trish allan registered clinical nutritionist and founder ...version+2/sleep++vers… · blissful...

! Trish Allan Registered Clinical Nutritionist and Founder of Healthy Vibrant Living

Ten Steps To a

Blissful Sleep

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Trish Allan RHN, HealthyVibrantLiving, 705.955.3656, [email protected]

Copyright 2016 & Beyond

Welcome to 10 Steps To A Blissful Sleep

I’m thrilled that you are taking steps toward taking control of your health and improving the quality of your sleep. Sleep is absolutely essential for healthy, vibrant living, and we’ve been celebrating late nights and compromising on sleep for too long and it’s taking a toll on physical and emotional well-being.

I hope you find these steps manageable and that you are able to integrate them into your life. Take your time making changes. Remember that the body requires your love and appreciation above all else. Part of that means making changes slowly so the body can adapt.

When you improve your sleep quality you’ll improve your hormonal function, digestion, weight management and so much more.

Better sleep results in feeling fabulous from the inside out. I wish you improved health, blissful sleep and abundant energy.

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10 Steps To A Blissful Sleep

Sleep is one of the most important processes for the human body. Along with digestion of food, sleep ensures that the body heals, grows, and replenishes itself so that people can thrive with vibrant lives and health.

When we’re children, sleep comes very naturally. The body demands it and it occurs. Children can sleep in almost any circumstance- driving in a car, with a T.V. on in the next room, with the dog barking. Children, teens and even young adults fall easily into sleep especially if their circadian rhythm has not been disrupted.

Unfortunately for adults, even those just embarking on adult life, sleep is too often an elusive state that escapes us, causing a myriad of problems with health, happiness and productivity.

Sleep issues can arise for many different reasons and for different reasons at different times in one’s life. Physical or emotional stress, changes in schedules and routines, dietary changes and disruptions to our natural circadian rhythm are the most common reasons that sleep problems arise. Unfortunately, when sleep problems do develop, they can become the norm rather than the exception for many people, and reversing these patterns takes some time and effort.

! Trish Allan RHN, HealthyVibrantLiving, 705.955.3656, [email protected]


Step 1 Make the Decision- no more compromising your sleep or health

Our bodies are always changing and have within them at all times the potential for healing, and disease reversal. Abundant, deep sleep is imperative to the process of healing. So your first step is to recognize just how important sleep is and to make the loving commitment to yourself that you are going to make sleep and your health your priority. By following these 10 steps you will make yourself and feeling your absolute best a priority and that will start moving you toward health and wellness.

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You deserve to wake up feeling refreshed and energized and to be in control of your weight, mood, food cravings and productivity. All of these things, and more, are impacted by the quality of your sleep. So commit to making it a priority.



Step 2 Establish a Daily Routine

The human body thrives on routine. While change and excitement are also appreciated in certain circumstances, day-in, day-out, it’s routine that the body craves and thrives on. What does that mean for abundant sleep? It means that you must get up and go to sleep at the same time everyday. So look closely at your daily schedule and decide what time you could commit to going to sleep each evening and what time you could get up, aiming for 7-9 hours of sleep, and then stick to it. This will become your circadian rhythm- your new rhythm, the one that your body was designed to follow.

Don’t allow things to get in the way. The email, phone call or laundry can wait until tomorrow, as can most things. Decide that you will go to sleep at 10 pm and wake up at 6:30 am, as an example, and then stick to it. Your body will thank you and as you begin to experience deeper, more healing sleep, you will automatically guard your sleep, knowing that it just simply is not an option to have less than the sleep your body requires.

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Step 3 Establish a Food Routine

Just as your body appreciates you staying on a wake/sleep schedule, it also appreciates your staying on an eating schedule. It is important that you establish personal discipline around the idea of a time to stop eating in the evening. This practice will help your body in many ways. When you stop eating 2-3 hours before bedtime, your body receives the signal that you are making the transition into a less active time of day, allowing the body to reduce some of its responsibilities and functions, and begin to focus on rest.

Having stopped eating long before bed (about 3 hours) also allows the body the important function of repair while you are sleeping instead of digesting your food – which your body would rather not do while it is resting and repairing.

Ideally, you will drink herbal tea in the evening as it is non-stimulating and does not require a lot of digestion.

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In addition, it’s super important that you’re making healthy food choices throughout the day. Have a balanced diet of healthy carbohydrates including fruits and vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats such as coconut oil, olive oil and grass-fed butter. This will help to keep your blood sugar balanced not only throughout the day but while you sleep as well. And when it comes to coffee, be sure to have your last cup prior to 2 p.m. to ensure that the caffeine doesn’t interfere with getting to sleep.

