At Sustainable Slumber, we love to talk mattresses, sleep, wellness and eco-living! Here are our most frequently asked questions about getting a good night’s sleep.
What are the biggest challenges you see typical people experience when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep?
The use of technology in bed is robbing you of a good night’s sleep. When you are tired, go to bed and do not take your phone or tablet with you. The blue light can make it difficult to fall asleep since it suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone essential to falling asleep. On a less scientific note, your screen can be very stimulating when you should be winding down. It is easy to stay up, just watching one more episode of a great series on Netflix. Make your bed a place to rest and recharge, not entertain yourself.
What are the worst sleep habits you see?
Allowing light in your bedroom. You should invest in a good set of black out blinds. People who sleep in completely dark bedrooms
get a better night’s sleep;
light is a tacit signal to our bodies that it is time to be awake. Even a small amount of
light can disrupt our sleep!
Breathing dirty air, full of toxins. The bedroom can have very poor indoor air quality since the door is often shut and mattresses off-gas toxins into your room. Put houseplants into your bedroom; they can actually clean the air! NASA actually uses houseplants to clean the air in some of their space stations–this is how effective they are. English Ivy is my favorite because it is beautiful and removes many toxins from the air. Good indoor air quality can greatly improve your sleep. Also, don’t forget to open your windows and air out your bedroom once a day.
Using devices in bed. Check your devices at the door when you go to sleep. The blue light that emanates from our phones and tablets actually inhibits the production of melatonin, a hormone that is essential to falling asleep. Even if you use your phone as an alarm, place it outside your bedroom door. Turning off the alarm will make you get out of bed instead of hitting snooze over and over!
Exercising before bed. Exercising is a healthy habit but the timing of exercise is very important; exercising too late in the day can disrupt your sleep. Everyone has a circadian rhythm; this is a 24 hour clock that tells our bodies when we should sleep or be awake. This circadian rhythm is affected by light, melatonin, social interactions and physical activity. If you exercise too late in the day, this is a tacit signal to our bodies that it is time to be awake and active. This can make it difficult to fall asleep at night. Exercise is a great habit but make sure to time it in a way that it doesn’t interfere with your sleep!
I have a hard time falling asleep at night. Any advice?
I recently learned about the military method of falling asleep in two minutes and was intrigued so I tried it. Soldiers in battle are often dealing with anxiety and stress. I started using this method and it did not work right away. But after a few weeks, it really does the trick! Even though this is a very old method, here are the guidelines, with my own modern twist on them:
Turn off all sources of light around you. Make sure your cell phone is checked at the door of your bedroom; the blue light that emanates from your screen inhibits the production of melatonin in your body, which is essential to falling asleep. Relax all the muscles in your face. Focus on each part of your face and relaxing them. Don’t forget your tongue! Relax your upper body. Drop your shoulders, followed by your arms, and do this exercise with each arm separately. Relax the rest of your body, starting with your chest, then your legs, starting from the thighs and then down.
Spend 10 seconds trying to clear your mind before thinking about one of the following images: You’re lying in a boat on a quiet, beautiful lake, staring at a beautiful blue sky above you. Or, imagine you’re lying on a hammock in a dark room. Say ‘don’t think, don’t think, don’t think’ over and over to yourself.
What is the connection between food and sleep?
Many people think about their food consumption and how it affects 
their sleep. However, the inverse is also true; your sleep habits can affect your food consumption and weight! One hormone, ghrelin, signals your body that it is time to eat. Sleep-deprived people make more ghrelin, which can make you hungry even if you don’t need to eat! Leptin is the hormone that tells you that you are full. Sleep-deprived people have low levels of leptin, which can lead to overeating. It’s no wonder chronically sleep-deprived people are more likely to be overweight!
How do weighted blankets work?
Weighted blankets should be about 10 percent of your body weight. When you sleep with a weighted blanket, one way that they work is by grounding you. You are grounded because the weight of the blanket is pushing you downwards. Grounding is a practice that can help you to reduce cortisol in your body. Cortisol is a stress hormone that we produce when we are in “fight or flight” mode. Cortisol can cause insomnia and also depression/anxiety. When we are grounded and our cortisol levels are lowered, we can sleep better. In addition, they provide what some people call “deep pressure touch”. This is a therapeutic kind of touch that is thought to be good for reducing anxiety. Users often report that they feel very safe and tethered under a weighted blanket when their life makes them feel as if they are unmoored. Deep pressure touch releases dopamine and seratonin in our bodies. These hormones make us feel pleasure and also make us feel safe and happy. Many anti-depressants are actually medications that help us to absorb more seratonin. Using weighted blankets in conjunction with an SSRI is one way you can treat depression.
