17 Tips For Deep Healing Sleep
The regeneration and healing of our body and mind happens during sleep.
The regeneration and healing of our body and mind happens during sleep. It’s the time when our body release tensions, recharges and rests. All of this rejuvenation actually only happens in the deep, dreamless state, also known as the delta state. A state that many of us don’t experience consistently. If you’re been dreaming, like I have, chances are you aren’t reaching this deep state. You’re most likely waking up tired as the dreaming stage is quite energy draining.
Our rate of breath is correlated to the state of our mind. When our breath is short and erratic our mind is restless and disturbed. We’ve all had nights where we lie in bed and our minds are racing. The anxieties, to-do lists, and fears take over and it feels like we can’t get off the hamster wheel. This restlessness will prevent us from entering the deep sleep state our body and mind needs. This is where slowing down our breath rate will help to calm the mind.
Often times our sleep patterns are affected by a nutrient deficiency, like magnesium. Poor nutrition will deprive the body of the vitamins and minerals it needs to relax and heal.
17 Tips For A Deep Healing Sleep
Turn off all electronics before going to bed. I completely unplug my wifi connection before going to bed and remove all electronics from the bedroom. EMF will interrupt your natural circadian rhythm among many other things.
Read something inspirational.
Use candle light or soft warm lights (lamps) in the evening.
Reduce blue light exposure in the evenings. Use blue light blocking glasses when you’re working with screens, especially in the evening. Blue light is very stimulating to the nervous system and throws off the circadian rhythm and melatonin.
Eat a light meal in the evenings and eat 3 hours before going to bed. Going to sleep on a full stomach will keep you the lower (non healing) state of sleep.
Meditate.
Breathwork. Slowing down your breathing rate will help induce a deeper sleep. Longer exhales than inhales signals your adrenals to relax.
Watch the sunset. This will help your body to start winding down.
Align your circadian clock with nature. Wake up with the sunrise and sleep with the sunset (this last part might be a bit hard for those of us living in the northern hemisphere where it gets dark at 5pm during the winter months).
Massage your feet with castor oil and lavender or even better, have someone give you a foot massage.
Listen to some delta waves, binaural beats, mantras or soothing music that promote deep sleep
Magnesium glycinate will greatly improve the quality of your sleep. A magnesium deficiency will disrupt your sleep.
Go for a walk in the evenings.
Leave your worries on the shelf of your mind. Wrap them in a ball and set them aside.
Sleep in a dark and cool room.
Don’t go to sleep thirsty. Drink a glass or two of water before going to bed. Being dehydrated will disturb the mind, disrupt proper sleep and may even cause bad dreams.
Sleep on a firm surface. This provides relaxation to your entire nervous system by supporting the spinal column and all 72,000 nerves which as connected.
Experiment with different methods and see what works for you.
Sleep and Breast Health
Bright nighttime blue light, especially from our electronics, interrupts the production of the hormone melatonin. Inadequate levels of this hormone can promote breast tumor growth. Another reason to get quality sleep.
Breathing Tip
Breathing through the left nostril brings in soothing, calming and cooling energy. 10 long and deep breaths should get to a state of drowsiness.
Yogic Wisdom
Avoid dreaming (anyone else wondering how to avoid this?) Dreaming is an indicator that you didn’t reach the deep sleep stage. This is the delta (dreaming) stage, the goal is to drift into a theta state.
Naps
Yogic wisdom advises women take two 11 minute naps daily (Amen!)
Did You Know
Your nervous system is affected by the direction in which you sleep. Ideally, your bed should be positioned east/west. Similar to a compass needle that is always pointed north, your energy will get absorbed by the earth’s magnetic field which is why you want to sleep in a line that cuts across the earth’s magnetic field. This could be the reason you instinctively position your bed in a certain way. It just feels right.
Wishing you a deep and restful sleep!
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