gym for an hour or two of intense exercise isn’t the only way to get our movement in.

… we really need to move throughout the day.

Two effective ways to do this is by walking (if you have a dog, they’d probably love to come along) and incorporating short bouts of movement throughout the day.

This could mean doing something like five or ten:

• air squats

• pushups

• lunges

• jumping jacks

• high knees

• arm circles

These things can be worked in whenever you get up to use the bathroom or take a break from work-related tasks. This not only helps to get sufficient movement in, but also breaks up all the potentially harmful sitting that we do.

6. Keep your conscience clear

For those of us who trend toward a “racing mind” when we try to sleep at night (and often throughout the day), there’s a high likelihood that anything we’ve put off, ignored, or done “wrong” throughout the day will creep up.

To avoid this, we can practice (perfection is not required) the following to the best of our ability:

1. Doing the right thing. The more we conduct ourselves with honesty and integrity in all that we do, the clearer (and more at peace) our minds will be. Anytime there is internal conflict about something it’s important to listen. This goes far beyond just sleeping better at night.

2. Eat the frog. If there is something you need to do, do it. Obviously this is easier said than done, but leaving things go that need our attention will likely result in stress during the day and a racing mind at night.

3. Fill your mind with positivity. In the midst of what can be a very negative world, we have a choice to regularly take in positive information and ideas. Find a philosophical, spiritual, or religious teacher/school of thought that you resonate with and feed yourself daily. This kind of thing is no different than consuming food regularly for energy.

7. Be Mindful of screens at night

Our relationship with light is more complex than most of us will ever understand.

For most of our existence, the light we were exposed to was either in the form of sun/moon light, or fire (candles included) especially in the evening. Whereas the sunset and firelight at night has frequencies more on the red and orange spectrum (which promote relaxation), most light bulbs and screens are high in blue light (which mimics the midday sun). This signals to our body that it’s still time to be awake, can mess with our hormones (including the precious “sleep hormone” melatonin), and interferes with our ability to fall and stay sleep.

To counteract this, it’s a good idea to turn on “night shift”/night mode on your cell phone and computer. This will actually take most of the blue light out.

There is also an app for laptops/computers called f.lux that will adjust screen colors throughout the day to mimic those of the sun during specific times (and, therefore, helping to keep your circadian rhythm on track).

Ideally we actually turn all screens off an hour or two before bed… but that’s not always feasible in the modern world. Using apps to block out blue light is a good middle ground.

8. Have an evening routine

Developing a solid evening routine that allows your body and mind to wind down and recognize that it’s time for sleep can be very helpful.

We are creatures of habit, but in this day and age we’re often all over the place in terms of what we’re doing when. It can take time to adjust to going to sleep around the same time every night, but starting our routine at the same time will help speed that up.

A few habits that helps to push us into the “rest and relax” (parasympathetic) branch of our nervous system include:

• stretching and/or foam rolling

• prayer/meditation

• deep breathing

• reading or listening to something uplifting/centering

“Stacking” some of these practices (like deep breathing while stretching while listening to something uplifting) can be beneficial as well.

Find what works for you.

Even just a few minutes of these practices can have a profound effect on helping the body and mind to wind down and get ready to sleep.

9. Manage Stress Throughout the Day

Stress management is one of the most powerful skills we can learn in the modern world.

Contrary to what most people think, stress accumulates from various aspects of our lives. Stress at work, stress from not sleeping enough, stress from sitting too much, stress from our relationships, stress from lack of good nutrition, stress from excess caffeine, stress from financial problems, etc., etc. all accumulate.

Excess stress is potentially the biggest detriment to our health, and contributes to sleep issues. The better we can mitigate stress throughout the day, the easier it will be to fall and stay asleep at night.

Simple habits like eating regularly to balance blood sugar, practicing mindfulness, consciously breathing through the nose, and breaking up long periods of sitting

** All of the habits in this blog will help to mitigate stress throughout the day.

10. Wake up at the same time everyday

There’s no doubt this is easier said than done, but the more we can keep our wake time consistent (even on the weekends) the easier it will be to fall and stay asleep. Obviously having a consistent bedtime is important as well but our wake up times are arguably more important from the standpoint of keeping our internal clocks dialed in.

This doesn’t mean we can’t sleep in a little on the weekends, but it’s best not to sleep more than an hour past our normal wake up time. From a sleep hygiene standpoint, we don’t want to put ourselves in a position where we need to be “catching up on sleep” over the weekend.

11. Prioritize actually having enough
time to sleep

While this may be obvious, it’s still worth the reminder. We can’t expect to wake up feeling rested and ready to go (among the plethora of other short, medium, and long-term benefits) if we aren’t actually giving ourselves enough time to sleep.

For most people (with very few exceptions) this means getting 7.5-9 hours of sleep each night.

In an article from VeryWellMind.com titled How Does Sleep Affect Mental Health, the author highlights that:

“Research suggests that the relationship between sleep and mental health is complex. While sleep has long been known to be a consequence of many psychiatric conditions, more recent views suggest that sleep can also play a causal role in both the development and maintenance of different mental health problems.

In other words, sleep problems can lead to changes in mental health, but mental health conditions can also worsen problems with sleep. Lack of sleep may trigger the onset of certain psychological conditions, although researchers are not completely certain of the underlying reasons for this.”

When it comes to our mental health, the importance of sleep cannot be overestimated.

Also important here is that we give ourselves enough time to actually wind down and fall asleep. You can likely relate to the feeling of knowing that if you don’t fall asleep right away you’re not going to get enough rest.

This is why an evening routine (along with simply getting into bed early enough) will greatly improve our chances of peacefully falling and staying asleep.

Sleep is a “Keystone Habit” in our Lives

There’s no substitute for getting good sleep consistently… the results are tangible in our lives.

Being well rested not only helps us enjoy the “good” things in our lives, but also makes it easier to deal with the challenges we face.

While the habits in this blog can certainly help you to fall asleep easier, stay asleep throughout the night, and wake up feeling more rested, they can also help you to feel better in general throughout the day.

Good sleep is largely the result of taking control of the way we live our lives on a day-to-day basis.

Which habit on the list jumps out most to you? Is there anything you would add to this list that has helped you to sleep better?