Inadequate sleep can make you sick.
Changing sleep habits may be easier than you think and researchers have discovered that the brain clears out toxins while the body is at rest.

WAKE UP! Are you sleeping again? It’s 2:30 in the afternoon.
Since you read this newsletter, it’s likely that you already think about things like a healthy diet, a fit body and a positive mindset. That’s a lot of work. Now, I have the audacity to ask you to improve your sleep?
Yes, because if you’re like most of us your sleep sucks. And if your sleep sucks, your life isn’t as fulfilling as you might want it to be. You’re also more susceptible to heart disease and a bevy of other preventable maladies.
What to hear more? Please skip to the next section.
If this is just too much to deal with, I understand and I won’t hold a grudge if you immediately delete this edition of the newsletter. Before you check out, please consider trying this simple experiment for one week:
Don’t look at your phone or TV for at least 30 minutes before you go to bed. After a week, notice if your sleep has improved and if you feel better.

If we’re not sleeping, what the &%@! are we doing?
We are sleeping, we’re just not doing enough of it while we’re in bed. According to last year’s WebMD sleep survey, 64% of the study’s 2000 participants said that they get about 5.7 hours of sleep per night. Optimal health requires 7-9 hours per night.
An interesting thing about the study; most participants reported being in bed long enough to get adequate sleep. On average, they were lying around in the sack for 7.61 hours.
I have feeling most of us do the same thing. If we’re not sleeping, what are we doing in bed for almost two hours a night?
Putting aside things that are absolutely none of my business 🤫, the study suggests that health problems and worry are keeping us awake. Sleep Apnea and the urge to tinkle will frequently jolt us out of peaceful slumber. All the while, many of us can’t even get to sleep because we’re busy trying to outsmart insomnia or anxiety.

So what? If you’re young and you don’t sleep enough, and you feel fine, why should you care? Nobody stays young forever and, according to WebMD, “Sleep-related problems cost Americans some $16 billion a year in medical bills.” Sleeping less than 7 hours a night increases the risk of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke and mood disorders. Regardless of your age, the sleep deprived tend to be less productive and have to work much harder to achieve the same results. And, with minimal effort, there are EASY fixes to get you snoozing in no time.
WELLNESS TIP: Limit your sugar intake a few hours before going to bed. Elevated sugar levels can induce anxiety which makes falling asleep difficult.
Neuroscientist and wellness expert Tara Swart’s sleep fixes:
Screen curfew: Avoid the brains’s wake up effect from blue light devices. Don’t view your cell phone, tablet or TV for 60-90 minutes before you go to bed.
Avoid caffeine after 2:00 pm: According to Swart caffeine has a half life of 6 hours, which means that it takes 10-12 hours for its effects to wear off, and it’s half as strong after 6 hours.
Meditate regularly: All forms of meditation have sleep benefits.
Use Lavender as a trigger: The scent of this soothing herb will remind your body that it’s time for sleep.
Your brain takes a bath while you’re sleeping
A decade ago researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center conducted a study and discovered the glymphatic system, a process that flushes toxins out of the brain while we sleep.
Accumulation of these toxins, including proteins like amyloid-beta can lead to Alzheimer’s disease. “In fact, almost every neurodegenerative disease is associated with the accumulation of cellular waste products,” the study says.

Get a full night’s sleep and give your brain a bath
Researchers compared the process to “a plumbing system that piggybacks on the brain’s blood vessels and pumps cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) through the brain’s tissue, flushing waste back into the circulatory system where it eventually makes its way to the general blood circulation system and, ultimately, the liver.”
Sleep expert Dr. Michael Brues’ sleep tips:
Take a warm bath, showers are okay.
Muscle relaxation: Tense up your muscles and then release them.
Drink something warm and caffeine free.
Keep light levels in your home low two hours before bedtime.
Avoid exercise for at least a few hours before you go to sleep.
Keep the temperature in your bedroom cool, 60-67 degrees Fahrenheit.
A good quality pillow can make all the difference in the world.
Limit or avoid daytime naps.
Make sure you expose yourself to light early in the day.
Go the sleep the same time each night.
Our Thoughts: Improving your sleep cycle requires effort, but, honestly, it’s not that hard, nor is it very time consuming. Not sleeping is time consuming. It’s all about experimentation and consistency. You will experience immediate, short term benefits of a good night’s sleep and, like compounding interest in a high yield savings account, you will accumulate impressive returns over the long haul.
At Envisage Wellness, Ritu Chib-Eiven and Mitch Eiven approach psychotherapy and coaching a little differently. In both areas our objective is to give you the tools to empower you to discover your own healing or your own path toward achievement. This newsletter is designed to be an extension of that effort. We’ll keep it short, helpful and deliver it to your inbox at least twice a month.