If there is one thing we may all be able to agree on it is — we can’t function at our best without natural and rejuvenating sleep. We’re referring to the kind of sleep that allows you to open your eyes to a feeling of — AHHH…IT’S GREAT TO BE ALIVE! That said, practicing good sleep hygiene is one of the most critical things we can do for optimal health. Our evidence-based NeuroEmpowerment™ Sleep Improvement Program has helped improve the quality of sleep for 99% of our participants by over 40%. Below are 8 techniques we empower our clients to utilize to improve the quality of their sleep:

Get It Structured

Find a routine of going to sleep around the same time each evening and waking up around the same time each morning. (*Try to maintain something close to this on weekends.)

Get Moving

It may be safe to assume that we are now all quite clear on the health benefits of exercise. Perhaps, one of the most valuable rewards of exercise is that it is linked to improving the quality of sleep and general well-being.

Get Outside

To most of us it may come as no surprise that getting outdoors is beneficial for natural mental health. Well, there also appears to be some evidence that there is a relationship between our circadian rhythms, a system involved in regulating our sleep patterns, and exposure to natural light. Simply put, we may very well be able to upgrade the quality of our sleep by spending a little extra time outside.

Get It Comfortable

Explore different systems, bedding, and temperature to ensure the highest quality of comfort for you. It may be one of the more rewarding investments you’ll ever make.

Get It Quiet

With the exception of certain noises utilized as sleep-aids (i.e. the background ambient sound selected in the “Calm the Mind” phase of the NeuroEmpowerment™ program), take the necessary measures to ensure the bedroom is quiet.

Get It Dark

Keep the bedroom dark enough to facilitate sleep. Turn off the lights. Upgrade to blackout curtains. There’s some interesting and valuable information that points to — the darker the room, the better the sleep. If you feel compelled to get some work done in the evening that requires the use of technology, reduce exposure to blue light by: downloading and installing f.lux software onto your PC or Mac, activate the Night Shift feature on your iOS device, or enable the Blue Shade feature on your Fire tablet. Research on reducing blue light exposure as we approach our time to process sleep has been shown to minimize disruption of melatonin production.

Keep It Sacred

A professor of psychology once said, “The bedroom is for 2 things: sex and sleep!” Treat your bedroom with love and respect. This will help you relate your bed with the aforementioned sacred activities, and not with other not-so-sacred exercises like paying bills, texting, or watching TV. For the highest quality sleep, we encourage you to remove all electronic devices from the bedroom or restrict their use appropriately.

Get it Out of Your Mind

A common theme identified during a client’s Cole Brain Map Analysis (CBMA), is that many people experience a spike in specific brainwave activity as they’re closing their eyes. This increase in volume, in part, may point to a disrupting tendency to mentally completing a “TO-DO” list as we’re simultaneously attempting to fall asleep. At Pathwaves, our client’s are taught several different sleep-betterment techniques that allow them to quiet and reduce brainwave activity. Here are a few examples of these techniques: journaling (activities, next day agenda, and/or a gratitude list), breathing exercises with a specifically taught psychosomatic trigger, and/or an accompanying self-direction message.

Best of luck on your journey to Better Sleep and a Better You!

Good night!

— Ryan Landau