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Step 4 Turn Off the Screens

In this new era of a digitalized, electrified, non-stop world, our body can so easily become derailed in its attempt to keep us healthy and functioning optimally. Although there are so many advantages to living in this incredible time on our planet, there are disadvantages to our sleep. We were never designed to do anything outside of the rhythms of the sun, moon and seasons. And yet, today we are afforded the opportunity to do virtually anything we like at any time of day because of the technology available.

In the centre of our brain is the pineal gland, which is responsible for many things including the production of melatonin. This hormone is responsible for sending a sleep signal to the body and preparing it for sleep. For this process to function the pineal gland requires a few things. Among the things it requires is a reduction in light. When we have screens in front of us in the form of T.V. or computers right up until we attempt to go to sleep, melatonin doesn’t get a chance to work its magic. So it is perhaps inconvenient, but necessary to turn off the screens at least 1 hour before bed. Think about using any automated system you need to automate your digital life if your work often includes a computer. Anything that allows you to turn your devices off sooner than latter will help the sleep cycle begin for you.

In the hour or so that precedes sleep, consider doing something quiet and soothing. Reading a good narrative, listening to some calming music while you make lunch or engage in an activity that does not require too much thinking. You want to avoid anything that is too stimulating, including things like important conversations with family members or listening to a thought- provoking program on you iPod.



Turing off screens will also reduce the Electro-Magnetic Fields or EMF that surround your body with while you sleep. EMF have been shown to cause an electrical current in the body which is disruptive to sleep and the healing that occurs while we sleep. Replace screens with books, music, gentle stretching or meditation.

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Step 5 Establish a Sleep Practice

As well as turning off screens to bring about a decline in the amount of light entering the retina of your eyes, establishing a sleep practice will also promote your body’s understanding that it is time to rest and that the day’s activities are coming to an end.

In your routine, you need to evaluate and address the areas of darkness, room temperature, sheets and clothing, and your bed.



For the continued production of melatonin and the emergence of REM (Rapid Eye Movement-deep restorative sleep) to occur, a dark room is essential. Consider buying black out curtains or layering several pieces of fabric upon each other to create as dark a space as possible. If darkening your room this way is too difficult, consider wearing an eye mask.

There are several companies making organic cotton eye covers that are quite effective. Shift workers, who sleep in the daytime, have an extra challenge when it comes to darkening a room. Eye masks may be of particular help to them. To further promote darkness in your sleep space, use an alarm clock that allows the time display to be completely turned off and do not keep cell phones and other electronic devices in this space.

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The temperature of your bedroom is also very important. The body needs a slightly cooler space for falling asleep. Approximately 68 degrees Fahrenheit or, 19 degrees Celsius are ideal temperatures to aim for. Turn the thermostat down at least 1 hour before you’d like to fall asleep. Consider sleeping nude or minimally dressed to keep your body temperature cool. Also give some thoughts to the sheets you sleep in. Cotton is very comfortable for most people. A high thread count is nice, but the color of the sheets is also very important to how you feel while you’re in bed. Are they a pleasing color to you or is the pattern distracting and stimulating?

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Consider taking a bath before bed. Because a hot bath will increase your body temperature, do this at least one hour before you intend to sleep. This will relax your body and done routinely, will act as another signal to your body that you are winding down for the day. Baths are especially helpful when you add magnesium filled Epsom salts to the water. The magnesium penetrates the muscles and relaxes them deeply. Take this time for yourself. Luxuriate in warm water filled with salts, and lavender oil. Light a candle, play some soothing music and let the day leave you.



Control the environment you sleep in by assessing all of the possible distractions. Sometimes it’s really difficult to manage all of the distractions around us. While light is perhaps the most important piece in helping your body make the transition to rest, noise also has a big impact on your senses and nervous system. Environmental noise such as television, the activity and movement of others, ambulances and the conversations of others entering your space on a hot summer night when your windows are open, are just a few of the distractions that can interfere with our sensitive bodies, rousing us to alertness.

Ear-plugs are useful for eliminating noise from your sleep space. They come in a variety of densities and can function to eliminate a small degree of noise, to much louder sounds, such as sirens. If these are difficult for you to get use to wearing, consider a white noise machine. These are available from many manufacturers and have been a successful sleep-aid for many people. They work by masking distant sounds, providing a quiet space for you to sleep in.

