Snoozers are losers?
- by Corina Alexandra Lazar
- Jan 18, 2018
- 5 min read
Regardless of age and gender, a good start of any day is in direct sync with your body's sleep-wake cycle. I'm fighting my life time habits to ensure that I get a good rest during night. As a night bird, all my life I've struggled being fresh in the early hours. Let's put it this way, I hate waking up early and I go to bed quite late since forever. Lately though, during week days 11:00 P.M. is my limit. Regardless of the fact that I secretly envy and admire the 5:00 a.m. club, I am tormented every morning when my alarm goes on. As a child I used to have a Tiffany Blue pyjama with the inscriptions "Snoozers are losers" and if that's true, well...then I'm a loser. I feel that early mornings were invented to punish people like me. Free and creative spirits forced to obey the rules. The only times I wake up early is on holidays. In Australia I used to be up at 5:00 am, sweat my heart out in the hotel's gym, jog on the coastline and cool myself in the swimming pool before 7:00 am. And you know what? Those were my best mornings ever. Holiday mornings on a different continent where all I wanted was to make the most of every second. So what's different on a workday morning? Lack of motivation, the cold outside, the darkness in the winter early hours, the warm comfy bed that you don't wanna leave for the daily responsibilities. For me is the inner kid begging to have a lazy pyjama morning with breakfast in bed, hot cocoa, meringue, roses and the fav' morning show.
Saying that, here is the ideal night time routine recommended by the experts versus my personal one. As you will see, my evenings are much better than my mornings.
1. Switch off the technology 2 hours before bedtime and moreover, remove the TV from the bedroom. Me: apps notifications off and mobile phone on Airplane mode in the bedroom, though I'm educating myself to keep it off after 9:00 P.M. to relax my brain and focus more on meditation, reading or ...watching...Netflix without being disturbed. That takes me to the next advice of having no Tv in the bedroom. How about "The Good Wife", "Taboo" and "Suits" on Netflix from the comfort of my perfect Tempur mattress? (N.B. always invest in a good mattress if you love yourself). Sorry, but the Tv stays!
2. Prep your next day outfit before going to bed. Well, let's say I'm getting better on that one as I'm browsing my wardrobe when I come home from the office. Luckily, I have my fashionista mind switched on all the time, so that I can quickly improvise in the mornings and save a boring jumper/jeans/ugg boots outfit with a smart shirt, a broach, statement necklace or scarf.
3. Don't eat 4 hours before sleep , ideally, maximum admitted by experts is 2 hours. This one is an easy one for me, as since last September I'm into intermittent fasting with a 2 meal per day schedule. This suits my personal body needs just fine and boosts up my energy level. With a first meal at 11:00 A.M. dinner comes around 5:00 P.M. so no stress about eating and sleeping. Let's get this clear, no 2 meal plan and 18 hours of fasting per day during Christmas and other holidays. I'm only human and a gourmand. Food matters. A good red wine matters. A properly shaken, not stirred Martini matters. Chocolate matters. Full stop.
4. Avoid exercising before bedtime as it gives you too much energy, preventing a good night sleep. For me it works the other way around and always has been. A good circuit training in the evening is my perfect way of burning the energy and stress accumulated over the day. After an intense 25 minutes workout and a shower I sleep like a baby. Happy endorphins and one happy bunny!
5. Make sure your bedroom is always tidy, neat and with the appropriate night light. Dark curtains strongly advised. Open the windows in the bedroom before sleep, for minimum 10 minutes, to provide fresh oxygen to the brain. I'm also a big fan of the Himalayan Salt lamps in the bedroom. They purify the air and are beneficial in helping fight allergies and colds for both adults and children. I usually turn mine on the minute I get home from work so that the bedroom air is purified by the bedtime.
6. Have a herbal tea before bed and a hot shower to relax your muscles and wash out the energies of the day. Again, a big YES as water is one of the strongest agents in cleaning your energy field and helping you distress. No wonder that people who live by the sea/ocean are calmer, healthier and live longer. In terms of tea, I prefer the decaff peppermint one but now they do a large variety of “good night” teas.
7. Meditate. Again, I'm trying hard here , an average of 2 sessions per week if I'm lucky as my mind is constantly racing or I fell asleep in the middle of my session. But I can tell the difference when I make the time and effort to meditate. Helps me work on my slow living 2018 resolution. What I'm trying though before sleep, is reading few pages from some inspiring books and always giving my thanks as a form of prayer for all the blessings in my life. Conscious breathing is another form of relaxation I've learned to include in my daily routine. I recommend "Calm" App for breathing and meditation's techniques. It's been voted the best App of the year in 2017. So worth giving it a chance. If you prefer YouTube check "The Honest Guys" for sleeping meditation sessions and not only. They have some powerful affirmations for raising your confidence levels and shielding, to listen before a big stressful day or meeting.
That's my Top 7 steps for a good night sleep. Easy to do or adapt to your personal life-style, believes and needs. I'm a strong believer of the fact that we must invest time in discovering what truly works for us as an individual. Most of the times we can't just fit in a box with everybody else. And that's the beauty of life as long as we learn about our preferences and make sure we do stay true to our needs. Especially when it comes to our sleep routine, as we spend almost half of our lives sleeping.
I am purposefully more aware of my bedtime habits, although I still set up at least 3 alarms for the morning, at every 15 minutes...which of course is not a healthy start of the day. Obviously, pressing the snooze button is deceiving and I know how negative and tiring snoozing can be for the brain. I am taking healthy steps in becoming an earlyer bird. One good trick is going to bed and waking up at the same times. Weekends not included!
Sleep tight and invest time in everything that makes you healthy and happy!
Love,
Corina Alexandra -your Wanderlust in Style
Comentarios