Sleep: Night Time Calming Routines

One of the most common symptoms of depression and anxiety is having insomnia or oversleeping.  I remember the height of my sleep disturbances was last year. I would not be able to sleep till 6 AM and would lay in my bed for hours feeling tense and worrying about what I had to get done the next day.  I felt like my head was running 100 mph.  When I could not fall asleep, I would sometimes go online and become fixated with online shopping/browsing or refreshing TMZ.com every 5 minutes (even though there were no updates).  When I could finally fall asleep, I would have horrible nightmares and wake up extremely tense.  I would wake up to a puddle of drool on my pillow, an inflamed jaw, sore neck, itchy throat, and headache because I only got in 4-5 hours of sleep.  Going to my morning class was a drag because I could not pay attention with my pain & lack of sleep.  There were many days where I would even skip class and actually sleep till 3 PM.  Where did my day go?  On top of being behind on my work due to pain, I just wasted even more time in the day simply because I could not sleep the night before. I became desperate and started taking NyQuil for a week to sleep because I could not afford to waste time.  

There were other moments where I would oversleep.  Many of those moments occurred when I was in extreme pain.  I would shed some tears before I slept as I worried about my future. I would think about how no one would hire someone who is always in pain and sick.  I felt useless.  Crying the night before would result in me feeling very fatigued in the morning and oversleeping. I would lay in bed for such a long time that it made me feel even more fatigued, and I started getting headaches when I would try to get up.  I basically got headaches for not sleeping enough and sleeping too much.  The way I slept had an enormous effect on the productivity of my day and had a great impact on my pain. 

I recently started prioritizing my sleep 4 weeks ago at my pain management session @ USC.  My pain management therapist emphasized being aware of the amount of energy I have.  Because I did have a chronic pain disability that would require more rest through out the day than the average person, I had to figure out how to conserve my energy.  One of the ways I could do that was by getting enough sleep at the right time. I realized my body needs 9 hours of sleep to function normally...6 or 7 hours would not cut it. My pain management therapist went over suggestions that would help me sleep better and helped me create a sleeping routine to get me on the right track to start off my day.

Night Time Calming Routines 

(taken from USC Occupational Therapy "Lifestyle Resdesign") 

Regular rhthmic evening rituals have been known to help calm the body and mind and ease the body into much needed sleep

Suggestions to help you relax @ bed time:

• Dim your lights several hours before bed to avoid the stimulation caused by artificial light pollution - which is all around us through TV, computers, and indoor lights

• Try some calming techniques to turn into your routine:
• drink a warm beverage 
• meditation
• prayer
• breathing
• stretching
• bath
• read
• calming music 
• scented lotion or bath gel - lavennder is a stress reducing scent 
• journal 

• Teas to relax you (be sure it's caffine free!)
• Chamomile, Lavender, Jasmine
• all 3 calm and relax you, chamomile and lavender have also been known to reduce headaches
• Peppermint
• it helps to open your sinusses so you breathe better during the night
• Ginseng 
• studies have shown that the ingredients in ginseng help decrease the amount of wakefulness in a 12 hour period and increase the amoung of slow-wave-sleep

• Other Beverages that have been known to relax the body and mind if you're not a tea person
• warm milk
• warm lemon water

• If you can't sleep:
• If you can't fall asleep within 15 minutes, don't keep trying.  Don't force yourself to stay in bed.  Instead, get out of bed and do some light activity.  Getting your mind of sleep resets and reboots your system.  Do a calming activity and get back in bed 
• no nicotine 1.5 before bed
• noexercise that makes you sweat for 1.5 hours before bed
• no caffeine, 3 hours before bed is recommended
• no eating 3 hours before bed, to avoid reflux issues that can disturb sleep

Do you have a night-time routine?

Write down the steps in your night-time routine or possible one you'd like to give a try!

My night time routine:

1. turn off electronics @ 12 am
2. shower w/ vanilla scented shower gel (relaxing!)
3. drink a hot cup of rooibos tea 
• Rooibos tea is also strongly recommended for people suffering from irritability, headaches, disturbed sleeping patterns, insomnia, nervous tension, mild depression or hypertension. Rooibos tea contains no caffeine and therefore has a soothing effect on the central nervous system. Rooibos tea is also low in tannin and therefore does not have a negative effect on the absorption of iron and proteins into the body. more info about the benefits of rooibos tea
4. read Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra
5. Tara Stiles bed time stretching routine 
• this stretching routine is easy, quick, and makes my body feel so relaxed!
6. Spray Bath & Body Works Lavender & Chamomile Sleep pillow mist
7. Tape mouth with 3M tape (breathing/jaw purposes)
8. Lay on my TMJ pillow which allows me to lay on my back and reduce jaw pain 

I recommend writing your sleeping routine on a piece of paper and placing it next to your bed.  It's difficult sticking to it everday, but with time, your body will get use to it! 

Got any other sleeping tips?  Feel free to share!

Goodnight :)