By Richmond Natural Medicine

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July 9, 2018

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Trouble Sleeping? RNM’s sleep expert, Lindsay Kluge, can help you explore your sleep habits and improve your sleep quality.

Here at RNM, it’s not uncommon for most people to mention sleep troubles as part of their overall health picture. Sometime’s a bad night’s sleep is just an occasional thing, and other times it’s a chronic, on-going issue that may (probably) be contributing to their larger health concerns. Although each practitioner here has a slightly different approach to working with sleep imbalances, there are some foundational lifestyle factors that we all look into and address when sleep becomes an issue.

Here are five questions we may ask you (and how we go about addressing each one) in order to achieve a better night’s sleep:

1. What is your sleep routine?

Winding down at night is one of the most important factors to establish and support your circadian rhythm. Taking about 45 minutes to relax, calm down, and dim the lights can be hugely beneficial to get your hormones balanced for a more restful night’s sleep.

2. What is your morning routine?

Just like your nighttime routine contributes to helping you fall asleep, your circadian rhythm also needs support first thing in the morning. If you wake to an alarm before the sun comes up, your body needs that perception of light to trigger your hormones to actually get you out of bed. Try using a natural sun light alarm clock, or turn on a dim light first thing in the morning to nudge your body into daytime, slowly (like sunrise).

3. How is your energy in the morning and throughout the day?

If you’re severely lacking energy for an hour (or more) in the morning, there may be inadequate cortisol output in the morning when cortisol should be at it’s highest point. Cortisol also maintains our energy throughout the day, so if you lack energy all day, or at certain points during the day, it may be an indicator that your circadian rhythm is imbalanced due to hormone insufficiency.

4. Do you take naps in the afternoon?

Taking a 10 minutes cat nap is all fine and well, however if you feel the urge (or the necessity) to take a 1-2 hour nap every day, this can also confuse your circadian rhythm and make it more difficult for you to fall asleep, and stay asleep through the night. Again, this points to a potential cortisol imbalance.

5. What is your eating schedule?

Just as sunlight/darkness are triggers to maintain your circadian rhythm, food is another excellent way for your body to predict routine and energy every single day. Eating breakfast at the same time (or at least within the same hour) every morning is helpful for your body to sustain energy throughout the rest of the day, and help your cortisol levels peak at their most beneficial time.

It is always more complex than just taking a pill to solve a sleep problem. Lifestyle, stress, daily routines, and even some foods or drugs may be contributing to sleep troubles. Start to develop a sense of your own sleep habits and ask yourself some of these questions to see where you could use the most support or make changes.

The practitioners here at Richmond Natural Medicine can help you get to the bottom of solving almost any sleep imbalance.  If you are having trouble sleeping and are ready to make the changes for a better night’s sleep, contact our office at (804) 977-2634 or click here to schedule an appointment.