Excerpt from book The Magic Pill by Dr. Jennifer Clemons

Chapter 3

Sleep-

“Preparing for a good night’s sleep is an all day process.” David Crow

Sleep is such an important foundation to health, without it we will find it hard to get past plateau levels of repair and wellness on our health journey.

Sleep is an opportunity for dreaming, “house cleaning” both physically and psychologically, and a time for restoration. Restful sleep needs to be a top priority, and must be approached seriously. Any dependence on sedatives or alcohol needs to be examined with an honest and loving eye. I often tell patients, I can give you herbs and help you sleep a night, or two, but if we don’t address the underlying issues, your body will revert to waking or restless sleep until the root issues are addressed and resolved.

Top concerns:

Overstimulation during the day?

Not enough energy cleared (via working out, moving the body)

Trouble “processing” such that blood sugar bounces at night or the body’s “house cleaning” processes are interrupted? All of these contribute to interrupted sleep.

Excess thoughts or concerns can keep us up, wake us up and cause us to have trouble falling back asleep. This could indicate a need for more mindfulness practices during the day, whether journaling or therapy, cultivating tools to process and release the troubles so we don’t bring them to bed with us. Often while we sleep it can be an opportunity for “mental housekeeping”, but if the volume needing processing exceeds what we can do through dreams or is causing excess rumination, then we need to engage other tools for processing our troubles & feelings. This can allow a more peaceful sleep onset and more restorative sleep through the night. Some people find waking at night and writing out the worries can help release them, I’d remind you to do this with the lights low, either candlelight or a low blue light nightlight to minimize the interruption to the melatonin aspect of our circadian rhythms.

The environment in which we are sleeping is critically important to address. It’s best that it be completely dark for the brain to cue the melatonin cycle that is so essential for health and healing. Consider what makes a comfortable bed for you, in a quiet part of the house, with intentional care given the pillows, sheets and warm layers. Utilize tools like blackout curtains and ear plugs as needed. Interestingly the skin can also detect light, so a simple eye mask isn’t enough to really fool the brain, but make do as needed, to allow your body to cue to the darkness and to quiet down to rest.

There is physical housekeeping that needs to happen while we sleep. For rest and repair of the body, while we sleep the liver works on the digestion of foods consumed during the day and the detoxification of metabolism by products. If we are not able to sleep, then the capacity for this cleaning and repair is inhibited. Over time this can interfere with cognition and advance the aging process.

Good quality restful sleep is essential for a healthy brain.

Exposure to blue light, especially before bed, interferes with quality sleep by interrupting the melatonin-serotonin cycles of our daily processes. The neighbor’s outdoor lights, or our own glowing screens and bright bathroom lights -all can interrupt our sleep. The brain relies on visual cues for when it is day, and night, and our overuse of LED and bright lights gives a mixed message in regards to what time of day it actually is. (research supporting)

It is imperative that we limit and are cognizant of the effects of blue lights on our brain and the tools to mitigate and utilize low blue light tools to help set us up for good sleep. Blue light is great for waking up and stimulating us, not great for winding down or calming to prepare for sleep. In order to help your brain prepare for and maintain sleep, limit or avoid electronics in the room, and be sure to turn the phone on airplane mode. Avoid screens before bed, even up to an hour before bed, and steer clear of screens while waking in the middle of the night. Disrupting sleep will affect the brain, the endocrine system (hormones) as well as the nervous system and immune system. It’s absolutely all connected! Try to have a dim light or go to the bathroom in the dark, please sit down to avoid making a mess. Consider a red bulb flashlight or low blue light nightlight if needed. https://lowbluelights.com/product/amber-night-light/

Awareness of stimulants is something we need to check in on. While some people can drink coffee right before bed, for the most part, stimulants need to be tapered well before bedtime to avoid sleep interruption.

Caffeine has a half life of +/- 5 hours, but it can range from 1.5-9.5 hours depending on the person (PubMed link here)

Alcohol disrupts sleep in a couple different ways. The wearing off of the sugar can cause a sugar crash and cortisol rise, while the amygdala can sense when the alcohol “runs out” and this can prompt a waking response. Interference with sensitivity of GABA receptors and other impacts can be detrimental to sleep even after people have discontinued alcohol (weeks or even years later). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11584550/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2778757/

Blood sugar imbalances and the prediabetes state can cause an increase in sleep disruption. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31546116/

Managing and addressing blood sugar through movement and nutritional choices, addressing inflammation, can all help set the stage for more optimal sleep. You are starting to see how careful choices about nourishment and movement will help set the stage for the other foundations; Sleep, Mindfulness, Connection/ Community.

“Treasure your sleep.” Rosemary Gladstar

Optimizing rest and sleep are essential for recovery and whole body health. "Each hour before midnight is worth two hours after" is an old quote from my Nature Cures lineage, and this has since been supported by the scientific discovery that growth hormone peaks at midnight, but only IF we are asleep. A recent discovery of the “glymphatics” in the brain can help shed more light on this “housekeeping” process, as we are asleep the brain constricts a little, such that the lymphatic system that bathes and washes the brain has more space to move. The action of “washing the brain” at night and while we rest, which cannot happen if we aren’t sleeping or aren’t sleeping well. The regulation of melatonin and circadian rhythms are all essential to healthy nervous system functioning, this impacts the endocrine system, immune system, mental health, muscle mass, vigor and vitality.

The goal is 8-9 hours of restful, restorative sleep, ideally beginning before 10pm. Without adequate sleep we cannot function optimally, in fact, it is estimated that driving on less than 6 hours of sleep is potentially more hazardous than driving under the influence of alcohol. (reference)

Sleep Hygiene

Sleep is when we rest, restore and heal. Without healthy sleep we will slowly devitalize and it will inhibit our healing in a compounding cycle. It’s usually best to sleep in a cool dark room. It’s strongly advisable to NOT have the computer workspace or tv in the bedroom if possible. Leave the bedroom for sleep, resting and snuggling. Cover any lights and remove wireless devices or turn on airplane mode and place at least 6 feet away from your head, preferably out of the bedroom entirely. Even the frequencies we cannot see can still stimulate our brain and potentially interfere with sleep. In a time with increasing personal wi-fi, such that even in the woods as I write this a wifi search pulls up no less than 10 options from the surrounding sparse community, it is a definite area of concern to understand the effects of these “invisible waves” on our brain and body functions. So much of our dreaming can be processing and digesting our day, we want to be intentional with our exposure and what we are taking in, especially in the minutes and hours before attempting to wind down for sleep.

Going to bed and waking up at the same time helps regulate your adrenals and therefore helps synch the endocrine system to healthy rhythms. I tell my teenagers, altering your wake/sleep times by more than a couple hours is like inducing “jet lag”, which can take people days to recover. Your brain cannot work as well and your appetite, “house cleaning” and processing/elimination functions get mis-cued.

Key points:

Sleep is an essential foundation of health, it must be treated as such.
A good night’s sleep is an all day process, choose carefully, especially as bedtime approaches
Trouble with sleep often indicates a deeper issue needing addressing. Addressing these Foundations, practicing good sleep hygiene, seeking help as needed from a holistically minded practitioner- all may be necessary to help get sleep back in order.

Other resources

Book Science of Sleep by Wallace Mendelson

Herbs for Sleep by David Hoffman