Improve Your Sleeping Habits Naturally
An often overlooked component of sustainable living is to sleep in accordance with the natural cycles of the day. This is an energy-saver for the planet, as well as a terrific energy-restorer for you. Chinese medicine teaches that restorative cycles of the body function best when we go to bed at 9 p.m., put away our screens, and enjoy an hour of relaxation. At 10 p.m., it’s time to sleep, then we should naturally wake up between 5 and 6 a.m.
Traditional hunter-gatherers in Africa and South America live without electricity, heating or cooling. They have no word for insomnia. They go to bed about three hours after the sun sets (around 9:30–10:30 p.m.) and wake up about one hour before sunrise at 5:30 a.m. They are in bed around 6.9–8.5 hours each night, and they sleep for about 5.7–7.1 of those hours.
In the winter, non-equatorial groups are in bed even an hour earlier. While it is well-established that the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus is the master clock of the body, temperature—rather than light—determines sleep patterns in these populations. Here are some practical ways to align your own sleep patterns with these natural daily cycles:
Build your tolerance for heat in the day.
Try to keep the thermostat around 78 degrees. Use fans to circulate air.
Start to unwind at 6 p.m. by dimming the lights in your space.
Take a cold shower before you head off to bed.
Go to bed at 9 p.m., then go to sleep by 10 p.m.
Lower the thermostat a couple degrees or open the windows at night.
Dr. Caroline Peterson is a board-certified chiropractic physician. For more information, visit NaturalWomensHealthInstitute.com.
