Are you sleeping soundly at night? Do you wake up at 3:00 AM with racing thoughts or struggle to go to sleep? According to the CDC, 1 in 3 adults in America report not getting sufficient sleep. Developing a sleep routine will take time. Start to slowly crowd out unhealthy habits in your evenings by reducing stressors that may disrupt your sleep habits. Copy the list below to your phone and keep track of your sleep as you reduce the sleep disruptors and log your quality of sleep. Start building your routine with a few simple rules. Keep your bedroom dark and cool and night. Create a winding down routine at a specific time every night. To decrease anxiety and racing thoughts add a neuro exercise that helps to down-regulate your nervous system.
Choose to integrate one neuro exercise to bring your body down from a stress activation state by choosing one activity for 30 days from the following list: meditation, tapping, breathwork, journaling, and playing a sound machine.
- Did you skip caffeine after noon today?
- Did you avoid eating a large meal 2 hours before bedtime?
- Did you exercise today?
- Did you avoid electronics 2 hours before bed?
- Did you go outside and experience morning light?
- Did you avoid drinking alcohol?
*The goal is to answer yes to the above questions.