sleep tips Archives

September 16, 2021 By Trishala Chopra 4 Comments

Tips to Help You Sleep Better!

Sleep! You might have already so many articles about this especially when you’ve not been getting quality sleep. Before we go deeper into how you can sleep better, let us first understand how we define sleep! As per the world’s sleep research, William Dement (Author of promise of sleep) defines sleep as the ‘Moment when the brain starts producing theta waves’.

Too technical! What exactly are theta waves? I don’t want to get too technical, so I will talk about medical jargon in the most simplest way possible.

The Brain Produces ‘Waves’ All The Time!

While you are awake (concentrating), your brain produces beta waves. When you are daydreaming, relaxing or lying around, your brain produces alpha waves. While your body is in the transition from relaxing to sleeping, that’s when your brain starts producing theta waves. When your body is in deep sleep, your body produces delta waves.

During this period, your body starts producing growth hormones. I always tell this to my patients. Your body undergoes repairs when you enter deep sleep which is very crucial for overall well being.

When I was learning more about sleep, the one question that often came to mind was, “How and when do we get dreams?”

After theta waves, there is one interesting thing which happens. It is called as REM Sleep or Rapid Eye Movement Sleep. This is when your eyes are moving with closed eyelids. You might be dreaming but you will not remember your dreams completely the next day.

According to me, these are just basic things about sleep which everyone should be aware of (and with good reason).

Do you ever get a feeling of waking up tired after sleeping for almost 9 hours?

When I ask this question to my patients, they say, “I am tired all the time!”

This is called as Sleep Deprivation.

How Do You Know That You Are Sleep Deprived?

I read a lot! One of the books that I read on sleep is the Promise of Sleep. The book spoke about a very cool way of figuring out if we are sleep deprived or not. Check out the steps below:

Go to bed with a spoon in your hand
Your hand should be in a position where the spoon is over the floor and not over the bed
Note the time when you plan to sleep
As soon as you fall asleep, your hand muscles will relax. Once this happens, the spoon will fall on the floor and the noise will wake you up.
Note the time when you wake up. That’s your own sleep latency.

There are many other sleep tests which are done as well to figure sleep deprivation out.

Now that we understand what happens when we sleep,

Follow These Tips to Sleep Better

As always, we go back to our basics: Sleep Hygiene

Restrict Tea/Coffee/Green Tea and other caffeinated drinks. Caffeine circulates in the system for at least 7.5 hours. Taking caffeinated drinks close to bedtime can mess your sleep schedule.
Make sure you create a sunset kind of environment post sunset with yellow dim lights so your body realises that it’s the time for you to relax, rest and sleep. Same thing goes for the gadgets! Blue light from your devices block the sleep hormone production. If you have long screen hours, try using blue blocking glasses post sunset.
Make sure that your room temperature is around 19-20. Usually, our body temperature tends to fall when we sleep. This will help you in maintaining an ideal body temperature when you wake up.
Try to avoid exercising, watching exciting/horror movies which will keep your mind active for a long period of time.

Apart from the basics,

Try the Sleep Restriction State Method

If you think you sleep 4 hours per night, then sleep for 4 hours only
Go to bed at 1 AM and set your alarm clock for 6AM. You’re not allowed to go to bed earlier than 1AM, or wake up later than 6AM.
You will be tired the following day. Extremely tired! That’s a good thing. You will be wondering, what is good in being tired but this will drive you to sleep earlier the next day
The next day, you add ½ hour to the sleep time. You go to bed at 12:30AM instead of 1 AM and wake up at 6AM.
Keep increasing your sleep window by ½ hour per day till you feel the sleep debt is paid off.

Why are we doing this? It’s because during this time of the sleep window, you won’t be allowed to use stimulants to keep yourself up. No coffee or any kind of caffeinated beverages. We are doing this so that your body starts building up the fatigue, drowsiness and eventually you will end up sleeping. This will help in recovering your sleep debt.

Sometimes, stiff neck muscles will decrease the blood supply to the brain, which results into fragmented sleep. Getting a physio evaluation for the same will also help in improving sleep quality.

We hope these tips help you sleep better! Do type your thoughts and queries in the comments below!

To read more on sleep, check out Healthy Reads. To get these tips directly from your GOQii Coach, subscribe for personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce

September 10, 2021 By Hajra Mithani Leave a Comment

5 Eating Habits To Avoid Before You Sleep

With lockdowns, work from home and everything in between, our sleep schedule since the past 1 year has certainly changed. Some of you might have even faced disturbed sleep or worse – insomnia. And the lack of sleep contributes to issues such as indigestion, acidity and even mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. Apart from practices like meditation, mindfulness, exercise and deep breathing techniques, even what you eat can impact your sleep. So if you’re aiming for a good night’s rest but are unable to achieve it, here are some eating habits you should avoid for a good night’s rest!

