23 actionable steps you can take right now to get the BEST sleep of your life.

[LiftedMind]

If you optimize and dial in your sleep routine, you will set yourself up for long term health. Sleep does so many things, consolidates memories during the day, brain engages the glymphatic system which flushes itself of toxins from metabolic activity during the day, it releases a cascade of hormones to repair and rebuild your body/ cells. We all know that sleep is a beautiful thing, so why not optimize it and feel our best.

Here are my sleep tips: (I've read many of the top books on sleep, many articles on sleep from the top biohackers etc. I'm just distilling what I've learned from them. Links at bottom).



We want to make our sleep as natural and as deep as possible, and to synchronize it with the natural rhythms of the earth and sun, modern living pulls us away from this. Here's how to restore it.

Test these one at a time, as you won't know what works if you do them all at the same time.

1: It definitely won't hurt to get tested for sleep apnea if you think this is a possibility. Rule this out of the way.

2: Wake up and go to bed at the exact same time every day, even on weekends. Staying up late and sleeping in throws your circadian rhythm off(obviously enjoy life from time to time, but think long term). Do this for life to the best of your ability, serious.

3: Go to bed between 10pm-10:30pm. Our body naturally begins to wind down around this time and at around 11pm we enter the "second wind" which is when the body releases a burst of cortisol to keep us awake.

4. Always wake up a the same time each morning, force yourself to jump out of bed. This will maintain your sleep pressure. Sleep pressure is measured by the time you are out of bed vs the time you go to bed. If you maintain your sleep pressure, you will feel your body forcing you to go to bed at your regular time. If you sleep in, the sleep pressure will be decreased and then you won't have as strong an urge to go to bed at your regular time. Always get up at the same time every day, even if you stay up late one night.

5: When you wake up in the morning, within 30 minutes of rising, go straight to a window and look outside for a few minutes. A good habit is a daily 5-10 minute walk outside as soon as you wake up. Exposing your eyes to the natural blue light of the sky is a STRONG cue for your body to awaken you and to suppress melatonin (sleep hormone). A series of biochemical changes will occur when you do this.

This will be hard, but this is one of the most important series of steps. Melatonin is your master sleep hormone that will help initiate sleep, as well as serve as an antioxidant in protecting your brain. We need to optimize melatonin levels. Any type of blue light will suppress melatonin levels. The sky is the natural blue light our body evolved around. During the day blue light is present, keeping melatonin suppressed, keeping us awake. At night time the sky darkens and blue light disappears, the lack of blue light initiates the release and build up of melatonin, we fall asleep.

Modern society has screwed this up. All cellphone screens, florescent light bulbs, computer screens, TV's, car lights, street lights, they all emit blue light which will shut off and disrupt the normal release of melatonin in our body. We can't have exposure to these if we want a great sleep.

How to limit blue light exposure:

6: Do not use your computer, cellphone, tv, one hour(general guideline, experiment) before bed. The same goes with florescent light bulbs.

7: Light your room with candles

8: Dimming your lights is an option, but not recommended (more on that later)

9: Buy orange/ amber light bulbs that don't emit blue light

Here are a few hacks that will let you bypass the avoidance of blue light emitting devices.

10: Buy a pair of blue blocking glasses and wear them 1-3 hours before bed, every night. I wear these EVERY single night and it made a huge difference in my sleep quality. It's a habit for life.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._dp_o_pC_S_ttl
http://www.amazon.com/Uvex-S1933X-Ey...HB9K1QAKSSFX06

The above hack will let you look at cellphone screen/ computer screen before bed. I have read that our skin has photo receptors that can detect the presence of blue light, even when wearing blue blocking glasses which may impact sleep quality. Experiment for yourself.

11: Install FLUX on your pc and crank it to 1900k (candle) https://justgetflux.com/. Don't forget to turn off every other light in your room if you aren't wearing blue blocking glasses.

12: On android install "twilight" which is similar to flux. For iphone i'm sure there is a similar app.

13: You can get orange screen covers, but these are a hassle and I just recommend getting blue blocking glasses.



Room changes

14: Aim to cool your room to 68F, it's been shown to be the optimal temperature for falling asleep. Play around with it.

15: If you have a wifi router in your room, move it to another room/ floor asap. We're electromagnetic beings and signals from wifi can interfere with our body and sleep rhythms. Read the book "Zapped" for more information.

16: Unplug as much as you can in your room. Related to the above, plugs and devices can emit electromagnetic signals that interfere with our sleep. Dimmers are pretty much a no go, as they emit a ton of dirty electricity which interferes with sleep patterns.

