Can't sleep? Try these new habits!

Small habits that can ruin your sleep quality, and what to do instead:

Many of our daily habits do not support a restful sleep. Here’s a list of sneaky habits that might be impacting your sleep, and new habits you can replace them with for a great, restful sleep.

1. Eating before bed – especially rich, oily, or spicy foods.

Your new habit: Eat your last meal several hours before bedtime and avoid a heavy and/or spicy meal.
Your body needs to focus on recovery and repair overnight, not digesting a heavy meal, and you probably won’t be hungry for breakfast, which should be your largest meal. Following the body/organ clock, your digestion is the weakest from 7-11pm, and strongest from 7-11am (especially 7-9am).
Spicy food is stimulating, dispersing, and hot in nature. To sleep, your body needs to settle and cool down. Avoid spicy foods before bed if you struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep!

2. Watching television before bed.

Your new habit: Avoid television- especially stimulating shows like crime, action, and dramas- and blue light (ex: phone) for 2-3 hours before bed. Cool and calm down with peaceful activities and noises rather than conflict and frustration.

3. Screentime before bed.

It’s not just about the blue light (although is it about the blue light)! Entertaining yourself on Instagram before bed, or checking your emails or calendar right before bed, can prevent a restful sleep. These activities are stimulating at a time when your body needs your help winding down and resting. Your new habit: If your phone has a “sleep mode”, set it to turn on 1-2 hours before your bedtime and focus on a more restorative activity like reading, stretching, or having a bath.

4. Getting insufficient exercise.

Your new habit: Get regular exercise, especially in the first half of the day. This helps regulate your qi, which is important for all things! It’s common to feel tired, depressed, and sluggish and yet be unable to get a good night’s rest when qi isn’t moving well.

However, strenuous exercise within 4 hours of bedtime can negatively impact your sleep. A more yin practice like yin yoga in the evening will help.

5. Consuming caffeine and other stimulants in the evening.

Your new habit: Avoid caffeine (including chocolate and sodas), alcohol, and nicotine 6 hours before bed. All of these substances have a negative impact on sleep quality. In TCM, they’re warm/hot in nature and are moving and stimulating, like spicy food. When you’re struggling to feel rested and need a deeper sleep, I recommend skipping/reducing these substances for a while.

Other great habits to improve your sleep quality:

6. Have a comfortably hot bath about an hour before bed. This helps lower your blood pressure and eventually drop your body temperature for a comfortable sleep. A hot bath opens your pores and vents out heat. (Please skip or be very careful with baths if you have low blood pressure or POTS).

7. Keep your room comfortably cool. Your body needs to cool down for rest.

8. Employ Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. Get regular Acupuncture, or get a Wu’s Head Massage & Facial Guasha Treatment in the afternoon/evening. Peony Tree Medicine has evening availability on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays!