5 Days Of Learning To Sleep Better | Try Living With Lucie | Refinery29 - video Dailymotion

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On this episode of Try Living With Lucie, our host Lucie Fink tries getting better sleep for 5 days. She practices and educates herself on how to get the best possible night's sleep. Watch this week's Try Living With Lucie to learn how to get the most out of your sleep!   #athomewithme  ABOUT SERIES Try Living With Lucie follows our favorite R29 millennial, Lucie Fink, as she dives headfirst into social experiments — five days at a time. From a week without sugar to full-blown street performing; there is nothing she won't try!   ABOUT REFINERY29  Refinery29 is a modern woman's destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life.   RELATED CONTENT 5 Days Of Becoming More Organized https://youtube.com/watch?v=X3U1v-woUqc 5 Days Of Going Garbage Free https://youtube.com/watch?v=ubZuD3Oxd6I 5 Days Of A Capsule Wardrobe https://youtube.com/watch?v=Di9Bjf_OPj4  SUBSCRIBE TO REFINERY29 Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29  TALENT Follow Lucie Fink on Instagram: https://instagram.com/luciebfink/ Follow Unbothered on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29unbothered/ Follow OnHerTurf on Instagram: https://instagram.com/onherturf/ Follow Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/

Transcript

00:00I'm Lucy Fink and this week is five days of getting better quality sleep. Hey

00:04everyone and welcome back to try living with Lucy. If you're new to our YouTube

00:07channel be sure to click on the little subscribe button in the corner and give

00:10this video a thumbs up if you're ready to learn about sleep. I have recently in

00:14pretty much all of my spare time been reading books and books and books about

00:18how to get better quality sleep. I'm not quite sure why but I've become obsessed

00:22with the topic. Two of my favorite books on this subject are Shawn Stevenson's

00:25book Sleep Smarter and Ariana Huffington's book The Sleep Revolution and when I

00:30say I've been reading these books I mean I've been reading them like with a pen

00:34hardcore taking notes writing down everything soaking up so much

00:38information and now I just can't do anything else but share it with you. Some

00:42of my favorite videos in the series have been things like five days of zero waste

00:46or no plastic, five days of Ayurveda, videos where I myself have really taken a deep

00:51dive into a specific topic and then the whole video is about sharing what I've

00:55learned with you. So this video I hope will be very helpful and it's honestly my

00:59goal to improve at least some of your sleep qualities out there and then

01:03hopefully overall that will have some major positive effects in your life

01:06including overall health. So get your notebooks out, get your pencils out and

01:10get ready to learn. So we all know that in our society sleep is not

01:13notoriously sexy. It's actually a lot sexier to stay up late and to be

01:17creative and to party and to work your f*** off and hustle and so in our world

01:22millions of people are sleep deprived and are suffering from the effects of it.

01:26Sleep regulates a lot of our body's hormone production and it's actually

01:29during sleep that our body releases much of our growth hormone to maintain and

01:34repair muscle. So here's a short list of some of the effects of getting poor

01:37quality sleep. Relationships suffer, work productivity declines, cortisol your stress

01:42hormone is higher, insulin doesn't work as well and it can throw your blood sugar

01:46way off, you're probably feeling pretty grouchy, you may have dark circles under your eyes, a

01:50higher risk of more diseases and a lot more. But when you actually sleep well and

01:54get good quality sleep, here are some of the positive side effects. Better skin

01:58health and appearance, better relationships and emotional state, lower

02:02levels of inflammation, fewer accidents happening in your life, enhanced immune

02:06system function, hormone balance and a decreased risk of many diseases. So there

02:10are obviously other factors in our lives that affect all of these things but I

02:14would say that the top three most important are eating real food, getting in some

02:18movement and getting proper quality sleep. You do have to read some of these

02:22books on your own if you want to truly grasp the value of sleep for yourself and

02:26there are so many studies cited inside with a lot of juicy information. So this

02:30week is about spending each of the five days implementing some of these tips that

02:34I've been learning recently so that I can jumpstart the improvement of my sleep

02:37quality. So let's start with Monday.

02:42Going into Monday, the first thing I did was set up a sleep schedule. If sleep is as

02:46important as these books say it is, then I need to pop it into my calendar as a

02:50high priority event. It needs to be in there just the same as if I had a work

02:54meeting or a doctor's appointment. I can't be late, I can't miss it and I can't

02:58cancel. So on my calendar I scheduled in a stop time for work at 6 p.m. My plan is

03:03to

03:03eat dinner at 7 and then starting at 7 30 I'm going to be getting ready for sleep.

