{"id":463,"date":"2009-03-03T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2009-03-03T09:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onecity\/2009\/03\/right-action-right-effort-right-snooze.html"},"modified":"2009-03-03T09:00:47","modified_gmt":"2009-03-03T09:00:47","slug":"right-action-right-effort-right-snooze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/03\/right-action-right-effort-right-snooze.html","title":{"rendered":"Right Action, Right Effort, Right Snooze"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 9:30pm on any given Tuesday night, what I’d really like to do most in the world is watch just one more<\/em> episode of House <\/em>or Six Feet Under<\/em>. However, lately I’ve been trying my very best to restrain myself. While the idea of Hugh Laurie in all his sexy scruffy limping genius being the very last thing I see before going to bed (meow<\/em>), a six year old girl projectile vomiting blood is probably not the best image for a relaxing night’s sleep.
\nI don’t know how many hours of sleep Buddhist monks get, but I need at least 7 hours of sleep a night to feel good during the day. If my pre-bedtime evening is anxiety-ridden, good sleep is just not gonna happen.<\/p>\n

\n

We spend so much time thinking about eating healthy, exercising, keeping our space clean. The idea of having good sleep hygiene is a term I only heard recently. Unlike my obsessive dental hygiene rituals (every night I brush my teeth with Sensodyne, floss with Glide, rinse with Act Restoring mouthwash, and rub my teeth with enamel paste – this isn’t as gross as it sounds) I\u2019ve never paid much attention to the rituals surrounding my sleeping habits. Good sleep hygiene is something we tend to overlook.<\/p>\n

\n

Enjoy this free online flute music by Sri Chinmoy <\/a>while you contemplate your own sleep habits. I find this kind of flute music to be very relaxing….feel yourself falling asleeeeep…so…calm…I’m melting…into a puddle…sigh…<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Personally, I have sleeping issues, especially when I\u2019m particularly anxious or stressed. Since taking a job that requires me to wake up at 6am and actually be alert and conscious by 8am (definitely not easy for someone in her early twenties), I\u2019ve tried to pay closer attention to my pre-bedtime habits and identify ways to make my sleep hygiene better.<\/p>\n

\n

What I used to do before bed, and why this was a bad idea:<\/p>\n

\n

Talk on the phone<\/em><\/p>\n

Possibility of becoming stressed out or overstimulated by a conversation<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Do homework<\/em><\/p>\n

Definitely overstimulating<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Watch TV (ANYthing)<\/em><\/p>\n

Too engaging, possibility of losing track of time and watching for too long, or watching shows that are too emotionally stimulating<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Drink water or milk<\/em><\/p>\n

Having to get up to go to the bathroom a million times<\/p>\n

\n

Organize\/plan<\/em><\/p>\n

Tendency to worry<\/p>\n

\n

Check e-mail\/do research<\/em><\/p>\n

Same as above<\/p>\n

\n

\n

What I attempt to do now:<\/p>\n

No phone calls after a certain time<\/p>\n

No eating or drinking after a certain time<\/p>\n

No e-mail\/internet\/blogging after a certain time<\/p>\n

Only very light reading or light TV (i.e. not Six Feet Under<\/em> or House<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Dim lamps<\/p>\n

\n

When I\u2019m able to get a good night\u2019s sleep, my day is so much better. One thing I haven\u2019t had the discipline to change is sleeping late on the weekends. The experts say that you should stick to one sleeping schedule, go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time each day, even on weekends and vacations. I simply can\u2019t do that at this point \u2013 my enjoyment of staying up late and sleeping late is too great to give this up yet.<\/p>\n

\n

What are your bedtime rituals? Do you have good sleep hygiene?<\/p>\n

\n

For sleep hygiene resources, check out these websites:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.umm.edu\/sleep\/sleep_hyg.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.sleepeducation.com\/Hygiene.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.sleepfoundation.org\/site\/c.huIXKjM0IxF\/b.2422637\/k.5B7E\/Ask_the_Sleep_Expert_Sleep_Hygiene.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

Oh, and enjoy this in the meantime:<\/p>\n

\"hughlaurie\"Doesn’t he seem to be saying… “dude, just freaking go to bed already”?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Emily has been attending classes and workshops at the ID Project since 2005.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/author\/eherzlin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}