Avoid These 5 Eating Habits Before You Sleep

Junk Food: like pizza, burgers have refined flours and simple sugars which take longer to digest, disturbing your digestive system at night causing disrupted sleep and because of their high sodium count, they can leave you feeling bloated, causing sleep-stealing discomfort. Also, you might feel thirstier after consuming junk food. Foods high in calories are digested slowly and may cause stomach upset, cramping, bloating or heartburn if eaten before bed.
Sugars: Sugary food gives you an extra dose of unwanted energy, which is not needed at night. When you eat a lot of sugar before bed, your blood sugar climbs high and then falls rapidly as your body releases hormones to bring the levels under control. This swing in hormones and blood sugar levels impairs sleep. The other reason to avoid starchy or sugary food is it gives you immense energy in a very short period making the body highly active.
Spicy food: items like chillies before bedtime can cause indigestion which makes it difficult to sleep well. It is speculated that this may be due to capsaicin, an active ingredient in chili peppers, affecting sleep via changes in body temperature. Eating spicy food too close to bed causes acidity and worsen symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Some studies have claimed that spicy food can trigger brain waves that cause nightmares and you end up tossing and turning all night. So it might not be a good idea to gorge on to those peri-peri fries for dinner.
Caffeine: is a stimulant and increases your heart rate and alertness – the opposite effect you want when you’re trying to sleep. The role of caffeine (found in coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa) is to make a drowsy soul active and attentive. Caffeine delays and shortens the sleeping duration of individuals. Dark chocolate has polyphenol, but it’s also a surprising source of caffeine. 20gm dark chocolate has about a quarter of the caffeine as a cup of coffee, and about half the caffeine as a cup of green or black tea. It takes 6-10 hours to eliminate caffeine, which means enjoy a dark chocolate treat at around 4 pm if you plan to sleep at 10 pm.
Alcohol: Suppresses melatonin – the hormone that regulates your internal clock and thus disrupts the circadian rhythm of the body negatively, the reason you wake up in the middle of your sleep. Alcohol also makes you dehydrated and often thirsty in the middle of the night with frequent washroom trips. It interferes with the body’s other sleep-wake regulator – its internal sleep drive. Alcohol increases levels of adenosine, a chemical that regulates sleep by rising naturally in the body. It’s adenosine-boosting effects make you sleep at times other than your natural timings, thus disturbing your natural sleep-wake cycle.

We hope this article on 5 eating habits to avoid before you sleep helps you catch up on your much needed hours of rest! Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

For more articles on sleep, eating habits before bed and tips to sleep well, check out Healthy Reads. You can also get these healthy tips and suggestions directly from your GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

Sleep Well and #BeTheForce

May 7, 2021 By Srini Leave a Comment

Sleep Series: Sleep Tips and Summary

The internet is full of various sleep tips and advice but which one is the best one to follow? Don’t worry, I have shared some sleep tips which I’ve personally experimented with and benefitted from over the last couple of years. Hope they help you too!

Sleep Tips For A Good Night’s Rest

1. Day Time:

The sleep preparation process starts from the time you wake up
What you do during the day, impacts how you sleep. Sleep is not just a standalone event that happens in the evening. Sleep is designed to unwind, scavenge, reorganize and rebuild from the activities of the day. So, be cognizant of what you do in the daytime
Get some Sunlight, especially first thing in the morning. This sends a clear signal to “Body Clock” that it is Daytime – it will automatically set up the night time.
Try walking without any footwear on natural ground while taking morning walks. It helps immensely!
No Coffee/Cola after 13:00 hours – I found the impact of tea is milder on sleep. At 4pm, masala tea with ginger, etc. is ok.

2. Evening

Get used to dim lights post dinner. Light is the number 1 inhibitor to the onset of sleep
I have two sets of lights in my house – one for “illumination and celebration” and one with dim lights conducive to induce melatonin secretion.

3. Dinner

30 minutes before dinner, take 1-2 spoons of Apple Cider Vinegar with 1 spoon of honey in 1 glass of water. Works wonders for sleep, digestion, acidity, GERD, etc.
Early dinners are the best! Between 6-7pm max. You do not want your digestion process working during sleep
Stop the intake of water 90 minutes before sleep if you are above 45.

4. Preparing to Sleep

30 minutes before your scheduled sleep time, start unwinding. Phone can be kept outside the bedroom or better, switch it off. Reading a hardcover book is a great way to induce sleep. I used to read a book on macroeconomics
Pranayama is a great way of preparing the body for sleeping. I found the following useful
- 4-8 method: Inhale through nose for a count of 4 and exhale through the mouth for count of 8 – ask me if you do not yawn and feel sleepy at the end of 3 minutes
- Shitali Pranayama: 3-4 rounds – cools the body
- Ujjayi: 3-4 rounds – strengthens the throat muscles – works against collapsing during snoring
Lavender Essential Oil: Apply 1 drop of good quality lavender essential oil on your pillow. You will sleep like a baby. Do not use more than one drop, I do not want to get a call from your boss!
If you can get your Ayurveda or Siddha doctor to prescribe “Ven Thamarai (white Lotus) Churna”, mix it with a half-cup of warm milk and honey 60 minutes before going to sleep. Non habit forming and sleep inducing medicine. Not just helps in onset of sleep, but helps in overall quality through all stages of sleep.