03:08Winding down, starting all my self-care practices. I once heard someone equate it to

03:12almost having foreplay with sleep. You can't just lie down and expect to fall asleep. You

03:16have to tease it and ease into it. So once I was fully set up for the week, my Monday

03:21was focused on the morning time. A great night's sleep actually begins first thing in

03:25the morning. Your body's circadian rhythm is basically that 24-hour cycle that tells

03:30you when to sleep, when to wake up, and when to eat. And in the past, before the

03:34introduction of artificial light into our world, it was the sunlight and that

03:38predictable pattern of lightness and darkness that controlled these sleep

03:42cycles. There are a lot of reasons why getting proper sunlight exposure helps

03:46our bodies and helps this circadian rhythm. Firstly, and I think this is a

03:50really cool, sunlight triggers your body to produce optimal levels of daytime

03:54hormones. First on that list is serotonin and as soon as the receptors in our

03:58eyes catch that natural sunlight, we produce more serotonin which is known to

04:03bring about feelings of happiness and well-being. Next is melatonin and you've

04:06probably heard of people taking melatonin to help them sleep and it's secreted

04:10naturally in our bodies as it gets darker outside. But one of the reasons why

04:14it's important to get natural sunlight during the day is to essentially tell

04:17your body that it's the daytime so that it knows when it's nighttime and it can

04:21coordinate that natural production of melatonin at night. And third is cortisol.

04:26Cortisol is notorious for being the stress hormone and of course you don't want it

04:30to be overproduced or underproduced in the body, but at its normal levels

04:34cortisol is actually what gives us the energy to be awake and alert all day. So

04:38we need cortisol. So yes, when you get that daytime sunlight exposure it

04:42encourages the production of cortisol which helps set that natural rhythm of

04:46cortisol in the morning and melatonin at night. Another thing that's important to

04:49note here is that it's not just the sunlight that helps tune up the circadian

04:53rhythm, but it's also what time you wake up. According to psychiatrist and

04:57psychotherapist Tracy Marks, going to sleep early and waking early syncs the body

05:02clock with the Earth's natural circadian rhythms. And this is apparently a lot

05:05better than trying to sleep in the middle of the day when the Sun is high

05:09up in the sky. So if you're not a morning person I already made an entire

05:12five-day challenge video where I tried to become one, so be sure to check that one

05:16out right after this.

05:20One of the most important ways to improve your sleep quality is to truly focus on

05:24the environment of your bedroom. And firstly we have to train our brains to

05:28know, almost habitually, that the bedroom is meant for two things and two things

05:33only. Sleep and sex. This means we have to stop doing things like watching TV in

05:38bed, binge watching Netflix in bed, bringing our laptops to bed to do work,

05:42scrolling through our phones, and chatting with friends. Because all of these

05:45things tell our brains that the bedroom is a social space, but we want the brain to

05:49think of it as a sleep sanctuary. Next we're gonna talk about the air quality in

05:53the bedroom because even though this is something we can't see, it is vital. If you

05:57have the budget for it, getting an air ionizer is a great way to add more

06:00negative ions into the air, which can then bind to dust, bacteria, pollen, and

06:05other allergens. Some cheaper ways to re-energize that stale air in the bedroom

06:09would be to just open the window during the daytime, turn on a fan to get things

06:13moving, try using a humidifier, or just add some plants to your bedroom. You might be

06:17surprised at how good some houseplants are at filtering the air. So I recently got a

06:22snake plant that absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen at night. Another major

06:27adjustment that you can make to your bedroom to improve your sleep quality is

06:30to make sure your room is 100% dark. I mean blacked out when you go to bed. Get

06:35yourself some blackout curtains, unplug your night lights, make sure that if you

06:38have an alarm clock you're covering up those lit up digits. I live in New York

06:42City so there's a lot of light pollution leaking in from outside of my windows.

06:46There are car lights, other apartment lights, and just general brightness from

06:50whatever the heck is going on down there. I do know of many people that sleep with

06:53their shades wide open so that the sunlight leaks in in the morning and they

06:57can wake up naturally. But what I'm learning from these books is that it's a

07:00lot better to black out your room, sleep in complete darkness, and then when you

07:04wake up in the morning, open up your shades and let the sunshine. Using an eye

07:08mask can be helpful and I actually have a ton of eye masks to choose from.

07:20But eye masks are not 100% effective and I think that the study in the book Sleep

07:25Smarter that I found to be the most interesting is one that proves that it's

07:29not just light that's visible to our eyes that causes the sleep disruption but

07:32it's actually any light that comes in contact with our skin. So the study put a

07:36fiber optic cable behind the knee of a test subject and illuminated a little patch of

07:41their skin about the size of a quarter. And even though the whole rest of their

07:44body was in darkness and their eyes were being shielded from the light, just that

07:48one little patch of light behind their knee was enough to affect their overall

07:51body temperature and also their melatonin levels. Mind blown.

