Building a Better Sleep Habit

UGH! We’ve all experienced those sleepless nights, tossing and turning, counting the hours…counting sheep… maybe your partner’s snoring… until the alarm goes off.

The struggle to get a good night’s sleep is real, and it can have an insane impact on our overall well-being.

BUUUUUT that’s where the effort in building a better sleep habit can help.

First, let’s jump into the basics of sleep.

Sleep 101… literally just the basics because there’s a lot.

Sleep is a physiological process that remains one of the most intriguing mysteries of the human body. Sleep is not just a state of rest; it’s a dynamic process that involves intricate interplay among various physiological systems and brain functions. While we sleep, we will have a variety of physiological changes and brain and mental activity.

Physiological Changes when sleeping

Body Temperature: Our body temperature decreases during sleep, helping conserve energy.
Respiratory Changes: Breathing patterns become regular during sleep, with fluctuations across different stages.
Cardiovascular Activity: Heart rate and blood pressure decrease during non-REM sleep but increase during REM sleep.
Increased Physiological Activity: While many physiological processes slow down during sleep, activities related to digestion, cell repair, and growth may increase.

Brain Structures Involved in Sleep

Hypothalamus: Controls sleep and arousal, influenced by light exposure.
Brain Stem: Facilitates transitions between wakefulness and sleep, especially REM sleep.
Thalamus: Relays sensory information to the cerebral cortex, quietening during sleep stages.
Pineal Gland: Produces melatonin, regulating sleep-wake cycles.
Basal Forebrain and Midbrain: Regulate sleep and arousal states.
Amygdala: Becomes active during REM sleep, linked to emotional processing.

Brain Activity during Sleep

Sleep is marked by distinct patterns of brain wave activity, which vary across different stages of sleep: REM and non-REM sleep. These stages cycle multiple times throughout the night, with REM periods becoming longer towards the morning.

Non-REM Sleep: Characterized by synchronized and slow brain wave patterns.
- Stage 1: Light sleep, transitioning from wakefulness.
- Stage 2: Deeper sleep, characterized by slowed heart rate and muscle relaxation.
- Stage 3: Deep sleep crucial for feeling refreshed, marked by slow brain waves.
REM Sleep: Period of intense dreaming, rapid eye movements, and increased brain activity.

Resource: Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep

Sleep Mechanisms

Two internal mechanisms, circadian rhythm, and sleep-wake homeostasis, intricately regulate sleep patterns.

Circadian rhythm

Circadian rhythms are like internal clocks that manage many functions in our bodies, like when we feel awake or sleepy, control body temperature, metabolism, and hormone levels. They also help regulate our sleep patterns, making us feel sleepy at night and waking us up in the morning, often without needing an alarm clock.

Our bodies have a built-in clock that operates on a roughly 24-hour cycle, guiding most of our daily rhythms. Surprisingly, circadian rhythms can adjust to things like light and temperature, even if those cues aren’t present. This ability to adapt helps them stay on track, even without external signals.

Sleep-wake homeostasis

Sleep-wake homeostasis monitors your sleep requirements, signaling when it’s time to rest and regulating sleep depth. As you remain awake, the need for sleep intensifies, leading to extended and deeper sleep after periods of inadequate rest.

Various factors influence your sleep needs, including medical conditions, medications, stress levels, sleep environment, and dietary habits. However, exposure to light emerges as the most significant factor. Cells in your eyes process light, informing your brain about the current time of day and influencing your sleep-wake cycle. Exposure to light can impede the onset of sleep and disrupt sleep continuity upon waking during the night.

Individuals working night shifts often struggle to fall asleep after work and may experience difficulties maintaining wakefulness while on duty due to disruptions in their natural sleep-wake rhythm.

Similarly, jet lag arises when your body’s internal clock fails to synchronize with the local time of your destination, resulting in a mismatch between your internal clock and the actual time, leading to confusion and sleep disturbances.

Resource: Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep & The Science of Sleep: Understanding What Happens When You Sleep

An Adequate Amount?

Sleep requirements vary from person to person and can fluctuate throughout life. Here’s a general breakdown of recommended sleep durations by age:

Newborns (birth to 3 months): Between 14 and 17 hours
Infants (4 months to 12 months): Between 12 and 16 hours (including naptime)
Young children (ages 1 to 5): Between 10 and 14 hours (including naptime)
School-aged children (ages 6 to 12): Nine to 12 hours
Teenagers (ages 13 to 18): Eight to 10 hours
Adults (18 and older): Seven to nine hours

While these guidelines are typical, individual needs can vary. Genetics, personal circumstances, and health status all play a role in determining how much sleep you require. For example, some individuals may genetically require less sleep, while factors like illness or pregnancy may increase the need for rest.

Resource: Cleveland Clinic: Sleep

Do I have to get all my sleep at once?

It’s not mandatory to obtain all your sleep in one continuous period. Throughout history, various cultures have adopted different sleeping patterns, including monophasic, biphasic, and polyphasic sleep schedules. And for those parents out there, you have definitely seen the phases of sleep over time as your newborn made their way into a teenager.

