13 ways to improve your odds of having a perfect night’s sleep

In my never-ending search for the perfect night’s sleep, I want to share with you: 13 ways to improve your odds of having a perfect night’s sleep.

The lecture notes below come from the Unbeatable Mind Retreat I attended in Early December of 2015

Sleep Hygiene (how to improve the quality of sleep) – Dr. Kirk Parsley 

My additions in Red.

1. Dark Room.
2. A supportive bed, not too soft or too firm. Natural material. No off-gassing synthetic latex. Cotton (best) natural, rubber latex (good). Dr. E
3. Cold. 64-66 degrees is the optimum temperature for a perfect night’s sleep.
4. No electronics – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, TV, computer, cell phone…
5. Do not drink a lot of alcohol late (stop at least 2 hours before bed).
6. Do not eat late.
7. Do not work right-up to bedtime.
8. Relaxation techniques help (yoga, meditation, affirmations, prayer…).
9. Go to bed at the same time each night.
10. Get-up at the same time each day, even on weekends.
11. Avoid blue-light 3 hours before bed (TV, computer…). Hardest for people to do.
12. People who exercise experience better quality of sleep than those that do not, but not right before bed.
13. Dr. Ettinger’s Magnesium Chloride Bath for Pain, Skin, Cancer, Autoimmune Disease, and More. Dr. E

Nothing you do during the day gets anchored, sets-in or it’s gain realized until you go to sleep.

Diets very low in carbohydrates, such as a ketogenic diet, have been shown to increase the amount of delta (stage III) activity and slow wave sleep (SWS) in healthy individuals.

Stages of Sleep:

• REM
• Stage I (start of non-rapid-eye (NRE) sleep)
• Stage II
• Stage III/Delta Wave (alcohol, Benadryl and sleep aids can inhibit this stage. Hormones and repair happen at this stage.

Conditions that affect Delta wave sleep or are affected by altered Delta wave sleep.

• Parkinson’s disease
• Schizophrenia
• Diabetes and insulin resistance
• Fibromyalgia
• Alcoholism
• Temporal lobe epilepsy
• Narcolepsy
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its three subtypes.
• Juvenile chronic arthritis

Research:

The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life: the new sleep science. Leading neuroscientist Matthew Walker Ph.D. – Center for Human Sleep Science on why sleep deprivation is increasing our risk of cancer, heart attack and Alzheimer’s – and what you can do about it.

Epigenetics of Sleep Loss Linked with Weight Gain and Muscle Loss in Humans

Additional Resources:

• • http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2013/07/get-better-sleep/

• • http://robbwolf.com/2015/05/19/episode-270-dr-kirk-parsley-sleep-cocktail/
  • http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2015/12/sleep-cocktail-ingredients/