How I've learned to Sleep better.

Calmness and focus.

I aspire to have a strong, clear, and calm mind. I want to stay focused and be able to handle life's challenges and emotional upheavals. That's the reason I meditate and work with my mind. Please don't understand this wrong. I'm not trying to suppress or bypass my emotions and feelings. The opposite is true. Raising mindfulness and becoming more aware of what I think, say, or do helps. It’s a way of logging in and connecting with yourself. I can more naturally accept what's going on in my inner world, change behavioral patterns, and become a better human being.

How the body affects the mind.

Over the last years, I've realized how much my physical health affected my mental capacity, decision-making, and ability to communicate clearly. I recognized when I ate certain foods that my mind got foggy or tired. I discovered how a mediocre night of sleep affected my mood and productivity the next day. Things I never questioned and accepted as normal revealed themselves as significant disturbances.

To keep the body in good health is a duty otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear. - Buddha

Overworking our minds.

Another thing I noticed was that the daily amount of information I processed took a tremendous toll on my mental power and sleep quality. After doing some research, I found out, that the average American consumes about 70 GB of data per day. That's the equivalent of 9 DVD's, 150,000 words (Tolstoy's War and Peace has 450,000 words), or 15.5 hours of media consumption. Sometimes I caught myself sitting in front of the TV while watching a Youtube video, responding to work emails, texting with friends, and liking the latest Facebook tweets ;-).

Never in the history of humanity has any culture overstimulated their brains in a way we do. No wonder why our brain processors can't handle it anymore and rebel with stress and sleep disturbances.

Finding a solution.

I decided that I no longer wanted to sacrifice the quality of life and operate under only 60-70% of my mental and physical capacity. I wanted to go beyond that. It took some curiosity and questioning of old beliefs before I found a solution that worked. During the process, I understood how many people suffer from sleeping problems. Lack of sleep has become a global epidemic and anything that can help to solve it is a worthwhile undertaking.

I'm not a doctor or healthcare practitioner in any shape or form. I just wanted to share what worked for me and many of my family and friends.

Sleep Recipe:

1. Having a good night's sleep starts for me in the morning. I usually do a simple 15-45 minute body-based meditation in the morning. Meditation helps me to raise my awareness and stay focused and calm during the day. You can use our Mindworks meditation app.

2. I stimulate my nervous system throughout the day. I avoid sitting for extended periods of time. I mostly work at a standing desk and every 90 minutes I walk up and down the stairs, do 100 squats, or I try to be creative finding new ways of natural movement. I like what the guys from MovNat have to offer. I can also recommend reading Frank Forencich’s book on Stress Crafting.

3. Once a day I raise my heart rate for 3-10 minutes to 65-80% of my maximum heart rate. Ideally, I do this no later than 4.30 p.m. - otherwise, I might have trouble falling asleep with all the adrenaline going through my body. You can raise your heart rate very quickly by doing squats, push-ups, sprints, or any other simple exercise. That doesn't eliminate the need for longer and more specific exercise routines, but on days where I don't swing the kettlebell, paddle-board, do yoga, or run I follow this simple method.

4. Being conscious on how often and when I check and respond to emails and social media has reduced my information intake. 3-4 times a week I check emails, not before 11 am and then two more times at 2 pm and 5 pm. This simple 'hack' has made me less impulsive and reactive to social media and other messages that scream for my attention. I try to avoid interacting with social media and emails after 7 pm.

5. One thing that I'm looking forward at the end of every day and that has made a world of a difference for my sleep preparation is my evening walk. After dinner usually between 7.30 - 8.30 pm I go for a 15-20 minutes walk while it's getting dark. Being out in the dark away from artificial light increases the natural production of the hormone melatonin, which regulates our sleep. When I return, I do a 10-15 minutes evening meditation to relax and give my mind a rest from the activities of the day.

Before I go to bed usually between 10 - 10.30 pm I take these supplements:

Collagen

1-2 tablespoon of collagen. There are many products out there. I like the Bulletproof Collagen. From what I've learned it supports our bodies and repairs muscle tissue at night during sleep. Collagen will give your body everything it needs to heal and grow new tissue. It also has a lot of good amino acids and enzymes that support your brain during sleep.

Fish Oil

One tablespoon of Organic Infused Coconut Oil from Green Pastures. That's a personal preference, and I think any good Krill or Fish Oil will do the trick. It will provide fat to the brain and guarantees for stable energy during sleep. Recently, I’ve also tried MCT Oil. I use Brain Octane from Bulletproof, the effects felt the same.

Magnesium

One scoop of OptiMag Neuro™ from Xymogen. That's a form of magnesium proven in animal studies to cross the blood-brain barrier. Boosting the brain’s magnesium level is vital to healthy cognition, which includes long- and short-term memory, learning, stress management, and sleep. If you can't find the above supplement, I think Neuro-Mag from Life Extensions might be a good product too.

iAwake Sound Asleep Program

Recently I've discovered this fantastic sleep hack. iAwake is a company that creates transformative sound technologies. Their audio products help you to stimulate brain waves via binaural beats, psychoacoustics, and energy medicine. When I go to bed, I put on my headphones and play 30-minutes of their iAwake Sound Asleep. Since doing this, my deep sleep has improved by over 35%.

Oura Ring

I track my sleep with the Oura Ring. The Oura Ring gives you almost clinical grade sleep tracking, and you can find out how much time you spend in each sleep stage. I will write more about this in a later blog post.

*Disclaimer: This is not medical advice, these are just methods and products I've tried myself and that have worked for me. Please always consult a physician before trying any of this.