Improve Your Sleep | DR. B SLEEP MD

Stop Sleeping on Your Sleep' slogan promoting the importance of prioritizing sleep for overall health and well-being

Sleep plays a vital role in your overall health and well-being, and small changes to your daily habits and bedtime routine can lead to significant improvements. Let's explore how to turn your nights into restorative experiences.

Serghei Burcovschii, MD

Sleep Medicine Physician

Start with Sleep Hygiene
Think of sleep hygiene as the foundation for good sleep habits. These simple practices can make a big difference:

Stick to a Consistent Sleep Schedule: Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Your body thrives on routine!
Create a Sleep-Friendly Environment: Make your bedroom cool, quiet, and dark. Consider using earplugs, blackout curtains, or white noise machines to block out distractions.
Limit Stimulants: Avoid caffeine and nicotine, especially later in the day, as they can interfere with your ability to fall asleep.
Skip Late-Night Snacks and Alcohol: Eating heavy meals or drinking alcohol close to bedtime can disrupt your sleep later in the night.
Stay Active: Exercise regularly to improve sleep, but avoid intense workouts (and pre-workout supplements) close to bedtime.
Reduce Screen Time: Limit your use of phones, tablets, and computers at least an hour before bed to avoid the sleep-disrupting effects of blue light.

Understand How Sleep Works
The key to improving your sleep is understanding it. Here are some basics:

Your Sleep Cycle: Each night, your body alternates between deep sleep (NREM) and dream-filled sleep (REM) in 90-minute cycles. Both stages are important for physical recovery and mental rejuvenation.
Your Body’s Clock: Your circadian rhythm regulates when you feel sleepy and alert. Staying consistent with sleep and wake times helps keep this internal clock in sync.
Sleep Pressure: A chemical called adenosine builds up in your brain during the wakefulness, making you feel sleepy. Sleep (including daytime naps) helps clear it out so you wake up refreshed.

Understand Body Temperature Regulation and Sleep
Did you know your body temperature affects your ability to fall asleep?
Sleep typically begins when your core body temperature starts to drop. This process is regulated by the hypothalamus, which coordinates both sleep and temperature. A cooler environment can help this process.

Adopt Lifestyle Changes for Better Sleep
Your daily habits can either support or hinder your ability to get quality rest:

Exercise Regularly: Moderate physical activity can improve sleep, but try to finish your workouts a few hours before bed.
Practice Relaxation and Mindfulness: Stress can disrupt sleep, so incorporate practices like yoga, mindfulness meditation, or calming rituals into your routine.

Watch Out for Substances That Affect Sleep
What you put into your body can play a big role in how well you sleep:

Caffeine: A common stimulant, caffeine can delay sleep, reduce total sleep time, and disrupt sleep efficiency. Drinking coffee, tea, or energy drinks late in the day (or consuming more than 400 mg daily) may significantly affect your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Nicotine: Found in tobacco/vape products, nicotine is a stimulant that increases the time it takes to fall asleep, disrupts deep sleep, and fragments sleep throughout the night. Nicotine withdrawal can also cause insomnia and restless sleep.
Alcohol: Alcohol has a mixed impact on sleep. While it may help you fall asleep quickly, it disrupts sleep cycles by reducing REM sleep and causing wakefulness later in the night. Regular use or withdrawal can worsen these effects.
Cannabis: THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis, can initially promote sleep but may lead to reduced REM sleep and withdrawal-related insomnia. CBD, another compound in cannabis, has shown promise in improving sleep quality without disruptive side effects.

Explore Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
CBT-I is a powerful tool for tackling chronic sleep issues and is considered the first-line treatment for insomnia. Here are some techniques you can incorporate:

Sleep Restriction Therapy: Minimize the time spent in bed to match the hours you actually sleep. As your sleep improves, gradually extend your bedtime.
Stimulus Control: Train your brain to associate your bed with sleep. Go to bed only when sleepy, get out of bed if you can't sleep within 20 minutes, avoid daytime naps, and use your bed only for sleep and intimacy.
Challenge Negative Thoughts About Sleep: Techniques like Socratic questioning can help you replace harmful beliefs about sleep with constructive ones. For example, worrying excessively about not falling asleep can worsen insomnia. Replace unhelpful beliefs, like “I’ll never sleep well again,” with constructive ones, such as “Even resting quietly is helpful for my body.”
Relaxation Techniques: Try progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, or mindfulness exercises to calm your mind and body before bed.