08:00So Monday was spent focusing on the morning time and Tuesday was all about the

08:03bedroom environment. But I know there are a bunch of things we can do throughout the

08:07course of our day to improve our sleep quality for later that night. So here are two

08:11things that can help starting with physical activity and exercise. One thing

08:14I find fascinating about exercise is that everyone thinks that the moment they

08:18leave the gym they're so much stronger than when they first walked in. But that

08:22couldn't be further from the truth. Working out and exercising actually creates

08:26thousands of micro tears in your muscle fibers and actually leaves you in way

08:30worse shape than before you walked into the gym. On his podcast called The Model

08:34Health Show, Shawn Stevenson talks about how if you were to go to the doctor right after

08:38going to the gym and if you were to get blood work done, your doctor might actually

08:41think you were sick because your stress hormones would be elevated, your

08:45inflammatory markers would be way up, your blood sugar levels might be off, and so

08:49much more. So where am I going with all this? Well exercise doesn't actually pay off

08:53and build us up until we've properly slept. Another important tip that I

08:58implemented on Wednesday is to exercise early in the day. I was probably the first

09:02person at the gym on Wednesday. It was totally empty. And there's a whole chapter in

09:06sleep smarter about how our body temperatures naturally fluctuate during the day. And to

09:11make a long scientific story short and easily digestible, when it's time to sleep, there's

09:16an automatic drop in our body temperatures to help us with that. In fact, we're

09:19actually supposed to sleep with our rooms between 60 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which

09:24is pretty cool. And I don't mean cool. I mean cool. So knowing that our body

09:28temperatures are supposed to drop when it's time for sleep, it makes sense why evening

09:32exercise is not ideal. Working out can significantly raise your core body

09:36temperature and then it's going to take some time for that temperature to come

09:39down. Also going back to the cortisol that we talked about on Monday, exercise can

09:43help encourage that natural release of cortisol. So exercising early in the

09:47morning is helpful for helping to put your cortisol cycle on track. A lot of these

09:51books have great information about what type of exercise is best, but I will give you a

09:56little hint and let you know that Shawn Stevenson from Sleep Smarter is a big fan of

10:00weightlifting. And secondly, aside from physical activity, another thing we can do

10:04to improve our sleep quality is to set a caffeine curfew, or as I like to call it,

10:09a coffee cutoff. Even though I tried five days of no coffee before, I am personally

10:13back on the coffee train. I love a good cup of coffee and I do subscribe to the

10:17idea that good quality coffee is really good for you. The issue with coffee and

10:21sleep is the caffeine content. So what many people don't know is that caffeine has a

10:25half-life of around five to eight hours. It's a little different for everyone. And this

10:29means that after that five to eight hour window, half of the substance is still

10:33active in your system. So let's say that based on your unique biochemical makeup,

10:37it's an eight-hour half-life for you. This means that if you had 200 milligrams of

10:41caffeine at 10 a.m., by 6 p.m. you still have 100 milligrams in your system, by 2 a

10:46.m.

10:47you still have 50 milligrams in your system, and so on and so forth. So if you're one of

10:51those people that's knocking back late afternoon coffees, or somebody that's

10:55having a coffee or a cappuccino after dinnertime, just know that this caffeine

10:59can be causing major sleep disturbances. Shawn recommends a 2 p.m.

11:03caffeine curfew if you want to make sure that by 10 p.m. at least half of the

11:07caffeine content is out of your system.

11:11I'm sure some of you out there watching this right now are thinking, uh, well it's

11:15the late afternoon already, I didn't get any sun exposure, I didn't work out today, I

11:19just had coffee like 10 minutes ago, so what can I do right now to sleep better

11:23tonight? And I hear you, I'm about to help you. A few things you can do right

11:27before you go to sleep to drastically improve the quality of your sleep are,

11:31number one, stop looking at screens at least a half an hour before you go to

11:35bed. Computers, phones, TVs, iPads, these have all got to go. All of these devices put

11:40out this artificial blue light that triggers our bodies to produce more

11:43cortisol and stifles our body's natural melatonin production. And if you're sitting

11:47there right now saying to yourself, I just can't think of one thing to do at night

11:51that doesn't involve looking at a screen, here's a quick list. Talk to somebody,

11:55whenever Michael gets home from work we sit on the couch and we talk. Read a book,

11:59maybe one of the books I've already mentioned today. Water your plants, write a