17: Get fresh air in your room as often as you can. Consider getting a few house plants to clean the air.

18: If you have fresh damp grass, walk on it barefoot before bed. There is a body of science showing that grounding yourself with the earth releases the positive buildup of static/ charge which can create stress, tension, and inflammation in our body. Play around with this. An alternative (Which I've done) is to create a grounding mat, or buy one. You can get bed sheets that are threaded with silver wire which make contact with your body and ground you. Check out the book "Earthing" for more information.

19: If possible, do most of your work outside of your room and use your room purely for relaxation, reading, sleep only. We unconsciously make associations with the room tied to work which can make us anxious/ tense without us knowing.

I would strongly recommend creating a bed time routine that focuses on relaxation. Meditation, reading non fiction, journaling your thoughts/ideas through personal exploration, light yoga, gentle stretches, a breathing exercise (4 seconds in, 4 seconds hold, 4 seconds out).

Miscellaneous

20: No caffeine after 2pm, it will disrupt your sleep. No nicotine before bed. No alcohol before bed. Basically try to avoid anything that will stimulate you. These are common, I'm sure you've heard them but here's a fresh reminder.

21: Take a hot shower or warm bath(with epsom salts for magnesium) a few hours before bed. (optional, cool yourself down with a fan). This will raise your body temperature and then lower it, which will signal the onset of sleep.

22: Drink herbal teas with raw honey. Teas such as chamomile are great. There are sleep tea blends that work well too. Raw honey has been shown to help with sleep quality. It can prevent you from waking up in the middle of the night when glycogen levels get low and your body wakes up to make you eat.

This is a quick guide and its not perfect, but it covers the major steps. Check out the sources below for further reading.

23: Quantify your sleep with a sleep tracker such as Aura, beddit, or apps such as sleep tracker and sleep as android.


So to summarize: Get up at the same time each day and expose yourself to the sky even on weekends. Buy blue blocking glasses and use them 1 hour before bed to induce melatonin release. Rid your room of wifi routes, and turn off all electronics. Use relaxation techniques before bed to ease into slumber.


That's it for now.
Feel good, live long.
Sweet dreams brahs.

Sources:

http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Smarter-...keywords=sleep
http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Soundly-...keywords=sleep
http://www.amazon.com/Say-Good-Night...keywords=sleep
http://www.amazon.com/Effortless-Sle...WWTFVMD5G6HP42
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-Sl...keywords=sleep
https://www.bulletproofexec.com/blog...=cats&keyword=
http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/?s=sleep

[idunnobrah]

stopped reading at "your body thinks a threat is coming at 11pm"

[0nlyProtein]

Snip

Solid post, brah--thanks.

[LiftedMind]

stopped reading at "your body thinks a threat is coming at 11pm"

Fixed, worded that wrong.

[HipHopLyrics]

I'm a sh*t sleeper, will definitely try and work on some of these.

Have some greens

[LiftedMind]

I'm a sh*t sleeper, will definitely try and work on some of these.

Have some greens

Awesome brah, wish you the best. To you, or anyone reading, feel free to use this thread as a log for experimenting with the tips I listed. That way others can see and learn.

[FightingBlood]

Brahs getting flux for your computer is a life changer srs. For you brahs that are jailbroken flux is legit the best tweak you can get on your iPhone. So much easier on my eyes and I can sleep better, legit my favorite thing about my phone now.

[TsarChasm]

Use a CPAP machine even if you dont have sleep apnea

[LiftedMind]

Use a CPAP machine even if you dont have sleep apnea

Sounds great, more oxygen, better blood flow during sleep?

[Iliftbra]

brb remembering all 23 easy steps and never forgetting for the rest of my life.

[TheBuffmuffin]

This is a great post, repped.

I went about 2 years straight of going to bed and waking up at a pretty consistent time while training hard. I made unbelievable gains and just felt amazing in all aspects.

The last couple of months my sleep schedule has been horrible, staying up till 2-3 am getting up at 8, 9, 10 am way too often. I've felt quite crappy and my workouts are suffering tremendously. Really going to try and get back to what I used to do.

[LiftedMind]

brb remembering all 23 easy steps and never forgetting for the rest of my life.

Brb Sweet dreams and happy remembering, thanks for stopping by and I hope these tips help you sleep more soundly

[AgentM062]

In for this.

I punched through my window during my sleep last Friday dead srs.

