Improving Sleep Quality | Hack Your Sleep Cycle

Nearly half of Americans struggle to sleep on a daily basis. Busy lifestyles create different sleep patterns due to employment, schedule changes, family, stress. This leads us unable to sleep faster or on-demand. Within our lifetime at some point we all have struggled with getting good quality sleep. Don’t worry as today we will dive into improving sleep quality, how to hack your sleep cycle, and thoughts around sleep. So you may get back to sleeping ontime and getting a hold on your personal sleep cycle.

Many studies have shown that the belief of sleeping good 1 or 2 nights doesn’t benefit you as much as sleeping good for a full week. So if you think missing out on quality sleep Monday-Friday and will catch up on the weekend, that my friends will not work for you long term. Just to provide some perspective, on average, individuals who enjoyed a good nights rest have reported that by the 3-4 night they started to feel more positivity, more productive, and slight decrease in body aches.

Throw the worry of sleeping 8 hours out the window! We worry so much about things in life ESPECIALLY before bed. You are not alone and it is far more common then you may know. When our mind starts to wind down as we lay in bed our mind jumps into overdrive with thoughts of the next day or did you send a follow up email to your client? Did I prep tomorrows lunch? This is why many suggest “winding down” 1-2 hours before bed by shutting out the noise (tv, bright lights).

Sleep is by far one of the most powerful tool’s to becoming the strongest version of yourself. What if I told you there has been studies showing 6.5 hrs of sleep yielded longevity when compared to 8 hr sleepers. What does this mean? Well it all boils down to quality not quantity. So leave the stress of getting in 8 hours of sleep behind. Focus more on avoided disturbances while asleep and getting to bed around the same time everyday so your body knows when its time to relax and unwind.

Now how can one increase they quality of sleep to get a restful more restorative sleep you ask? Well here are some hacks to first allow yourself to truly unwind and prepare for bed.

Bring your circadian rhythm into life. Start your mornings early, enjoy the sun. Let your body know its time to wake up and its the beginning of your day. Walk the dog or take a nice 10 minute walk first thing in the morning. If this is not achievable for any reason or it becomes winter and you hate the idea of walking in the cold, fear not & try a blue therapy light. Always recommend you get one that can produce 10,000 lux such as the one I have(see link). This is a sure way to fire up your sleep pattern so your body will know when its day time vs night time allowing your body to be prepared for sleep when night time comes around.

Why does everyone talk about meditation? Cause the mind is truly a powerful thing that many of us neglect and just focus on the body (muscle pain, bodybuilding, staying lean ect.) For sensitive reasons I will not share such an image. But have you ever heard of a monk who burned alive in protest on a busy street (1963 Thích Quang Duc) and didn’t make not one sound? This is a true reflection of how our mind is more powerful then one can imagine (see article here if interested https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/the-burning-monk-1963/). With the technologies we have readily available today. We now have a better understanding of how the mind works; which areas of the mind control pain, focus, happiness, anxiety. It truly is amazing how far we’ve come along. For me personally I know I’m a high beta wave so to balance my analytical mind I use theta waves.

Now where does this information lead us? It leads to you to understand how powerful the mind can be & to show you that at the highest level you can block such extreme external forces. Now do you have to be fully aware of yourself like I am and study as much as I do? NO and I’m far from the levels achieved by monks! But if you can begin your meditation sessions it will help you in the long run and help you sleep faster by allowing you to shut down the mind and sleep peacefully. I remembered when I first started like if it was yesterday. My mind was going 1000 beats per minute. Racing thoughts like never before. It was pretty intense and awaking at the same time. It was then that I discovered the best time for me to mediate was at night, right before bed as if helped me unwind, shut down & fall asleep sometimes even while meditating.

Have you ever been woken up by external lights, the sun, or your phone light that would randomly turn on? If yes you maybe sensitive to light but even if your not, keep you sleep pattern alive by showing it complete darkness. Black out curtains is by far one of the cheapest investments I’ve made to my sleeping routine. I wake up to my alarm not the sun. As we spoke about blue light before, we now understand its awakening effects, association to day time & how our body registers such light. Its also important to note Melatonin and our ability to personally hinder this hormone or keep it optimal. Having any sort of light not just blue light has been shown to mess with production levels of Melatonin. So whether you maybe interested in blackout curtains or eye covers (which I tried and couldn’t stand) either way focus on shutting out light in the bedroom at night to help increase your Melatonin levels. Another way you may kick start good sleeping habits is by taking Melatonin. I did for about a week to drive my sleep schedule and it worked! Thirty minutes before bed and you’ll be surprised how sleepy you’ll get. I tried a few but ultimately Now Foods Melatonin was the one to work.

There are many things you can do today to help you sleep better but don’t waste your money on every product promising you better sleep. I’ve dedicated so much funding to my overall health its hard to phantom for most. What I’d like you to take away from today’s article is that before you try something, understand it and understand why your doing it. Don’t be one to expect a magic pill to come your way, cause if that’s the case we will all be optimal from day one. Its a journey, don’t get discouraged as its ultimately about finding whats it right for you! I hope you enjoyed my sleep pattern hacks and or received at least one insight that may help your journey to a restorative sleep! In future articles we’ll dive more into sleep and other tips to get you into a deep restorative sleep!

Medical/Healthcare Disclaimer & Affiliate Disclosure. This post may contain affiliate links.