Additionally, many people find it beneficial to play calm, soothing music before and during sleep, as this lulls them into a rhythm of release both mentally and physically allowing their body to sleep.

Take a few minutes to analyze your sleeping space and assess the things, sounds, people, and aesthetics that are interfering with your restful slumber. Then progressively, over time, make the changes necessary to promote your restful, abundant sleep.



Step 6 Keep a Journal

One of the most common reasons that people have difficulty sleeping is that they are not able to quiet their minds as they continue to think about the day they just experienced or a nagging problem. Often when sleep comes easily, but we awake prematurely at 3 am for example, it is due to our minds racing and our cortisol, or stress hormone, going into production several hours before it is suppose to, waking us from our sleep.

One way to reduce the thoughts that endlessly circulate in our minds is to write them down. Keeping a daily journal, in which you write and release the things that have your attention and are causing you stress, will help to minimize the racing thought you have. This doesn’t have to be a long and arduous task. Write a few sentences; even in point form, about the stresses of the day. Conclude your writing by recording one thing that you are grateful for from the day- it doesn’t have to be grand- just something that you appreciated and made you smile.

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Step 7 Communicate With Your Partner & Family

As women we are conditioned to take care of others first and foremost. We can easily feel inadequate if we’re not providing the standard of care we wish for our family. Unfortunately, this often means compromising on our own health. This compromise comes very naturally for us; it’s our innate nature to put others before ourselves. Over time this results in women who are frustrated and overburdened. I see women in their 40s and 50s who are completely burnt-out in my office everyday from prioritizing everyone and everything but themselves for far too long. It’s absolutely okay to take care of yourself, it isn’t selfish, in actuality, it’s absolutely necessary for your health and for those you love.

Your family wants to see you well cared for and happy. Often they don’t know what to do to help make that possible. Have an open and honest conversation with your partner about the challenges you are facing and how they are impacting your sleep and health. Negotiate ways that you can work together to make the situation better. Get your kids on board by having them follow a predictable routine each day as well. You will be the best partner, mom, employee, sister, daughter you can be when you put your self-care first. You are not being selfish by caring for yourself, you are ensuring that you will be able to care for everyone that relies on you with ease, grace and joy.



Open and honest communication = happy, healthy, balanced family.

Step 8 Sleep Naked

The body naturally cools down as it produces melatonin and prepares the body for rest. Among other things, this process requires the body temperature to drop. When you sleep with heavy pyjamas and blankets, the body has a difficult time lowering your temperature and this will wake you up. Try sleeping naked or very lightly dressed in good quality, comfortable sheets, and keep the temperature down in your bedroom.

Step 9 Understand That You Have a Circadian Rhythm

Just like the seasons, the body’s systems and functions are based on rhythms. Humans have a circadian rhythm and a circ-annual rhythm. These rhythms control many things. The circadian rhythm—our daily time clock—is particularly important when it comes to sleep. Hormones provide signals to the body all day and all nightlong that control sleep and eating patterns. For this rhythm to function optimally, there are environmental components we can control to support this important process. When your sleep is compromised by work or stress, for example, you will lose this rhythm and re-establishing it can be difficult. Maintain sleep and maintain your natural rhythms.

! Trish Allan RHN, HealthyVibrantLiving, 705.955.3656, [email protected]


Step 10 Eat More Sleep-Well Nutrients• Choose whole foods as much as possible

• Avoid packaged and processed foods as much as possible

• Keep coffee to a minimum and consume your last cup by 2 p.m.

Get as many of these nutrients in your diet as possible:

Selenium- deficiency could play a role in sleep abnormalities, also critical for immune function and thyroid function. Get it here- Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, beef, oysters, chicken, cremini mushrooms.

Vitamin C- deficiency can lead to poor sleep and waking in the night. Get it here- Camu camu berry, amla berry, acerola berry, bell peppers, green leafy vegetables, kiwifruit, strawberries, citrus fruit and papaya.

Potassium- helpful to those having trouble staying asleep. Get it here- Leafy greens, potatoes, dulse, broccoli, crimini mushrooms, avocado and bananas.

Calcium- helps to maintain REM sleep. Get it here- Kale, collard greens, mustard greens, sardines, sea veggies and sesame seeds.

Vitamin D- strong correlation between vitamin D deficiency and excessive daytime sleepiness. Get it here- Swordfish, salmon, mackerel, shiitake mushrooms, oysters, safe exposure to the sun, D3 supplementation.