Worth trying these or RIP new window.

[Iliftbra]

Do you have any advice for sleepwalkers OP? I've been know to do that quite extensively.

[Lightsoft]

Inb4 there is an increase of candle fires

[Sinan09400]

In I guess

[LiftedMind]

Here's another tip for successfully resetting your sleep to minimize stress.

I've founds that new habits are always best implemented through small victories.

Rather than saying "I'm just going to start getting up at 6am" when you usually get up at 10am, use this technique.

Set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier than when you wake up. And then set a series of alarms 15 minutes earlier than that until you reach your desired time.

You will find it super easy to do if you ease into it rather than change it all in one go.

9:45am
9:30am
9:15am etc

All the way to 6am. It may take a week, but you'll be guaranteed to get there effortlessly without feeling like crap.

[LiftedMind]

Do you have any advice for sleepwalkers OP? I've been know to do that quite extensively.

Tie a string to your hand that is attached to a bicycle bell. Not srs, I don't have any experience with that but if it feels serious then check out a sleep clinic that could have a look at sleep disorders. It's probably a deeper issue.

[kovalchuk71]

Good tips, except for the electromagnetism BS.

Come on, man.

[PrisonGaper]

You didn't even mention sleeping on the floor. Son, I am disappoint.

Good thread tho.

Repped.

[nopnnogn1]

Will try some of these tips. I wake up 5+ times a night to go to the washroom because of anxiety and need to fix this asap

[hoenomo]

Hmmm, OP is under the false impression that people on the misc exercise.

Exercising regularly really helps with sleep.


















































That's why miscers are insomniacs

[LiftedMind]

Good tips, except for the electromagnetism BS.

Come on, man.

It's alright to be doubful, I didn't believe it either. Check out this book that covers the topic deeply, you'll find further explanations in there. http://www.amazon.com/Zapped-Shouldn...eywords=zapped

The electromagnetism is different than grounding, but they operate on similar principles.

Here's a simple viewpoint on grounding that is easy to understand and feels pretty logical.

As we evolved through time, we mostly lived in a natural environment where most of our walking and living was done on the raw earth. The earth carries a negative charge by default. Our feet are moist and sensitive as well as the earth and the contact between the two allows static charge to neutralize itself. So our ancestors spent most of their time grounded and neutral.

In modern times most of our lives are spent wearing rubber shoes that are elevated off the ground and not able to pass any electric charge. Same with out homes, our beds etc. They are all elevated and don't conduct electricity.


The idea is that our body accumulates a positive static charge, and this accumulation can lead to inflammation and other noticeable health problems, interference with sleep etc. So generally as a society we are not getting grounded as often as we should, and this could be a link to disease and health issues.


Think of the clouds. When a storm starts a brewin' and the lightening comes out to play, it zaps the ground (positive lighting charge to negative earth charge). If the lightening had nowhere to go, it would get pretty angry wouldn't it? (playful analogy). Same goes to our body. The research suggests that we should ground ourselves as frequently as possible.

[Synchronous]

Ok, so i followed all the steps, but now i have both my fists stuck in my rectum... what do?

[BroHusky]

Good stuff bro, just installed flux and will look to implement other steps.

Always looking to optimizing life.

Repped.

[GetHimABodyBag]

I work from 7pm to 730am in the Emergency Room, what do you suggest? I average 4-5 hours of sleep, when I am working back to back shifts or 3 shifts in a row.

Even on my days off I wake up at 1am and don't get back to bed until 5am

[BroHusky]

My **** just switched to 1900k, lmao this looks ridiculous. But it feels better on the eyes, gonna take some getting use to.

[LiftedMind]

My **** just switched to 1900k, lmao this looks ridiculous. But it feels better on the eyes, gonna take some getting use to.

Lmao set transition speed to slow-60m. If you want, you can set it to 2300k and see how that works for you. Adjust lower or high accordingly. Keep in mind higher values will leach some blue light, and the best option is no blue light. Experiment, enjoy your orange screen haha.

[jaygee15]

You want the best sleep of your life

stay up for 6 days on grade a glass, then whilst coming down blow some bomb dro..

Guaranteed 24 coma status sleep

[Chesssbrah]

Good read, reps on RC. I have the worst sleep habits and I'm fuked genetically due to insomnia being pervasive in my family.

To add: this is a personal choice, but if people want to go the supplement routine two fairly innocuous and effective supplements are Melatonin and Magnesium before bed both for falling asleep and improving sleep quality