Sleep

Top 10 Tips for Improving Sleep

This certainly has to be the most underrated foundational pillar for improving your health, losing weight, and making your life better. These tips are in order from least disruptive to your life all the way to making a life overhaul.

1. Get 5-10 minutes of early morning sunlight.

For the overachievers, get a bonus of 1-2 minutes of sunlight after lunch. (This should be obvious, but don’t stare at the sun.)

2. No blue light at least 30 minutes before bed.

Dim your lights. No TVs, phones, or computers. The blue light from these devices suppresses your body’s natural melatonin production. If you must be on a screen, consider some blue light blockers.

3. No caffeine after 2 pm.

It will last long enough in your body to disrupt your sleep.

4. Epsom salt bath for 20 minutes before bed.

Run a hot bath starting 30 minutes before bed. Add 1 cup of Epsom salt and 1/2 cup of baking soda, and soak for 20 minutes. Afterward, finish your bedtime routine, and crawl under the covers.

5. Consider a magnesium supplement.

I like Bioptimizers or Pure Encapsulations.

6. Daily Exercise.

I’m not crazy about this loaded term, but more on that in the Movement section.

7. Cold therapy.

Anything from 30-60 seconds at the end of your shower to cryotherapy to cold plunging. I like to go to @behuemn in Houston for cryotherapy.

8. Mouthtaping when you sleep.

Especially for the sleeping mouth breathers out there, like me. I use Hostage Tape every night, even on vacation, but I also like Somnifix. I would not do this without consulting your physician if you suffer from obesity or sleep apnea.

9. Meditation!

My secret weapon for life and sleep. I learned the Ziva technique from Emily Fletcher. Yep, mantra and all. I started in the early part of Covid, and have been doing it 1-2 times per day since then. I got the basics in her 15-day online course, and I rarely miss a day. For those who feel this is too woo woo, I get it. You can get really advanced with this stuff, but you can also try mindfulness with Headspace or Calm.

10. Track your sleep.

I like the Oura Ring for tracking sleep. The data seems to correlate with how I feel, whether it’s a good or bad night. If you are interested, please let me know. You can get a coupon for $40 off of an Oura Ring.

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There are other options, too:

Keeping your room 68-70 degrees at night, mattress cooling systems, Qualia Sleep, Glycine, Ashwagandha, or melatonin supplements. If you take a melatonin supplement, only take it 1 to 2 nights per week. Taking it nightly can suppress your body‘s natural melatonin production.

FYI, my weird sleep routines and experiments give my wife plenty of hilarious stories at parties.