5. Bedroom

Darkness is a friend of sleep. Pitch dark room with no night light. Use a sleep mask for your eyes if needed. Go for movement sensing light in case you get up at night
Air conditioned room is the best – cool temperature is essential for good sleep. Set what is comfortable fo you – 24 degrees is generally ok for Indians (web prescribes 20 degrees which is American Standard)
On bedroom accessories, I have covered in previous blogs
Bed is reserved for unwinding and sleeping – so avoid working or eating from bed

Sleeping well is essential to a good career for knowledge workers. Sleep builds memory, creativity, innovation and problem solving skills which are crucial and cannot be replaced by “Artificial Intelligence”.

If this Sleep Series by Srini got you excited about sleep, try reading Why we sleep – a book by Matthew Walker, the Sleep Guru. To read more about sleep, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play.

To get more guidance to help you sleep better, subscribe to GOQii and let our experts help you: https://goqiiapp.page.link/wssu

#BeTheForce

April 16, 2021 By Srini Leave a Comment

Sleep Series: The Relentless Rivalry of REM and NREM

When we sleep, we go through a few stages. Prominent among them are REM and NREM. It is observed that for some non-specific reason, there is significant movement of the eyeball in all directions rapidly during REM sleep BUT does NOT send any visual signals to the brain. Hence, the name Rapid Eye Movement ( REM) sleep and the opposite – Non REM sleep. Some also say that they are “deep sleep” vs “shallow sleep” which I am not a great fan of. I believe they are simply various stages of sleep.

Courtesy: sleepadvisor.org and Mathew Walker.

IF we draw a graph of brain neural activity, the graph will look something like this

As you can see, at the start it is the NREM which is occupying the real estate and the REM shows up intermittently. Approximately each of the cycles lasts for 90 minutes and then it changes. But in general, we can see the domination of NREM in the first half and REM in the second half.

Interesting Facts on REM and NREM

Dream your way to creativity: As homo sapiens came down from trees to sleep on flat grounds, they developed REM sleep as an evolutionary advancement. REM sleep is responsible for the evolution of creativity, memory and problem solving. It is during REM sleep, the neural network gets more intricately wired with new synapses being formed. In some sense, it is the REM sleep that contributed to the supremacy of humans over other animals.
Early morning school timing inhibits creativity: If schools, colleges or universities start pretty early in the morning, it is quite possible that the student has to wake up early and hence, foregoes some part of REM sleep. That is NOT good news for memory and creativity, which are most critical for studies.
Sleep algorithm is an enigma: NREM has been measured in 4 stages depending upon how deep it goes. The deeper it goes, the body gets better rest and the housekeeping activity of scavenging the brain of useless memory and storing of useful memory in the long term storage area happens – this is a totally involuntary activity based on an enigma algorithm. God/Nature is the first and best coder.
Forgetting is beautiful: The brain decides to delete (forget) what is irrelevant. You will definitely not remember what breakfast you had the same day last week. Forgetting is an essential function just as much as remembering is.
Striping emotion – REM heals: REM sleep is responsible for stripping emotion from past events over time. For example, you would remember the death of a close relative. But rarely you can recollect the emotions that were recorded when it happened. It is a blessing in a way. It is not the Time, but it is REM that heals!
7 hours or nothing: 5 cycles of 90 minutes – 450 minutes approx. 7 hours gives you a good full cycle. Anything less is like jumping 90% of the well! Short sleep leaves work undone and there is no use. You add to the pressure of work.
There can be no sleep “Deposit” and Sleep “Loans” ( this would appeal to the Finance community). You cannot oversleep to compensate for a past deficit nor you can accumulate a deficit to be cured by oversleep a bit later. It is 7.5 to 8 hours a day, every day! You would now have understood why from the chart above.
You cannot “Live your dream”: The motor activity other than breathing is all frozen during REM stage , all muscles (particularly limbs) are frozen – imagine you swishing your sword or trying to run away when chased by a cobra! It protects you from getting injured!
You are not meant to remember your dreams: You will only remember that you had vivid dreams or nightmares. Dreams have been the subject of so much research. Only one thing is clear – every dream is made of illogical and impossible combinations. If you behave during the day like the way you behaved in your dream, you will find yourself in a psychiatric ward. It is the façade or alibi as the brain is reorganizing the hard disk.
Dreams have no meaning: Do not over analyze, dreams have no hidden meaning. If you need to know something, why would it be revealed in your dream? It would rather appear in Times Square visible to all.
NREM is all about detox and growth: NREM sleep detoxifies the body, grows tissues, improves immunity, repairs injuries. Breathing slows down, body temperature goes down, blood pressure drops and the body gets a deep relaxation to get ready for the next day.
You need both: It is NOT that NREM is better and preferred than REM. Combined activity and result from both is critical for overall physical and mental health.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article on REM and NREM sleep. Stay tuned for more from the Sleep Series by Srini! To read more about sleep and sleeping techniques, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play.

#BeTheForce