The first thing I like to do when breaking down sleep patterns is to go back to basics. Even with eyes closed, all five of your senses are processing and delivering information to the brain, and in turn affecting the quality of your sleep.

1. SEE

Walk into your bedroom and do a 360-degree scan. What do you see? If the place you begin and end your day feels scattered and all over the place, likely you will too.

Mama Knows Best

Your mom wasn’t wrong when she told you to keep your room clean. There have been several studies that report having a messy environment may have significant negative effects on your mental and physical well-being. Your room should be the most stress-free place in your life. So ask yourself if you feel calm and serene in this space. If you don’t, what is it that’s bothering you? Is your room cluttered? Or maybe the Tasmanian devil just ran through your closet, leaving a trail of clean and dirty clothes alike littered across the floor. If you’re constantly tripping over clutter or thinking of that unfinished laundry, then your room won’t ever be the zen-zone your body needs.

The Blue-light Effect

Most of us start and end our day the same way, phone in hand staring at a screen. And depending on your work environment, the middle portion of your day isn’t much different. While all this technology has brought on so many wonderful things such as global connectivity, it also has a tremendous affect on our health. This is because of the artificial blue light emitted from our handheld devices and computer screens. This light actually suppresses the release of the body’s sleep-inducing hormone, MELATONIN. That means it can interfere with the body’s natural internal clock that signals when it’s time to start going to sleep and to start waking up.

The more time we spend in front of these devices, especially in the evening, the greater the delay in the release of melatonin. This means our ability to sleep becomes an incredibly challenging feat!

This can also lead to problems staying asleep, and sleep deprivation. You may be hearing your friends and family talk about their new blue-light glasses and wondering if you should hop on the trend. In my opinion, it’s a great and easy way to counteract the adverse effects of staring at a screen all day, which most us do.

2. SMELL

When looking at your room and designing your zen space, don’t leave your nose out of the picture. Evidence shows that certain smells may have an affect on your sleep. For example, lavender has been shown to decrease your stress, heart rate, and blood pressure. Infants also cried less and slept more deeply when they were given a bath with lavender essential oils. Of course this isn’t a cure, but having something for the olfactory just might give you that extra boost you need to disconnect.

3. HEAR

Sound is key to sleep quality. It doesn’t matter if every little noise has you tossing and turning or you’re out like a rock. Sounds have the potential for both positive and negative influences. This will depend on the types, the noise level, and obviously your personal preferences. Sounds that may seem trivial during the day take often take their toll during the night. Consider environmental noise from road traffic, trains, planes, pets, televisions, city noise, etc. So how do you counteract this, especially if you live in areas with high noise pollution? For me, I love to throw on a sleep playlist from YouTube. If you’re extremely sensitive to sound, consider including ear plugs as part of your bedtime routine.

Using Sound for Sleep Hygiene

However, some studies show that certain types of sounds, like white noise, can moderate intermittent noise levels and act as a persistent backdrop for more peaceful rest. For me, that’s exactly what my YouTube sleep playlists do. There are also apps that can record your sleep and give you insight as to when and why you’re waking up. Keep in mind that there’s a balance to any of these tools. If you find yourself looking at your phone screen too often, try using the app for a couple days for a starting point. Afterwards move your phone, and after you feel some time or improvement has been made, try it out again.

ASMR

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, or ASMR, is a tingling sensation that starts in your head or neck and travels down your spine. It’s makes you feel relaxed, calm or can even lull you to sleep. You may have had this feeling during a massage, when someone brushes your hair or whispers in your ear. It can also happen when you hear low-decibel evenly toned sounds. Pull up YouTube and search for those sounds, maybe it’ll help you fall asleep or at the very least relax.

4. TOUCH

One thing that will completely derail your sleep is being uncomfortable. If you’re not sleeping well and waking up with aches and pains, it may be time for you to look into getting a new mattress. I recommended you replace your mattress at least every ten years. Your pillows and their material should also suit your sleeping style. Perhaps you have hyper-joint mobility like me, so you want some extra pillows to prop up your knees a bit. Experiment and play around, but keep in mind that maintaining the most neutral position possible, with your neck supported, will help your body tremendously.

Temperature

The temperature of your room can make or break a good night’s sleep. Your body temperature actually begins to decrease when it’s preparing for sleep. If it’s too-warm in your room room then that can make your body’s job even harder. Conversely if it’s too-cold then that will confuse your body’s ability to signal that it’s time to sleep. The optimal sleeping temperature ranges between 60 and 67 degrees. This is also very personal to you, so use this range as a starting off point to see what works best for you.

5. TASTE

Your palette comes into play in a variety of ways when it comes to your sleep hygiene. First and foremost, your diet. Yes what you eat or drink and any FOOD SENSITIVITIES can positively or negatively impact your ability to snooze. In fact, not only what you eat, but when and how much you eat impact your BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS WHICH IN TURN AFFECT YOUR SLEEP. If you find yourself waking up due to hunger in the middle of the night, you might need to examine your diet and how frequently you’re taking time to eat during the day. Try to avoid heavy carbs at night and keep meals light and protein-forward. Aim to eat your last meal at least two hours before bed. Additionally, issues with your palette can affect your sinus’ and in turn your ability to breathe while asleep. This can show up in the form of heavy chronic snoring, sleep apnea, grinding your teeth and other ailments.

Sleep Hygiene

If you have experienced a night of inadequate rest and recovery, then you know first hand how it can and will affect everything. Healthy sleep is crucial for mental and physical health and I’m here to tell you it is not an impossible dream. There are several practices and tests you can incorporate into your daily routine that will dramatically improve your sleep. I call this, “sleep hygiene.”

Just as it sounds, sleep hygiene is the series of healthy habits, activities, or strategies that you implement to improve your ability to fall and stay asleep. Believe it or not, your behaviors throughout the day and especially the hours before bedtime have a major impact on your ability to sleep and sleep well. This means everything from your diet, exercise and stressors, to hormone fluctuations and the very bed you sleep on can be a factor in determining what is disrupting your sleep cycles. That means your sleep patterns may be effecting your mood, brain, and heart health, immune system, creativity, vitality, and weight. This seems overwhelming, but let me assure you that it’s manageable. Together we can analyze your patterns and test to see exactly what you need to boost your health and enjoy better sleep.

Conclusion

If you start to notice a negative pattern that could be corrected by your own choices, make changes after a week and see how your next week goes. If there is a vast improvement to your sleep, you may be able to correct the behavior yourself and avoid having an unnecessary sleep study.

A sleep study may still be the best choice though the type of sleep study varies by a patient’s symptoms. Healthcare providers will monitor your sleep either in a lab or at your home using portable home sleep apnea testing equipment.

If you live in Alaska and are ready to take back your sleep, contact The Alaska Sleep Clinic and receive a free 10-minute phone consultation with a sleep educator who can help you determine if a sleep study is right for you.