Melatonin- some foods have small amounts of melatonin in them and others help your body’s own production of melatonin. Get it here- Containing Vitamin D- Tart cherries, walnuts, ginger root, and asparagus. Help with the production of Vitamin D pineapples, tomatoes, bananas, oranges.

Vitamin B6- helps to moderate your body’s stress response and relax your nervous system. Get it here- Bananas, yogurt, cashews, peanut butter, almonds, avocados, fish, tomatoes, spinach, sweet potatoes, sea veggies and eggs.

Tryptophane- critical because it’s the body’s precursor to serotonin. Get it here- Turkey, chicken, eggs, sweet potatoes, chia seeds, hemp seeds, banana, pumpkin seeds, almonds, yogurt and leafy greens.

Omega-3s- helps with a deeper, more restful sleep. Get it here- Chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, halibut, salmon, and flax seeds.



What if You Still Can’t Sleep? Sometimes our sleep cycle becomes so disoriented that it requires actions beyond those that have already been recommended. If you have successfully implemented the 10 steps above and sleep still eludes you, it may be time to consider supplementations. Taking magnesium with some water before bed will sooth muscles, calm your system and promote sleep. Melatonin is also available in supplement form and can be taken orally to promote sleep during stressful times when you are not able to produce melatonin on your own in sufficient quantities.

*Check with a health care practitioner before beginning supplementation.

You may also consider seeing a nutritionist who provides testing to have your hormone levels checked, especially progesterone. Progesterone is the pro-gestational hormone and promotes relaxation and a calm mind in women. It is also know to provide a sense of calm for men and promotes sleep for them as well. If your levels are determined to be low by blood or saliva testing, consider supplementing with a bio-identical cream. You can work with a naturopath or integrative doctor to find the dosage that works best for you.



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Meet Trish I specialize in helping people with digestive disorders, autoimmune conditions, hormone imbalance, low mood or energy and weight management. You can visit my website TrishAllan.com for all the details on the services I offer and to discover the many ways clinical nutrition can help you feel fabulous from the inside out.

I’m a Clinical Nutritionist, Educator, and creator of Healthy Vibrant Living. I contribute as an expert wellness and nutrition writer to many online and print publications.

My work is about getting to the root cause of persistent health problems for which my clients are often told ‘there’s nothing that can be done about it’ or ‘you’re just getting older’, inspiring and empowering people to take control of their health, and supporting them to make permanent changes.

When working one-on-one with clients, I use an individualized approach to identify the areas that are out of balance in health, food and lifestyle. I focus on the bio-individuality of clients, their health history and their goals to create an individualized and systematic plan.



I also provide group programs, teach classes both online and in various locations throughout my area and offer corporate wellness programs. As a public speaker I lead workshops for large or small groups in health, wellness, nutrition and prevention.

My office is located in Barrie, Ontario Canada where I see clients in person and I also consult with clients worldwide via Skype.

I offer everyone the opportunity to explore the relationship between food and health by offering a complimentary 15-minute session to determine how nutritional and lifestyle counselling can help overcome nagging and unresolved health issues.

Change is not easy. Knowing what to do is one thing. Implementing it is a whole other matter. This is where I come in. I’ll show you what to do, how to do it and support you through the process so you get the results you want and feel fabulous from the inside out.

Click here to schedule your complimentary 15-minute nutritional consult to discover more about how you can work with me.

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Warm Regards,

Trish



https://www.timetrade.com/book/927KK

https://www.timetrade.com/book/927KK

Recommended Reading • Spent, Dr. Frank Lipman • The Hormone Cure, Dr. Sara Godfried • Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Yet? , Clint

Ober • Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, Dr. Chritiane Northrup • The Sleep Cure, Audio Recording, Dr. Sara Godfried • Sleep Smarter, Shawn Stevenson • The Sleep Revolution, Arianna Huffington

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Trish Allan Healthy Vibrant Living ______________________________________________________ 10 Steps To Blissful Sleep

Copyright © 2016 & Beyond, Trish Allan Healthy-Vibrant-Living www.TrishAllan.com

All rights reserved.

Disclaimer

I am not a medical doctor. This content is for informational purposes only. Please see a medical doctor for serious issues of insomnia. TrishAllan.com assumes no responsibility or liability for any consequences resulting directly or indirectly from any action or inaction you take based on the information found in or material referred to in this document. Always consult your medical provider before beginning any new treatment. As we are all unique in our needs, it is your responsibility to verify the usefulness and effectiveness of any treatment.

trish allan registered clinical nutritionist and founder ...version+2/sleep++vers… · blissful...

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