THINGS have progressed fast in the last months. We are now approaching our 50th day on lockdown. Unfortunately, this disease caused by the coronavirus has been causing not just respiratory illnesses but also attacks the heart, the kidney and can cause blood clotting that even lead to Broadway theater actor Nick Cordero to have his leg amputated from a coronavirus complications.
There have been a lot of literature that the best defense would be a strong immune system, social distancing and a lot of sanitation and washing of the hands. To keep our immune system strong, sleep plays a pivotal role in this.
Some of us are still working from home, spending a lot more time with family, or being out there if your work is considered essential.
As I fly back and forth Manila and Vancouver, I am a victim of jetlag in a huge debilitating way. I want to share with you sleeping tips that work for me, as we all need a full 7-9 hours of sleep everyday to keep our bodies in tip top shape.
1. Do not drink caffeine close to the evening. Recently, I also have to skip iced tea and coffee jelly or other fancy coffee drinks closer to night because it keeps me awake. Lucky for you if you are one of those who can drink caffeine and still fall asleep immediately.
2. Drink alcohol moderately. I know this is hard as a lot of our social dinners (pre-Covid times, anyway) involve alcohol. I notice that when I drink red wine especially, I have trouble sleeping at night. I know some of you are doing e-numan at home or drinking to have the semblance of normalcy in our lives. However, if alcohol seems to be the culprit of a lack of deeper sleep, maybe time to lessen it.
3. Try not to nap for than 30 minutes during the day. Do you notice that your energy level goes down by 3-4 p.m.? It is either you are sleepy or hungry looking for snacks. If you must, nap for not more than 30 minutes because longer than that will pave the way for REM sleep, which is a deeper sleep that will need for you to sleep longer.
4. Get exposed to the sun for Vitamin D. Exposure to the sun during the day improved daytime energy and keeps your natural time-keeping body clock called circadian rhythm.
5. Lessen blue light exposure closer to bedtime. Blue light tricks our brain to think it is still daytime which reduces our body's production of melatonin. Laptops, our mobile phones emit large amounts of blue light. If you have an iPhone, try this. Go to settings, then choose brightness. Under brightness, activate your night mode. This will make the light coming out of your iPhone into warm light and blue light is reduced. I tried this when I had just landed from my flight last week. It seems to be working. I had my night mode on from 8 p.m. until 10 a.m. the next day.
6. Don't eat too late in the evening. I notice that the later I eat at night, the harder it is for me to sleep because I am still too full.
7. Relax and free your mind from worry. I started journaling recently, writing in my organizer when I need to do the next day so I do not worry about it. It seems to be working. The night before, I already fill up my organizer of the things to do for the next day and leave it at that. Writing about it seems to be therapeutic for me and I do not feel as overwhelmed the next morning. Try it.
8. If all else fails, try melatonin which works for me but I do not try to take it often only when I am flying and really having a hard time sleeping. The best is still to sleep naturally I think even if melatonin is natural supplement. Even 2mg of melatonin can help me fall asleep deeper and faster. Some literature say to drink melatonin 1 hour before bedtime, I tend to do mine 3 hours before as I noticed that it takes its effects on me 3-4 hours after taking it. Try it and see what works for your body.
9. Lessen liquid intake at night. This will drive you to wake up and pee in the middle of the night to disrupt your sleep.
10. Make your bedroom a sanctuary with a good mattress, black out curtains and cooler temperature.
Getting good quality sleep is one of the things you should get out of this lockdown. Since our time is more at home, there is more time saved from commuting. Apart from running the household and other work challenges, this is the best time to get into making good quality sleep practice a priority that will keep your body healthy in keeping coronavirus away.
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