12:03letter to someone you love, prep a meal for the following day, practice playing an

12:07instrument, look up at the stars, honestly the possibilities are endless. This list does go

12:17on and on and these are all things that our ancestors used to do before the

12:20invention of the internet and technology. Now listen, I love the internet just as

12:25much as the next youtuber. I've built my whole business and my whole career on it,

12:28but that doesn't mean I have to be constantly connected, especially just

12:32before I'm about to fall asleep. Alright, now here's the second thing you can do

12:35tonight to improve your sleep quality. Going back to our discussion about core

12:39body temperature, make sure you're sleeping in loose, breathable clothing. I know that for so

12:44many people they just pile on the clothing. Sweatshirts, sweatpants, robes,

12:49going to sleep they're like going off to the Arctic tundra. But you're going to

12:52sleep a lot better if you're just a little bit cooler. I wear baggy oversized

12:56clothing to bed, much of it is Michael's hand-me-downs and it really helps keep me

13:00at a comfortable temperature. And the third thing you can do, I don't want to say

13:03right now because you might not have this product right now, but next day

13:06delivery, order it now, you'll have it by tomorrow. Spray your body with magnesium oil

13:11before you go to bed. Magnesium is necessary for many of the

13:14functions in our bodies, but today a large portion of the population is

13:17deficient in it. And actually one central symptom of a magnesium deficiency is

13:22chronic insomnia. It all comes back to sleep. But as Sean shares in his book,

13:26research shows that a large percentage of that magnesium is lost in the

13:30digestive process. So then what's another way to get that magnesium inside of

13:35your body effectively? And the answer is putting it on your skin. So take a look

13:39online and do some research to see which brand you'd prefer and then keep it next to

13:43your bed. And just before you go to sleep, spray it onto your chest, your neck, your

13:47shoulders, or really anywhere that you're feeling sore.

13:53Friday has come as it always does. And we've just gone through tons of tips, but

13:58honestly, there are so many other things to look at too that are very important

14:01here. To name a few, alcohol consumption, the food you eat and the health of your gut

14:06microbiome, the mattress you're sleeping on, the various positions you sleep in, and a lot more.

14:11First, let's look at alcohol. It's no secret that alcohol helps a lot of people fall asleep

14:15faster. But what it's really doing in there is disrupting your REM sleep cycle so your body and

14:20brain are not able to fully rejuvenate. So wrap up those drinks at least three hours before you try

14:25to go to bed and be sure to drink a ton of water alongside your alcohol to stay hydrated. Up

14:30next,

14:30your gut. I did an entire episode on gut health, so be sure to check that one out. But just

14:35remember,

14:35you are what you eat. And whatever you choose to put in your body can do a major number on

14:40your overall health.

14:41Also, 95% of your body's serotonin is found in your gut. And do you know what else is in

14:46your gut?

14:47Melatonin. So if things are running smoothly down there, you will have a tremendous increase in your quality of sleep.

14:52If you're sleeping normal hours, approximately one-third of your life will be spent on your mattress.

14:57So I recently swapped out my mattress for a new organic mattress that has no toxic dyes,

15:02no chemicals, and also no flame retardants which can release toxic gases into the air. On my own

15:08YouTube channel, I either just released or am just about to release a whole video about this.

15:12It's called 17 Ways to Make Your Home More Organic, so definitely go check that out. And lastly,

15:17your sleeping position. So here are some of the sleeping positions that we tend to gravitate towards.

15:21The fetus, the log, the yearner, the soldier, the free-faller, and the starfish. I'm personally a

15:28starfish sleeper, but comment below and let me know your sleeping position. There are some pros and

15:32cons to each position, so just make sure you're reading up about the differences. And also make

15:36sure you're making any necessary adjustments to correct any mistakes you're making. Obviously,

15:40I'm just starting to scratch the surface here when it comes to sleep and truly understanding how

15:45important it is for our bodies and minds. So if you have any more tips or anything else you want

15:49to

15:49share, comment below now. And if all else fails, have safe, consensual sex. As I heard Arianna

15:55Huffington say on a podcast recently, orgasms are mother nature's ambient. Interesting. Good to know.

16:01Thanks so much for coming back to Refinery29's channel. Click here to subscribe if you haven't

16:05done so yet. And comment below to let us know what you want to see me try next time on

16:09Try Living with Lucy.

16:10See you then!

16:11Hey YouTube, thanks for watching. Click here for another five-day challenge video,

16:15right here to subscribe to Refinery29, and right here for my personal YouTube channel. See you later!

5 Days Of Learning To Sleep Better | Try Living With Lucie | Refinery29

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