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Sleep Series: Sleepy Notes

sleepy notesIn the previous articles, we went into what influences sleep and factors that guide it. Today, let’s take a look at some sleepy notes to help you improve your sleep! 

Sleepy Notes To Improve Sleep 

  • Measure: Sleep is measured both quantitatively and qualitatively and both are important to score perfect sleep. For you to say that you slept well – scored 10 out of 10, myriad things have to happen during the 6-8 hours. You could use some kind of sleep measurement tools like the GOQii Smart Vital. You will get lots of data – as CXO folks say, “What gets measured gets managed!”
  • Bedroom: We saw earlier that bedroom should be DARK. Buy darkening curtains and blinds. 
  • Cool & Clean: It is ideal to sleep with the aircon on every day so that the temperature is uniform. Considering the air pollution, it is critical to keep an air purifier for Indian conditions with high levels of pollutants. Western blog writers have recommended 20 Degree Celsius – For Indian bodies, I reckon 24 is ideal, which is what I do.
  • Equipment: Sleep equipment includes the mattress, pillow, bedsheet and the comforter. Do your research – be as passionate as you are when buying a smartphone or car. You earned your sleep. Sleep comfortably! You spend one third of your life in it – this is NOT an expense – but an investment – Period. A good benchmark for investment is invest NOT LESS THAN the value of your CAR! You should also REPLACE them periodically.
    • Mattress: You literally want to bounce back to life. A mattress should allow body heat dissipation , if possible make it cooler, provide for the spinal contours and curves and overall invite you to sleep. Most mattresses allow a 100 days sleep trial. Don’t forget to change your mattress every 7+ years or so – but do change it once a while. A mattress is definitely NOT for your lifetime. Also ensure that you clean the mattress once in six months at least. Many service providers do vacuum and dust mite cleaning. Very important. Do not let millions of dust mites sleep along with you on your mattress. 
    • Pillow: Choose a pillow that doesn’t cause any pain to your neck. Pillow varieties can be confusing – I use a Memory Foam pillow. Try a few and stick to what suits you. Once again, trial is allowed here as well and make sure you replace them once in 2-3 years.
    • Bed Sheet: Choose one that allows heat dissipation to the mattress. Pure Cotton (bamboo is even better) and High Thread Count – Minimum 300 thread count is recommended for that 5 Star Hotel feel and conducting heat. Replace once in 2-3 years 
    • Comforter: Prevents heat dissipation and allows cooler air. Pure Cotton and high thread count. Replace them once in 2-3 years 
  • Power Nap: An afternoon nap for 15-30 minutes is very refreshing and powerful. I am aware of many CXOs sleeping in the office with lights switched off, wearing noise cancel headphones and eye masks. I found it useful and do this occasionally. Just in case you foresee working late on any day, a nap will help you keep going at full power till late into night.
  • Alarm for Starting sleep: I strongly suggest that you keep an Alarm for STARTING sleep, most likely you WONT NEED an alarm to wake up. Starting sleep at the SAME TIME every day is extremely critical to have good sleep.
  • Sleep Positions: Sleep how you feel comfortable. Side position with bent knees (closer to Fetal Position) is what suits most people.

We hope these sleepy notes help you! Do check out more from the Sleep Series by Srini on Healthy Reads. For tips on how to sleep better and meditation, tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play. 

#BeTheForce 

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Sleep Series: The Chemistry of Sleep

sleep series: chemistry of sleepDifficult to believe? Yes it is true. The perfect sleep is the result of a complex reaction from 2 main chemicals. Adenosine is a neurochemical which accumulates during “wake” and drains during “sleep”. Imagine a specially made hourglass, but one which builds up for approx. 16 hours of our wake cycle and drains within 8 hours of our sleep cycle. The receptors of Adenosine inform the brain that “stock levels are up” and it is time to relax and sleep. As sleep kicks in, stock levels of Adenosine goes down and receptors send a “wake up” signal to the brain.

Adenosine is the primary inducer of sleep-wake cycle. It reduces neural activity and sets you to start sleep. Interestingly, Caffeine blocks the Adenosine receptors and creates the opposite effect.  There we go – as to why we feel a bit fresh and brisk after a cup of coffee – it is an illusion we create by confusing the brain! The body’s excretion system works hard to flush Caffeine. It takes 5-6 hours to flush out just 50% of this possessive chemical.

I’ve mentioned Adenosine over Melatonin as the primary sleep chemical because I wanted to impress upon the impact of Caffeine. We take Caffeine in many forms – Coffee, Cola, energy drinks, etc. Caffeine also impacts the Dopamine and Serotonin chemical reaction, thereby causing a significant disruption of the normal neural activity. 

Do let Adenosine do its job naturally, you will sleep on time and naturally! Caffeine interferes with several hormonal/neurochemical reactions related to sleep. Do not consume Caffeine beyond lunchtime and in any case, beyond 4pm. 

The Magical Darkness Hormone – Melatonin

Melatonin is the second chemical responsible for enabling “onset” of sleep. It detoxifies the body of free radicals and other toxins. It starts secretion as soon as darkness sets in and it peaks by midnight. The synthesis of melatonin occurs through a multistep complex chemical process:

  • It all starts with food – food contains an amino acid called tryptophan. Foods like Milk, oats, nuts contain more tryptophan. 
  • Tryptophan is absorbed from the bloodstream to the pineal gland in the brain.
  • First, tryptophan is converted to another amino acid and then to a brain chemical called Serotonin. 2 Enzymes are involved here!
  • Serotonin’s conversion to melatonin involves two more enzymes.
  • All chemicals discussed here follow complex routines and they are part of a chain which is amazingly responsible for the onset of sleep. On top of it all, there is a closely coordinated play of the “Brain-Gut complex” to get this right!