Take Control of Your Sleep
Improving your sleep isn’t just about feeling rested—it’s about improving your health, mood, and overall quality of life. Whether you follow sleep hygiene tips, adopt CBT-I techniques, or make lifestyle changes, these small steps can lead to big results.

Remember, better sleep leads to better days. So, stop sleeping on your sleep and let this page be your guide to getting the restful, restorative sleep your body needs.

Sleep plays a vital role in your overall health and well-being, and small changes to your daily habits and bedtime routine can lead to significant improvements. Let's explore how to turn your nights into restorative experiences.

Start with Sleep Hygiene Think of sleep hygiene as the foundation for good sleep habits. These simple practices can make a big difference:

Stick to a Consistent Sleep Schedule: Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Your body thrives on routine!

Create a Sleep-Friendly Environment: Make your bedroom cool, quiet, and dark. Consider using earplugs, blackout curtains, or white noise machines to block out distractions.

Limit Stimulants: Avoid caffeine and nicotine, especially later in the day, as they can interfere with your ability to fall asleep.

Skip Late-Night Snacks and Alcohol: Eating heavy meals or drinking alcohol close to bedtime can disrupt your sleep later in the night.

Stay Active: Exercise regularly to improve sleep, but avoid intense workouts (and pre-workout supplements) close to bedtime.

Reduce Screen Time: Limit your use of phones, tablets, and computers at least an hour before bed to avoid the sleep-disrupting effects of blue light.

Understand How Sleep Works The key to improving your sleep is understanding it. Here are some basics:

Your Sleep Cycle: Each night, your body alternates between deep sleep (NREM) and dream-filled sleep (REM) in 90-minute cycles. Both stages are important for physical recovery and mental rejuvenation.

Your Body’s Clock: Your circadian rhythm regulates when you feel sleepy and alert. Staying consistent with sleep and wake times helps keep this internal clock in sync.

Sleep Pressure: A chemical called adenosine builds up in your brain during the wakefulness, making you feel sleepy. Sleep (including daytime naps) helps clear it out so you wake up refreshed.

Exercise Regularly: Moderate physical activity can improve sleep, but try to finish your workouts a few hours before bed.

Practice Relaxation and Mindfulness: Stress can disrupt sleep, so incorporate practices like yoga, mindfulness meditation, or calming rituals into your routine.​

​ Watch Out for Substances That Affect Sleep What you put into your body can play a big role in how well you sleep:

Caffeine: A common stimulant, caffeine can delay sleep, reduce total sleep time, and disrupt sleep efficiency. Drinking coffee, tea, or energy drinks late in the day (or consuming more than 400 mg daily) may significantly affect your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Nicotine: Found in tobacco/vape products, nicotine is a stimulant that increases the time it takes to fall asleep, disrupts deep sleep, and fragments sleep throughout the night. Nicotine withdrawal can also cause insomnia and restless sleep.

Alcohol: Alcohol has a mixed impact on sleep. While it may help you fall asleep quickly, it disrupts sleep cycles by reducing REM sleep and causing wakefulness later in the night. Regular use or withdrawal can worsen these effects.

Cannabis: THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis, can initially promote sleep but may lead to reduced REM sleep and withdrawal-related insomnia. CBD, another compound in cannabis, has shown promise in improving sleep quality without disruptive side effects.

Explore Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) CBT-I is a powerful tool for tackling chronic sleep issues and is considered the first-line treatment for insomnia. Here are some techniques you can incorporate:

Sleep Restriction Therapy: Minimize the time spent in bed to match the hours you actually sleep. As your sleep improves, gradually extend your bedtime.

Stimulus Control: Train your brain to associate your bed with sleep. Go to bed only when sleepy, get out of bed if you can't sleep within 20 minutes, avoid daytime naps, and use your bed only for sleep and intimacy.

Relaxation Techniques: Try progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, or mindfulness exercises to calm your mind and body before bed.

Start with Sleep Hygiene
Think of sleep hygiene as the foundation for good sleep habits. These simple practices can make a big difference:

Understand How Sleep Works
The key to improving your sleep is understanding it. Here are some basics:

Practice Relaxation and Mindfulness: Stress can disrupt sleep, so incorporate practices like yoga, mindfulness meditation, or calming rituals into your routine.

Watch Out for Substances That Affect Sleep
What you put into your body can play a big role in how well you sleep:

Explore Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
CBT-I is a powerful tool for tackling chronic sleep issues and is considered the first-line treatment for insomnia. Here are some techniques you can incorporate: