YOU DON’T NEED A ROUTINE
You live an exciting life and the idea of a “routine” probably puts you on edge—whether it’s in your travels, work, or otherwise. But when it comes to sleeping, routine is key.
“You need to create a wind-down routine at least an hour out from sleeping so your body recognizes that sleep is coming,” says Logie. “Your body needs balance so it means going to bed the same time each night and sticking with it. The problem is we tend to stick with it through the week and then it goes to hell on the weekend and it can take days to get back on track. By the time you do it’s almost the weekend again and the whole cycle can start over. You need to be committed to it day in and day out.”
ALCOHOL IS A GOOD SLEEP AID
We’ve all felt the drowsiness that comes over us after a few beers or glasses of wine. But while it’s tempting to think this makes alcohol a useful sleep aid, the reality is that it is far from it. According to Parinaz Samimi, a yoga instructor and sleep and wellness expert, alcohol, “may assist in helping an individual fall asleep, but they also interfere with what is considered ‘quality’ sleep.”
Alcohol causes “REM sleep fragmentation,” during which REM stage sleep is either shortened or extended, causing a disruption in the overall sleep pattern of the individual. Samimi adds that “Marijuana is also known to affect REM sleep, causing a reduction the length of this sleep phase, thus making it unlikely to have dreams.”
YOUR SLEEP PATTERNS REMAIN THE SAME THROUGH MOST OF YOUR LIFE
“The amount of sleep you need changes throughout your life,” says Kimberly Hershenson, LMSW, of RevitaLife Therapy, “While pregnant or when dealing with an illness, more sleep is beneficial. Some people are okay with 6 hours of sleep. It matters what makes you feel good and well rested.”
BEDTIME IS WHEN YOU DISCONNECT FROM YOUR DAY
We often think going to bed is when we should leave our day and its ups and downs behind us, falling into comforting sleep. But to effectively calm our minds, reviewing your day, and particularly what went well, can have a positive effect on our sleep and mental fitness.
“Make a daily gratitude list before bed by writing down 10 things you are grateful for,” advises Hershenson. “Anything from your family, legs to walk on or reality TV. Focusing on what is good in your life as opposed to what is “going wrong with your life” calms you down before going to sleep.” She also advises reading affirmations every night, ending the day on a positive note that helps “catch some rest with less worry.”
AS YOU GET OLDER, YOU DON’T NEED AS MUCH SLEEP
Sure, your grandma got up at 4:30 am every morning, but that does not necessarily mean she did not need a full night’s sleep.
“While your body requires less sleep as you get older, that doesn’t mean you should be sleeping for only four or five hours a night,” says Sydney Ziverts, health and nutrition investigator for ConsumerSafety.org.
She points to research by the National Sleep Foundation, which recommended that newborns get 14 to 17 hours of sleep each night while adults ages 18 to 64 should get seven to nine hours each night.
THE BEST SLEEP COMES BEFORE MIDNIGHT
Benjamin Franklin was full of good advice and, although “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise” has plenty of adherents, it’s not necessarily true of everyone. If you find that 1 am or later is what you feel is the best time for you to sleep, there is nothing wrong with trusting your gut.
“What’s most important is that people time their sleep in accordance with their own body clock by going to bed when sleepy,” says Catherine Darley, ND, from the Institute of Naturopathic Sleep Medicine. “For some people, this means going to bed at midnight or later, and if they try to go to sleep earlier they won’t sleep well.”
SLEEPING MORE THAN EIGHT HOURS IS EXCESSIVE
Again, it depends on who you are and how much sleep your body needs. Any other tidbits of information are likely one of many sleep myths.
“Sleep need is very individual, and some normal healthy adults do best with nine hours nightly,” says Darley. “Anything less than the amount of sleep you need can result in the impaired mood, driving, and cognitive abilities.”
YOU NEED AN ALARM CLOCK
Actually, if you are using an alarm clock, you might be doing sleep wrong. Someone who is getting just the right amount of sleep usually wakes up without needing any prodding. An alarm is artificial, and potentially damaging, contrivance.
“If you are awoken by an alarm, you haven’t gotten enough sleep,” says Darley. “You can move your bedtime earlier or waketime progressively later until you wake refreshed on your own.” So wake by the light of day.