How Can You Aid This Natural Process For Good Sleep? 

DON’T intervene in the natural process! Supplements can’t get you anywhere near the good quality sleep offered by this natural process.  

  • Beware of Caffeine! – Stop post lunch consumption
  • Consume foods high in tryptophan – consult your GOQii coach
  • Gut (Serotonin storage) has its role in sleep, so keep it clean and healthy
  • Get used to darkness after dinner to catalyze natural Melatonin 

Adenosine has other functions such as certain cardiac functions as well. This article does not deal with them. An enzyme is a biological catalyst that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction and an amino acid is an organic acid used to make proteins usually obtained from food. OTC Melatonin – a small dose is usually fine to get over jet lag. 

We hope this article on the Chemistry of Sleep helps you!  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 

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Sleep Series: In Praise Of Darkness!

sleep series

In the beginning there was only darkness and then, light came out of darkness! Light and darkness are not two different and opposing things. Society has made a villain out of darkness. Darkness is used as a synonym of all things sinister. We are trained from childhood to look at darkness with fear.

In Hindu religion, darkness is deified – we have “Maha Kaal” and “Maha Kaali” – in religion this could either mean “darkness” or “time” – there is close relationship between them, but that is for another day. 

There is darkness everywhere – interstellar, intergalactic is just darkness.

Modern living has opted for lights of high luminescence. The poor old incandescent light of 60 watt (tungsten filament bulb) has a luminosity of 400-800 lumens whereas the modern day LED lamps can produce the same lumens at just 5 Watts. Where we had one incandescent light, now we have at least 4 LED! Which means we are consuming 5 times more light! 

Light has to be light ( Pun intended)

Since we fear darkness, we have created a social necessity (business necessity?) for bright light, whereas the number 1 villain for good sleep is LIGHT! Many of us know of the bad impact of blue light emitted from phones, laptops and tablets. Evenings are intended to be a journey to acclimatize to emerging darkness and night time is intended to be pitch-dark by nature.

So, for a good night’s sleep, the gradual reducing of lighting and luminosity is a must. Which means after 7:30pm, you should: 

  • Slowly switch off lights and send a signal of reducing light to the eyes
  • Make the bedroom pitch-dark for sleeping
  • Immediately activate “night mode” in Laptops and Phones

This could easily be the first step towards good sleep! Remember that you are meant to sleep in darkness. The sleep hormone Melatonin (more about this later) is highly impacted by luminosity. Darkness is key to sleep. Light is an inhibitor of sleep. Embrace the darkness, start falling in love with it! Darkness is the source of all light, time and space and is a good first step to a good sleep.

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

#BeTheForce  

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Sleep Well Without Electronics

Sleep Well Without Electronics

I am not here to quote articles to tell you that radiation from electronics wrecks sleep. I am here to tell you that it really does. Period. And for the current generation, it is a bad scenario!

Why Should You Believe Me?

Well, after reading this article, put off your WiFi, network and call connection for 2 hours before going to bed. Try and gauge the quality of your sleep. Ask yourself, if you slept deep or if you were disturbed during bedtime? It’s tried and tested, you sleep much deeper and better.

Using TVs, tablets, smartphones, laptops or other electronic devices before bed delays the body’s internal clock & might suppress the release of melatonin which induces sleep.

Radiation from mobile phones delays and reduces sleep and causes headaches and confusion. The “glow” from electronics is at work against quality shut-eye. The small amounts of light from these devices pass through the retina into a part of the hypothalamus (the area of the brain that controls several sleep activities) and delay the release of the sleep-inducing hormone, melatonin.

Many of us are into binge-watching television shows. Research shows that those who are identified as binge-watchers report more fatigue, symptoms of insomnia, poorer sleep quality and greater alertness prior going to bed. Further analysis found that binge-watchers had a 98% higher likelihood of having poor sleep quality compared to those who did not consider themselves to be binge-watchers.

Gaming is the worst of all for all age groups. Video games appeared to contribute to sleep problems as well, even if the kids watched or played them during the daytime. Activities like TV, gaming, etc. gets you excited, and in many cases, you end up sleeping late, with disturbed sleeping patterns. In case you’re in your 20s and 30s and manage to sleep well with this scenario, my suggestion is to stop now. TV and computer monitors can keep melatonin levels from rising normally because of the brightness of the screens. Around bedtime, adults and the young should be winding down.

 Why Should Anyone Bother About Good Quality Sleep?

Sleep is important because it enables the body to repair, be fit and ready for another day. Getting adequate rest may also help prevent excess weight gain, heart disease, and increased illness duration. It is extremely essential part of healing well. 

Am I suggesting that we all stop using electronics? Hell No! However, you can do the following

  1. Put your WiFi off 4-5 hours before sleeping
  2. Try to decrease and eventually stop using all electronic items 4-5 hours before bed. Get back to the landline maybe!
  3. Gaming & play outside the house is a YES, and on the phone is a NO for all age groups
  4. Read a book, a newspaper or chat up with friends
  5. Meditating is one of the best options before bed as it induces your healing process and recuperates your body, mind and emotions.

If you really want to experience perfect sleep try to be away from technology for those 6 to 8 hours so you spend 16-18 hours of the other part of the day where you really need it!

We hope this article helps you sleep well. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below! For more on sleep, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play.

#BeTheForce

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