One Of The Best Ways To Get Rid Of Sleep Deprivation Is To Relax
Hey there welcome to A Healthy Conversation. Now last week we talked about how sleep, in fact has been proven to in fact, cause a person not to be able to lose weight and even make a person gain weight, because hormones are all out of balance. What I shared is I look like this because I just got up and I’m heading out to a massage.
The first way that you can—the first way and not necessarily in order—but one of the ways that a person can get rid of sleep deprivation is to relax. One of the ways you can relax is to go get a massage, which I’m headed to do as soon as we’re done shooting this video.
John: You get them at night.
Donna: And we were going to say that as one of the things you can do. So before going to bed, and reasonably it’s within 45 minutes and an hour. The things we’re going to suggest for relaxation because that’s one of the things you can do to get real sleep deprivation and increase length of sleep, quality of sleep is to relax. So, about an hour before a person goes to sleep there’re several things they can do and should do, because this will change the hormone levels, Cortisol, insulin, all of them and you will sleep better. One is a massage, if you can get a massage an hour or so before you go to sleep, even a couple of hours, your body’s going to begin to relax. But then there’s the magic window.
John: Some simple things, I think we look for the simple.
Donna: Yes.
John: But simple things are turn off the TV.
Donna: Now let’s talk about that for a second because I want somebody to do a little test because I’ve done this. If you’ve got, especially a high def TV, which I guess pretty much everybody has anymore, but TV period. Or this infamous guy, this computer monitor right.
John: Still a break wall yes.
Donna: I want you to have all of the lights off in your house and look at that computer monitor and just pay attention to the monitor itself and the light that’s coming off of it. You can do the same thing turn off all the lights and be looking at the television screen. And I want you just to pay attention to the light and how it’s coming at you then I want you to turn it off and literally pay attention to what happens about your body. Because you can feel yourself almost going [sigh]. You can feel relaxing.
John: That’s where 100 years ago before we really had electricity to any great degree it would start getting dark out, people started getting tired. They didn’t have these bright lights they had candlelight. They fell asleep very easily.
Donna: And that goes along with the circadian rhythms that I was talking about last week. That’s that body clock. Again if you get five hours or less sleep, even six it’s been said, you’ve got a 15% greater likelihood of being overweight or being obese. But listen to this, those who got six hours of sleep or less had a 30% increase in risk of gaining 30 pounds in 10 years. That’s a lot of weight and that’s a proven study from the Nurses Study relaxation can help. So you like to walk the dogs late at night.
John: Well one of the things I noticed is no matter how tired I am, if you’re watching TV or doing whatever, I take the dogs out just for about three or four minutes, I go outside. I feel much better. I’m oxygenating my body a lot more. My brain’s getting a lot more oxygen. It relaxes you.
Donna: It relaxes you.
John: Simple, simple, simple.
Donna: Simple, simple. There’s a breathing technique that you can do. You do this through the day, by the way, but if you do this in the evening before you’re about to go to sleep this will work. It’s just done with a count. You want to breathe deep in through your nose and from your diaphragm. Basically, what that means is when you take the breath in you’re expanding here, not so much here with your lungs, and you breathe in for a count of seven. So again through the nose, take in as deep a breath as you can, and you’ll hold it for a count of four, and then you exhale through your mouth; again, preferably for a count of four to seven.
Now if you’ll do this seven, four and then four to seven out with your eyes closed, you’re going to find the cells of your body begin to kind of relax. And what I do a lot when I do it is kind of you’re breathing in the air but when you exhale you’re exhaling out all the stress that keeps you from…
John: Another thing that’s kind of fascinating the way God designed our bodies, when you inhale through your nose, I always wondered why you inhaled through your nose rather than through your mouth when you’re exercising. You have little receptors up here that make nitric oxide. Nitric Oxide is a gas that dilates and opens up your blood vessels. So your brain just start getting more oxygen.
Donna: And your blood is flowing better and therefore your hormone levels are balanced out.
John: It all balances out.
Donna: That means that circadian clock is working. It makes sense. So let’s talk about the Epsom salts bath.
John: One of my favorite things Epsom salt. You get into a nice tepid bath. You start running the water a little bit hot. When you get to a point where it’s pretty hot dump in a couple of cups of Epsom salts. Now Epsom salts is basically magnesium, magnesium is one of the beautiful minerals that relaxes your body. Your skin is your biggest organ, so you’re absorbing all this magnesium into your body.
Donna: When we take this bath, like an hour or so, half hour.
John: Before.
Donna: Before you go to bed. You’re going to be absorbing this magnesium, which is going to help you to relax. Like we said turn off the television at least a half an hour before, dim the lights in the room so it’s darker in the room, remember circadian rhythms right. Chilling the room a little bit.
John: Temperatures a big one. It really is. A lot of times you can just crack the window a little bit you get some fresh air in there.
Donna: Yep.
John: A lot of times, especially during the winter time, we’re breathing all of this hot…
Donna: Stale.
John: …dry air and it just messes your sinuses up, messes everything up, so fresh air is probably one of the bigger things too.
Donna: So again we want you to relax as you’re getting ready to go to bed about an hour, half hour at night prior to sleep, so that you can build your sleep quality and even length of sleep. This will work because it’s going to help balance out the hormone levels. Relax, take a walk, dim the lights, chill the room, turn off the television, get a massage if you can, take a hot Epsom’s salt bath. This will work. You get better sleep you’re going to feel better. You’re going to have greater mental clarity, but you will be able to lose weight easier. It’s pretty fascinating stuff.
John: It is.
Donna: These healthy conversations.
John: Some calcium and magnesium before you go to bed too.
Donna: Taking calcium and magnesium…
John: Yes that’s another good one.
Donna: …is good too. Listen, yes these conversations don’t end so if we keep talking you’re going to be with us all day. And you know what I have an appointment for a massage. So we’ll see you next week.
