Improving your sleep can positively impact your mental health and well-being.  Sleep is how we recharge, integrate the day’s learnings, and repair on a cellular level.  Many Americans have difficulty getting ‘enough’ hours of sleep per night.  Those of you whom are parents of teenagers, it’s especially true that many teenagers are not getting their optimal amount of sleep during the school week, as they stay up late with sports, their homework, technology, and because teens’ internal clocks naturally run to the night owl range, making it hard to get up for and have a productive day at school. Average adults are said to need 5, 90 minute sleep cycles, which works out to about 7.5 hours per night.  Teenagers generally need more than that, as they are still growing.  Today’s newsletter pulls together a bunch of ideas, grouped into categories, that you may like to try one at a time or in combination.  

Technology Tips – minimizing bluelight, stimulation, and the dopamine hit obtained from engaging with our smartphones and other screens can help reinforce with the body’s natural cues to get sleepy.  You may want to:

• Set a time that you have all devices off, so that you have time to wind down for sleep
• Consider programming your home wi-fi to have set hours where it is off before bedtime
• Set a cut off time for news and social media, which can be overstimulation and/or anxiety producing
• Charge your phone away from your bed or in another room entirely
• Remove TV screens from bedrooms

Food and Fitness Tips – 

• Exercise during the day, even if it’s just adding up walking and up and down the stairs as much as you can in your daily routine (work, school)
• Avoid exercise 2 -3 hours before bed
• Don’t eat a big meal right before bed
• Don’t drink caffeinated sodas, coffee, or tea after 2pm
• Try winding down with chamomile or sleepytime tea before bed

Tips for Your Bedroom Environment – 

• Consider the room temperature and ventilation (experts recommend temps not lower than 54 and not higher than 78 for optimal sleep quality)
• Consider whether you may need a new mattress or pillow
• Is there a pet in your room that may be disturbing your sleep and could otherwise be relocated? 
• Alternatively, Would you feel more secure and thus perhaps sleep better if you do have your pet sleep in your room?
• Bring in some comfort objects (eg, fluffy blanket, stuffed animal, lavender scented sachet)
• White noise from a fan, air filter, or app on your phone to drown out household and street noise
• Earplugs
• Eye mask/ sleep mask

Tips for Creating a Nighttime Routine – 

• Keep your body clock on point by getting sunshine first thing each morning and watching the sunset at night when possible
• Dim the lights in your home or bedroom when it’s getting close to bedtime or even a couple hours before
• Set a timer for when you’ll begin your nighttime routine, giving yourself enough time for tasks (eg, brush teeth, wash face) and for wind down time
• Put your pajamas on as the first step in your wind down routine
• Write down any of your ‘to do’ list items for tomorrow, so they are off your mind for the night
• Parts of your wind down routine could include:
  • take a relaxing bath or shower
  • listen to quiet music
  • meditate (on your own or through an app such as Insight Timer or Calm)
  • do a guided meditation or visualization
  • reading a book 
  • do a progressive muscle relaxation
  • journal

Miscellanious Tips – 

• Avoid naps longer than 30 minutes so as to not disrupt your nighttime sleepiness
• Move your clock, alarm, and/or phone alarm away from arm’s reach 
• Keep a pen and pad of paper by your bed so you can quickly write down anything your mind reminds you of as you’re trying to fall asleep or if you wake up in the middle of the night (eg, remember to call the doctor’s office tomorrow, remember you have that presentation to prepare for)
• If you can’t fall asleep within 15 minutes, get up and do something relaxing [and not on your phone] until you get sleepy again
• If you continue to have sleep problems, consult with your medical doctor