WATCHING TV BEFORE BED WINDS YOU DOWN
TV actually activates the mind and keeps you awake. Exposure to the blue light of the screen can disrupt a person’s natural circadian rhythm and make it more difficult both to fall asleep and stay asleep. “Instead, you may feel energized due to the increase in endorphins.”
The same is true of computers and eBooks. In one study, participants reading an eBook took longer to fall asleep and had reduced evening sleepiness—as well as reduced alertness the following day—than when they read a printed book.
LIGHT EXPOSURE DOESN’T REALLY MATTER
Similar to the effect TV and computer screens can have on your circadian rhythms, so too does the light in your home. “It is best to be in dim light conditions for the hour or more before bed,” suggests Darley. “Also important is to get bright light in the morning for 30 minutes, plus bursts of light every couple hours throughout the day.”
BEDTIME IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WAKETIME
While consistency and routine make all the difference in effective sleep habits, contrary to some sleep myths you may have heard, your bedtime is actually less important than the time you wake up, according to Michael Breus, PhD., the Sleep Doctor and a SleepScore Labs advisory board member.
“Wake time is the anchor of your biological clock,” says Breus. “So if you wake up at 6:30 am during the week, you need to wake up at the same time on the weekends. The next is many times people will go to bed early because they are exhausted and this too can throw off the circadian clock.”
TIRING YOURSELF OUT IS A GOOD WAY TO FALL ASLEEP
While a regular exercise habit is a key part of a healthy lifestyle and will help keep you sleeping consistently, it’s a sleep myth that you should tire yourself out with an intense bout of exercise near bedtime. “Working out before bed actually does not often tire you out,” says Hershenson. Breus recommends exercising no later than four hours before you go to sleep.
SPICY FOODS GIVE YOU NIGHTMARES
Your friends have probably joked at some point about how an intense meal they had gave them scary dreams. If they were having nightmares, it probably wasn’t the habanero. That’s just one of many sleep myths.
“The fact of the matter is, there has never been a study that has proven a correlation between spicy foods and nightmares,” says Sarah Brown, a community wellness expert for SafeWise. “It’s more likely that eating these foods before bedtime might simply upset your stomach.”
FOOD HAS LITTLE IMPACT ON YOUR SLEEP HABITS
But while what you eat might not give you nightmares, that is not to say it has no impact on your sleep behavior whatsoever. Studies by the National Sleep Foundation looking at the effect of calcium deficiencies on insomnia have found that vegetables high in the nutrient may be a natural key to improving sleep quality.
“Lettuce, which also contains high levels of potassium, necessary for a healthy nervous system, is a high producer of calcium and magnesium (the key ingredients in keeping the body asleep for longer),” says Daniel Turissini, founder of meditation service provider recharj. He adds that kiwi is another food that has been found (by researchers at Taipei Medical University) to improve the quality of sleep for those suffering from insomnia. “Participants fell asleep faster, stayed asleep for longer, and had a more peaceful and rejuvenating sleep compared to the study’s control group.”
HOW LONG YOU SLEEP
Really, the hours you sleep are far less important than the quality of the sleep you are getting overall. Research has found that interrupted sleep is worse for positive mood than a shorter amount of sleep, debunking one of the most pervasive sleep myths.
“Melatonin is the hormone naturally produced by the body that makes us feel sleepy, and keeps us asleep,” explains Dr. Jo Lichten, professional speaker on health and wellness, author of Reboot: How to Power Up Your Energy, Focus, and Productivity. “It’s called the ‘Dracula hormone’ because it only comes out at night—for that reason, it’s best to dim the lights a couple of hours before bedtime and turn off electronics.”
NEVER WAKE A PERSON IN THE MIDDLE OF SLEEPWALKING
Among sleep myths are that waking a sleepwalker will lead them to have a heart attack or enter a coma. In fact, this is nonsense. While there are rare cases when a sleepwalker might get themselves into trouble, generally they just need to be led back to bed where they can wake up on their own.
Likewise, for parents out there, waking a child from a night terror is not going to harm your kid. “The truth is, It does not hurt a child to be woken during an episode of night terrors, although it can be a difficult task,” says Hilary Thompson, a writer specializing in family and wellness. “The trick with night terrors is to wake the child before they occur, which stops the cycle and can actually prevent the child from experiencing them.”
She advises parents wake their child (say, with a drink of water) about an hour or an hour-and-a-half into the sleep cycle.
