Sleep is one of the most important components of good health and body/brain function. There are many things you can do to increase the quality and quantity of your sleep. Let’s look at the benefits of good sleep and how to ensure you get the best sleep you can.

Sleep is the brain’s way to cleanse and wash itself in a minimum of 7 hours.  By restful sleep, the blood flow to the brain increases dramatically.  With increased blood flow, the brain restores its functions efficiently. This can greatly increase your attention span and improve your memory. The brain lets us know if we are having a good time or not.  As soon as the brain is congested, mild depression sets in, so good sleep can also ward off depression before it starts.

The body has a circadian rhythm, which is an inner clock of optimal times for many functions.  When you work with the circadian rhythm, it will enhance the ability to sleep. Here are some ideas to bring that rhythm back into balance for optimal sleep.

Lifestyle Suggestions

• Go to sleep and get up at the same time each day.  If you oversleep in the morning, it is difficult to get to sleep at your optimal time that night.  Keep your sleep and wake up time consistent to enhance circadian rhythm.
• Have protein and vegetables to bring nutrition to the brain.
• Deep breathing will enhance the oxygen to your brain.  Combine this with your walk and bring it into your day.  With exercise, be consistent for best results.  An example of deep breathing is:  Inhale, 2,3,4, hold, 2,3,4, exhale 2,3,4.  Repeat this 5 times, several times per day.
• Try doing a 10 minute meditation.  I recommend grounding your body by bringing your energy from the crown chakra, through your chakras to the earth.  That enhances bringing the energy out of your head and into your body.  Grounding to the earth can be very calming.  Nature and the earth can receive any unfinished business.
• Relax each day after your work is done.  Get in touch with friends and family.  Do something that brings in joy.  Reflect on what you enjoyed about the day.

Daily Routine Ideas

Try optimizing the body’s circadian rhythm in these ways.  Keep in mind the grounding and releasing negative energy.

Starting Your Day

First thing in the morning is the best time to focus and take in new information.  An increase of analytical ability happens in the morning.

• Start drinking water first thing.  You lose a litre of water each night.  So having one glass first thing in the morning will aid all body functions.  Continue to have water all day up to 2 litres per day.
• Sunlight turns off melatonin.  That’s the natural hormone made by the brain to enhance sleep.  So get outside in the morning or take in some sunlight through the window.  This sunlight will reset the circadian rhythm.
• 10 minutes of exercise helps get everything going in the morning.  A walk outside right after breakfast will take care of exercise, sunlight to turn off melatonin and get your circulatory system moving.  Another way to get all this in is by doing yoga each morning for 10 minutes.  There are also rebounders that help the flow of energy through the body.

Also, a group of exercises called “Brain Gym” will enhance the functions of the left and right hemispheres of the brain.  That exercise makes sure your arms move from one side of the body to the other and from the top to bottom.

Afternoon Pick-me-up

Creative energy is best in the afternoon. That’s when there is less analytical ability. Between 1 to 3pm, many people feel sleepy.  That is a good time to get more sunlight.  The sunlight again turns off melatonin and helps the brain have energy.

Winding Down at the End of the Day

• Within 1 to 2 hours of bedtime, get away from bright lights.  Use a book light to read versus keeping the whole room brightly lit.
• If you feel agitated or do not want to go to bed, try releasing any negative energy you have picked up by using the techniques on my blog “Releasing Negative Energy”.
• Use earplugs when needed
• My personal experience suggests a sleep mask will make my sleep much deeper. You may find it helps you, too.

I have personally gone through sleep challenges that lasted over a year.  Taking responsibility for my sleep and knowing this was a challenge I needed to resolve really helped me get my active mind believing that I would sleep easily during this time.

It is important to know that you can regain the brain you had as a child.  However, some children do not have the brain capacity they could have.  In my work, I check people of all ages for the brain function and efficiency.

I Can Help

If you are interested in help for your sleep and or brain function, do contact me.  There are simple solutions including remedies and healing to let go of stress.