Monophasic sleep involves getting all of your sleep in one continuous block during the night. This is probably the most familiar.
Biphasic sleep entails splitting sleep into two distinct periods, usually with a shorter period of sleep at night followed by a longer period of wakefulness, with a nap taken during the day. Parents with young children… People training hard… People who just wanna take a nap… That’s this type of sleep.
Here’s the newborn phase! Polyphasic sleep involves breaking up sleep into multiple short naps throughout the day, aiming to reduce total sleep time while maintaining wakefulness.

When we get adequate sleep…

In each day, our bodies cycle between wakefulness and sleep, with specific processes occurring exclusively during sleep. While asleep, the body enters a state of reduced activity, like powering down, where most bodily systems, including the brain, become less active.

Cognitive Function & Memory

During sleep, our brain actively processes and stores the information we’ve encountered during the day. This process enhances our ability to remember and recall this information over the long term.

Sleep deprivation can impair cognitive function, including memory, attention, decision-making, and reaction times. Highlighting these effects would provide a comprehensive overview of sleep’s importance for cognitive health.

Emotional Regulation

Certain regions of our brain take charge of handling our emotions, ensuring we remain calm and balanced. These brain areas include the amygdala, striatum, hippocampus, insula, and medial prefrontal cortex. They play a role in regulating our emotional responses and maintaining our emotional well-being.

Fatigue can impact our emotional state, making us more susceptible to emotional eating for comfort.

Neuroplasticity

While we rest, our brain cells communicate with each other, establishing connections that maintain the health and functionality of our brains. The process is known as neuroplasticity. This ability is called neuroplasticity. It means our brains can reorganize themselves by making new connections throughout our lives. This process is vital for learning, memory, and overall brain function.

Cellular Repair & Immune Health

During sleep, our body prioritizes the repair of damaged cells, including those in our muscles and tissues, which helps us stay strong and heal from injuries. Adequate repair is vital not only for physical health but also for supporting the immune system.

Poor sleep has been associated with an increased risk of various health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and decreased immune function, highlighting the interconnectedness of sleep, cellular repair, and overall well-being.

Energy Replenishment

Sleep gives our body a chance to rest and recharge, so we wake up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day.

When we’re tired, our body’s energy expenditure may increase to compensate for the lack of sleep or to keep us awake and alert. We tend to crave quick sources of energy to counteract fatigue like high-calorie, high-carbohydrate foods, such as sugary snacks or comfort foods.

Hormones & hunger

The body releases various hormones and proteins that are involved in processes such as protein synthesis (important for tissue repair and growth) and hunger regulation. These hormones include leptin and ghrelin, which help regulate appetite and satiety, contributing to overall metabolic balance and health.

Lack of sleep or fatigue can disrupt the balance of hormones that regulate appetite, ghrelin aka “hunger hormone,” increases.

Building a Better Sleep Habit

Make Sleep a Priority

Making sleep a priority involves structuring daily activities to support rest. It’s essential to communicate the importance of sleep clearly, especially to family members, and to cut down on non-essential tasks that disrupt sleep. Establishing and enforcing boundaries for sleep, such as ending extracurricular activities by a certain time and setting phones to “do not disturb” mode, can help create a conducive environment for rest.

Set Sleep Goals and Bedtimes

Setting sleep goals and bedtimes is crucial for maintaining a healthy sleep schedule. Determining your waking time for the day and calculating bedtime by subtracting the desired hours of sleep from your waking time can help establish a consistent routine. Gradually increasing sleep duration each week until reaching the desired amount can also contribute to better sleep quality over time.

Establish an Invigorating Morning Routine

An invigorating morning routine can jumpstart your day and set the tone for better sleep at night. Waking up to gradually increasing light or gentle noise, seeking sunlight or bright light early in the morning, and engaging in physical activity early in the day can help regulate your body’s internal clock and promote better sleep patterns.

Coordinate Physical Activity with Sleep

Coordinating physical activity with sleep is essential for overall well-being. Incorporating regular exercise into your routine is beneficial, but it’s important to avoid vigorous exercise within 1-2 hours of bedtime. Instead, consider low to moderate-intensity aerobic exercises 4-6 hours before bedtime to promote relaxation and prepare your body for sleep.

Reflect on Sleep Beliefs and Habits

Reflecting on sleep beliefs and habits can help identify areas for improvement. Evaluating your beliefs and attitudes towards sleep, concentrating on factors within your control, and recognizing catastrophic thinking can help foster a healthier mindset towards sleep.

Monitor Your Sleep Patterns

Monitoring your sleep patterns is essential for understanding your individual needs and identifying trends in your sleep data. Keeping consistent track of your sleep patterns, conducting sleep experiments, and gathering relevant data can provide valuable insights into your sleep habits and help make necessary adjustments for better sleep quality.

Manage Middle-of-the-Night Wakefulness

Managing middle-of-the-night wakefulness requires strategies to promote relaxation and minimize disruption to sleep. Visualizing calming mental images, letting go of efforts to force sleep, and refraining from checking the time repeatedly can help ease the transition back to sleep.

Incorporate Naps

Incorporating naps strategically can provide a boost of energy during the day, but it’s important to schedule brief naps in the early afternoon and keep them short, ideally between 10 to 20 minutes, to avoid interfering with nighttime sleep difficulties. It’s essential to prioritize nighttime sleep while considering the benefits of daytime napping for overall well-being.

Building a Better Sleep Habit