Day 659 - Stress and sleep - https://golifelog.com/posts/stress-and-sleep-1666304617982
Stress and sleep is something that I've not looked into much for my sleep biohacking practice.
But recently my sleep quality had been noticeably poorer, and I suspect it's due to stress.
[Because](https://daveasprey.com/how-stress-ruins-your-sleep/) in order to relax and go into deep sleep, our brains have to switch off the sympathetic nervous system, the part of our that's in charge of "fight, flight or freeze". being chronically stressed means it's on even while asleep, and the cortisol hormones get in the way of relaxation and thus deep sleep.
Apparently, chronic stress is one of the best predictors of insomnia, other sleep issues, as well as overall poor sleep quality.
So if I want great sleep, I really need to get my stress in order.
I looked up some tips from [Dave Asprey](https://daveasprey.com/stress-management/) which I could use:
- Meditate: Already do this. But could spend more time on it at night especially, before bed.
- Cold thermogenesis: Tones vagus nerve, reduce stress. I stopped cool showers for some time. Time to bring it back!
- Diet: An unhealthy gut microbiome might stress you further. I stopped probiotics for a while, so might be worth being more intentional about consuming it. Sugar and emotional eating to deal with stress makes things worse, so must eat healthy and wholesome foods.
- Supplements: Apparently adaptogenic herbs help relieve stress, like kava, ashwagandha. L-tyrosine supplements might improve brain's resilience. I've not heard about all of these, so worth diving in to research more!
- Take breaks: I hardly take breaks during work. Got to finally heed my pomodoro timer, and take intentional 10min breaks!:
- Better, more sleep: Just being more disciplined and sleeping early at 8:30pm, and getting 8h of sleep, makes me less in survival mode and less stressed out. It's amazing what a night of sufficient sleep makes.
- Exercise: I exercise in the morning, but been skipping my evenings walks to work more. I do notice I'm less physically tired (even though I'm mentally spent). Time to bring it back!
- Embrace stress to make you more resilient: Inwardly, not wanting to be stressed makes me more stressed! So that's good advice - just let it be, and go with the flow.
I feel I'm so new to stress management, especially in relation to sleep. Much stuff to learn and experiment with!
Onwards.
But recently my sleep quality had been noticeably poorer, and I suspect it's due to stress.
[Because](https://daveasprey.com/how-stress-ruins-your-sleep/) in order to relax and go into deep sleep, our brains have to switch off the sympathetic nervous system, the part of our that's in charge of "fight, flight or freeze". being chronically stressed means it's on even while asleep, and the cortisol hormones get in the way of relaxation and thus deep sleep.
Apparently, chronic stress is one of the best predictors of insomnia, other sleep issues, as well as overall poor sleep quality.
So if I want great sleep, I really need to get my stress in order.
I looked up some tips from [Dave Asprey](https://daveasprey.com/stress-management/) which I could use:
- Meditate: Already do this. But could spend more time on it at night especially, before bed.
- Cold thermogenesis: Tones vagus nerve, reduce stress. I stopped cool showers for some time. Time to bring it back!
- Diet: An unhealthy gut microbiome might stress you further. I stopped probiotics for a while, so might be worth being more intentional about consuming it. Sugar and emotional eating to deal with stress makes things worse, so must eat healthy and wholesome foods.
- Supplements: Apparently adaptogenic herbs help relieve stress, like kava, ashwagandha. L-tyrosine supplements might improve brain's resilience. I've not heard about all of these, so worth diving in to research more!
- Take breaks: I hardly take breaks during work. Got to finally heed my pomodoro timer, and take intentional 10min breaks!:
- Better, more sleep: Just being more disciplined and sleeping early at 8:30pm, and getting 8h of sleep, makes me less in survival mode and less stressed out. It's amazing what a night of sufficient sleep makes.
- Exercise: I exercise in the morning, but been skipping my evenings walks to work more. I do notice I'm less physically tired (even though I'm mentally spent). Time to bring it back!
- Embrace stress to make you more resilient: Inwardly, not wanting to be stressed makes me more stressed! So that's good advice - just let it be, and go with the flow.
I feel I'm so new to stress management, especially in relation to sleep. Much stuff to learn and experiment with!
Onwards.