Calmness and focus.
I aspire to have a strong, clear, and calm mind. A mind that can stay focused and handle life's challenges and emotional upheavals. That's the reason I meditate and work with my mind. Please don't understand this wrong, I'm not trying to be an emotional zombie who doesn't feel anything or is avoiding intense emotions. The opposite is true. Raising mindfulness and becoming more aware of what I think, say, or do helps. I can more naturally accept what's going on in my inner world, change behavioral patterns, and become a better human being.
How the body affects the mind.
Over the last years, I've realized how much my physical health affected my mental capacity, decision making, and ability to communicate clearly. I recognized when I ate certain foods that my mind got foggy or tired. I discovered how a mediocre night of sleep affected my mood and productivity the next day. Things I never questioned and accepted as normal revealed themselves as major disturbances.
To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear. - Buddha
Overworking our minds.
Another thing I noticed was that the daily amount of information I processed took a tremendous toll on my mental power and sleep quality. After doing some research, I found out, that the average American consumes about 70 GB of data per day. That's the equivalent of 9 DVD's, 150,000 words (Tolstoy's War and Peace has 450,000 words), or 15.5 hours of media consumption. Sometimes I caught myself sitting in front of the TV while watching a Youtube video, responding to work emails, texting with friends, and liking the latest Facebook tweets ;-).
Never in the history of humanity has any culture overstimulated their brains in a way we do. No wonder why our brain processors can't handle it anymore and rebel with stress and sleep disturbances.
Finding a solution.
I decided that I no longer wanted to sacrifice the quality of life and operate under only 60-70% of my mental and physical capacity. I wanted to go beyond that. It took some curiosity and questioning of old beliefs before I found a solution that worked. During the process, I understood how many people suffer from sleeping problems. Lack of sleep has become a global epidemic and anything that can help to solve it is a worthwhile undertaking.
I'm not a doctor or health care practitioner in any shape or form. I just wanted to share what worked for me and many of my family and friends.
Sleep Recipe:
Having a good night's sleep starts for me in the morning. I usually do a simple 10-15 minute breathing meditation in the morning. Meditation helps me to raise my awareness and stay focused and calm during the day.
I stimulate my nervous system throughout the day. I avoid sitting for extended periods of time. Every 90 minutes I walk up and down the stairs in my office or walk around the building. I try to be creative finding new ways of natural movement.
Once a day I raise my heart rate for 3-10 minutes to 65-80% of my maximum heart rate. Ideally, I do this no later than 4.30 p.m. - otherwise I might have trouble falling asleep with all the adrenaline going through my body. You can raise your heart rate very quickly by doing squats, push-ups, sprints, or any other simple exercise. That doesn't eliminate the need for longer and more specific exercise routines, but on days where I don't swing the kettlebell, paddle board, do yoga, or run I follow this simple method.
Being conscious on how often and when I check and respond to emails and social media has reduced my information intake. 3-4 times a week I check emails, not before 11 am and then two more times at 2 pm and 5 pm. This simple 'hack' has made me less impulsive and reactive to social media and other messages that scream for my attention. I try to avoid interacting with social media, emails, and work after 7 pm.
One thing that I'm looking forward at the end of every day and that has made a world of a difference for my sleep preparation is my evening walk. After dinner usually between 7.30 - 8.30 pm I go for a 15-20 minutes walk while it's getting dark. Being out in the dark away from artificial light increases the natural production of the hormone melatonin, which regulates our sleep. When I return, I do a 10-15 minutes evening meditation to relax and give my mind a rest from the activities of the day.
Before I go to bed usually between 10 - 10.30 pm I take these supplements:
Collagen
1-2 tablespoon of collagen. I use Great Lakes Collagen. From what I've learned and you can read more about that below this post, our bodies repair muscle tissue at night during sleep. Collagen will give your body everything it needs to heal and grow new tissue. It also has a lot of good amino acids and enzymes that support your brain during sleep.
Fish Oil
1 tablespoon of Organic Infused Coconut Oil from Green Pastures. That's a personal preference, and I think any good Krill or Fish Oil will do the trick. It will provide fat to the brain and guarantees for stable energy during sleep.
Magnesium
One scoop of OptiMag Neuro™ from Xymogen. That's the only form of magnesium proven in animal studies to cross the blood-brain barrier. Boosting the brain’s magnesium level is vital to healthy cognition, which includes long- and short-term memory, learning, stress management, and sleep. If you can't find the above supplement, I think Neuro-Mag from Life Extensions might be a good product too.