Welcome back to the newsletter. In the last two newsletters, I had spoken about “how to find your passion”, which received a very positive response. So, in this week’s newsletter, we will be discussing a very important tool we can utilize to excel at what we are passionate about. And that tool is ‘sleep’.
Sleep is a very essential part of our lives, as many of you may already know. But what you may not already know, is how to, that is how to sleep. All of us sleep but the majority of us don’t do it properly.
In anticipation of this topic, I had conducted a survey on a test group of about 20 people ranging from the age of 8 to 70. And the results were, to say the least, was not surprising. About sixty percent of the subjects reported feeling groggy and tired when getting up in the morning.
And when looking over the given data, the reasons are quite clear. And they are:
IRREGULAR SLEEPING SCHEDULE
About fifty percent of those surveyed reportedly had no consistent sleeping schedule. No designated time was allotted for going to bed and no designated time was allotted for waking up. This simple inconsistency in timing is such a minute detail, that often times we overlook it. A clearly defined sleep schedule allowing our brain to reset its “circadian rhythm” i.e to be to sleep at night and wake up in the morning without much strife. Also getting up at a fixed time every day, nature’s discipline in one’s life and helps you kick start your day. And if may quote motivational speaker and ex-navy seal jocko willink “ you will find a certain freedom in discipline.”
NOT HAVING A PROPER NIGHT-TIME ROUTINE
This subject here is so very important and vast, that it would require a newsletter of its own, but I’ll try my best to do it justice to this sub-topic here. Firstly, what would nighttime routine consist of you ask? Well, let's just keep it simple. Firstly you need to designate a whole hour for your nighttime routine i.e that’s before you actually go to sleep. In that one hour, you are to not do anything related to work or your studies or anything even remotely stressful in general. In this one hour, you have to garner a sense of calm. Maybe you could read a book or brew some chamomile tea or any other kind of decaffeinated beverage and maybe listen to some slow-relaxing music and settle into your surroundings. But do not, I repeat do not use your phone or any other kind of device during this one hour. Research shows that using screens before right before sleeping can severely affect your sleep quality. Another great practice you could do before going to sleep is to give thanks or to just ruminate and be grateful for all the good things that may have happened to you throughout the day. Research also shows that a simple gratitude practice like what I spoke of, can improve your mindset for the coming day.
NOT HAVING A PROPER MORNING ROUTINE
Much of what I’m about to say is based on the videos of Thomas frank, so check out also, I’ll leave a link in the end.
Now, when it comes to my morning routine, I like to keep it short. You should focus on four main things when you get up. They are hydration, nutrition, learning, and movement. Again keep it simple, when I mean hydration, I mean a glass of water when you wake up, when I say nutrition I mean something filling like maybe a bowl of oats or some scrambled eggs, nothing too “Instagramy”, when it comes to learning I would say read the news or an article about current events and when I talk about movement I mean maybe a ten-minute walk or if your one of those people who walks or cycles to school or work, more power to you. See, that’s all, simple.
Now, After reading what not to do before and after sleep the question that might be coming to your mind is - HOW TO ACTUALLY FALL ASLEEP?
Well now, that’s the easy part, if you did everything else properly falling asleep should be a breeze .but a few helpful pointers would be to start doing what is called breathwork/breathing exercises in bed. An easy and common one would be to breathe in four seconds, hold it in for four seconds and then let out the breath for four seconds. If done right one should be sound asleep by the seventh or eighth cycle. Some other tips would be to set the room to a cooler temperature, make sure there is no light entering the room, and also helps to be fully hydrated before going to sleep. If you follow all of these steps and tips you should find yourself on the first train to dream central.
Thx for tuning in this week and in all ways, like, share, and subscribe 💪.
Links to the information sources :