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Top Tips for Sleeping Better

We had an AMAZING month of sleep! All of our seminars are recorded and UP inside our community SuperHumans United, along with all the PDF’s and handouts.

Today we’d like to share our top tips for improving your sleep. Keep in mind, you don’t have to do ALL of this and definitely not all at once. ANY one of these items will improve your duration or quality of sleep, and any improvement is BETTER!

Adjusting your bed and rise times.

  • First and easiest step? Figure out what your wake up time has to be, then backwards plan 7-9 hours to get an idea of your projected bedtime. This is your ultimate goal. Then slowly adjust your bedtime by 15 minutes earlier until you get used to it before doing another 15 minutes earlier. Just 15 to 30 minutes of additional bed time can make such a huge difference in how you feel.
  • Next, set an alarm for 1.5 to 2 hours before your new projected bed time. This will “cue” your non-conscious mind to start relaxing the body and prepare for sleep. Even if you’re not ready to go to bed, once you see this alarm, it’s difficult to “unsee” it!
  • 1.5 to 2 hours before bed, start minimizing your stimulus. Clean the kitchen. Get ready for the next day. Maybe start up some hot water for tea and do some reading or journaling. Try to stay away from TV or social media.
  • Be consistent with your rise and bed times. In order to habituate your body to good sleep patterns, there has to be some consistency. With consistency you can “entrain” your body to wake up and sleep at times that are best for your schedule.

Tweak your caffeine consumption.

  • Stop drinking coffee or consuming caffeine 6 hours before bedtime. Caffeine has a half-life of about 6 hours for most people – it takes 6 hours to dissipate 50% of the caffeine from your system. This means caffeine is filling your receptor sites for a neurotransmitter adenosine, which will keep you from feeling tired when you should.
  • Consider reducing your caffeine intake! Dilute your coffee. OR start using a mixture of half decaf and half regular every time you make your coffee.  Try using half of this whole bean organic coffee with half of this whole bean organic water processed decaf. You can even try this organic instant coffee with this organic decaf.

Use the power of natural sunlight to set your sleep patterns.
Although many things impact circadian rhythms and sleep patterns, SUNLIGHT probably has the largest impact.

  • Get 30 cumulative minutes of outdoor brightness during the day. The brightness of the sun tells the body’s innate intelligence what time of day it is through direction, intensity, and frequency. 30 minutes of brightness is just the right amount to get the body in “synch” with the light and dark cycles. Cumulative mans it doesn’t have to be all at once. It can be accumulated throughout the day. And it doesn’t have to be direct sun exposure – it can just be being outside (without sunglasses).
  • Get 15 minutes of direct sun exposure a few days per week. Exposing your arms and legs to direct sun exposure can help with the previous tip AND you’ll get the added benefit of vitamin D production PLUS all the emotional and physiological benefits that come from sun exposure. One of the best summaries of these benefits is here by Dr. Ruscio.
  • Dawn to dusk TRIFECTA! When possible, get a combination of early morning light, midday light, and late afternoon light! This really gives the body an accurate measure of what time of day it is, when to secrete “awake” hormones such as cortisol, and when to secrete “sleep” hormones.

We have this information plus a whole lot more in our amazing online community SuperHumans United. Come check it out!

Paul C. Tijerina

Paul C. Tijerina | BS MFT CPT NLP | Nutritional Therapist & ATAVIST Life Coach