Since everybody loves a good life hack- a “quick fix” to a big problem, I thought you might be interested in the polyphasic sleep movement. The people who follow these sleep schedules believe that sleeping in intervals throughout the day can help us reduce our overall sleep requirement, so that we have more waking hours in the day. It’s believed by some that Leonardo da Vinci was polyphasic, to the extent that he slept for only 15 minutes every 4 hours, which adds up to a whopping 1.5 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period. That left him with 22.5 hours a day to do his great work! From a little internet research (and believe me, I didn’t spend too much time on this for apparent reasons, the Uberman method is what seems to be the most popular: Sleep for 20 minutes every 4 hours (adds up to 2 hours per day).
Sound appealing? Yeah, not exactly my cup of tea either. This type of sleep pattern would be likely to leave you exhausted, not to mention the inconvenience. Have you tried anything weird to get a good nights sleep? I haven’t tried anything too crazy, aside from 2am chants of “please god let this baby go to sleep.”
Rather than trying to hack your sleep, you may be more interested in these real-life tips:
- First of all, you have to make sleep a priority. Keep a consistent sleep and wake schedule – even on the weekends. If necessary, try adding sleep to your to-do list. And don’t be late.
- Maintain a relaxing sleep routine. Create a bedtime routine that relaxes you. Experts recommend reading a book, listening to soothing music or soaking in a hot bath.
- Create a sleep sanctuary. Your bedroom should be a haven of comfort. Create a room that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool for the best sleep possible. So you might wanna consider clearing clutter, moving things around or buying more comfortable bedding.
- Evaluate your sleep system. Your mattress and pillow should provide full comfort and support. Your bed and your body will naturally change over time, so if your mattress is seven years old (or older), it may be time for a new one. Pillows should generally be replaced every year.
- Keep work materials out. The bedroom should be used for sleep and sex only. Keep stressors, such as work, outside the bedroom.
Essential Oils can Help with Sleep
- The aromatic method is experiencing an oil through your sense of smell. You can use this method by putting oils into the air with a diffuser. You can also put a few drops in your hand, cup it over your mouth and nose and breath it in. You can also just smell it directly from the bottle.
- Your olfactory system, which sense of smell, is DIRECTLY linked to your Limbic system where memories are stored. It’s also the area of the brain that effects your emotions. That's why using oils aromatically is one of the best ways to affect your mood, or to impact an emotion like anxiety, stress, frustration, anger, hopelessness. Negative emotions that we all experience from time to time.
- Another advantage of using oils aromatically by diffusing is that it cleanses the air of airborne pathogens. Each of the oils have different properties, some of which are Anti-Viral, Anti Bacterial, and Anti-Microbial so when the oils are diffused into the air—it's cleansing.
All the best,
| Jessica Hill Powell, NBC-HWC, RYT-200 Founder + Health Coach at Meridian Integrative Wellness |
