Hack your way to better sleep

Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day” 

― Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep

Improved memory, improved motor task proficiency or “muscle memory” and improved creativity…
Some pretty cool side effects of getting decent sleep!
However the ideal aim of 8 hours per night of sleep is not just beneficial to neurological function,
but is critical to immune system regulation, emotional state, reproductive health and overall daily energy.

Being able to improve quantity of sleep is beneficial however we can also seek to improve quality of the hours we are able to get to reap the health benefits.

Tips to healthier sleep hygiene:
– Stick to a sleep schedule aka go to bed and get up at roughly the same time each day.
– Create a restful environment by making your room conducive of sleep. It should be dark, quiet, cool and device free.
– Reduce caffeine and nicotine intake particularly toward the end of the day.
– Reduce alcohol intake.
– Leave time to unwind before bed.
– Get sun exposure throughout the day.
– Promote nasal breathing by practicing nasal breathing prior sleep and/or using nose strips to open up air passages (available from the chemist)

Outside of a subjective measurement of your sleep quality, we can also use devices to help determine our quantity and quality of sleep.
Ora rings, whoop bands, apple watch and other devices all have sleep tracking functions.
We can use this data as a starting point and look to slowly build on healthy sleep habits to improve our nights rest.