Jan. 10, 2024

How to Sleep Better with Morgan Adams [Ep. 77]

How to Sleep Better with Morgan Adams [Ep. 77]
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
Youtube Music podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
TuneIn podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
YouTube Channel podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon Youtube Music podcast player icon Amazon Music podcast player icon TuneIn podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon YouTube Channel podcast player icon
Live Well

Have you wished for a better night sleep recently? I sure have. Since recording this episode my sleep has actually gone downhill fast. I need this info just as much as many of you listeners do!

Morgan Adams, a sleep coach, shares with us the best sleep trackers, some dangers of sleeping pills, the technique she uses to improve her clients sleep and 3 actionable tools for you to start sleeping better right away! 

More from Well with Lisa:

More from Morgan Adams:

About Morgan:

Morgan Adams is a holistic sleep coach for women who struggle with getting a good night's sleep consistently. Her goal is to help women feel better and live better, and the key to both begins with a good night's sleep. Morgan is also a former insomniac who spent almost a decade using prescription sleeping pills despite knowing that her overall sleep quality suffered. She’s also a two-time breast cancer survivor who advocates for a lifestyle of disease prevention and integrating holistic strategies for cancer treatment.


More from Well with Lisa:

WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.450
This is eight.

00:00:00.450 --> 00:00:00.810
Well think.

00:00:00.839 --> 00:00:01.889
Well live well podcast.

00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:05.009
I'm Lisa Salsbury, and this is episode 77.

00:00:05.190 --> 00:00:07.620
How to sleep better with Morgan Adams.

00:00:08.310 --> 00:00:13.949
I haven't done a dedicated sleep episode since episode number six.

00:00:14.070 --> 00:00:14.580
Wow.

00:00:15.029 --> 00:00:20.910
So I thought it was really time to dedicate an entire episode to sleep as it is a major foundation.

00:00:21.269 --> 00:00:24.629
For not only health, but actually for weight loss as well.

00:00:24.989 --> 00:00:26.579
Morgan Adams is a sleep coach.

00:00:26.609 --> 00:00:31.379
And let me tell you, get ready for some really fascinating stuff about sleep.

00:00:31.769 --> 00:00:41.549
Not only does she share some great thoughts about sleeping pills and sleep trackers, but stay tuned to the end where she gives three very actionable tips to start sleeping better.

00:00:41.850 --> 00:00:42.509
Right now.

00:00:46.302 --> 00:00:53.203
Welcome to Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well; the podcast for women who want to lose weight, but are tired of counting and calculating all the food.

00:00:53.832 --> 00:00:55.393
I'm your host, Lisa Salsbury.

00:00:55.783 --> 00:01:01.442
I'm a certified health and weight loss coach and life coach, and most importantly a recovered chronic dieter.

00:01:02.052 --> 00:01:07.992
I'll teach you to figure out why you are eating when you aren't hungry, instead of worrying so much about what you are eating.

00:01:09.554 --> 00:01:12.563
Welcome to the Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well podcast.

00:01:12.593 --> 00:01:15.644
I have the pleasure of interviewing Morgan Adams today.

00:01:16.063 --> 00:01:25.573
I am going to let her introduce herself and just get right into how she got into the sleep coaching field, which we are talking all about sleep today.

00:01:25.573 --> 00:01:29.713
So it's something we've talked about on the podcast before, but is.

00:01:30.103 --> 00:01:32.353
Just as important as the food we're eating.

00:01:32.353 --> 00:01:34.573
So I think we just really can't talk about it enough.

00:01:34.573 --> 00:01:36.304
So I'm so excited to have Morgan on.

00:01:36.304 --> 00:01:36.694
Welcome

00:01:37.183 --> 00:01:38.453
Thank you so much, Lisa.

00:01:38.884 --> 00:01:39.453
Appreciate it.

00:01:40.194 --> 00:01:40.554
Yeah.

00:01:40.573 --> 00:01:45.754
So tell us how, you know, what you do and how you got into that field.

00:01:45.983 --> 00:01:46.334
Yeah.

00:01:46.334 --> 00:01:47.453
Well, I am a sleep coach.

00:01:47.453 --> 00:01:53.073
Like you mentioned, um, there are not tons of sleep coaches out there, but the field is growing very quickly.

00:01:53.433 --> 00:02:01.823
And the reason why I got interested in sleep is because I actually had my own really bad bout of insomnia years ago.

00:02:02.653 --> 00:02:08.174
And it was kind of kicked off by troubles and a romantic relationship, which I'll spare you the details.

00:02:08.193 --> 00:02:20.163
But essentially it, it, it got me into a situation where I had something called sleep onset insomnia, which is essentially when you lie in bed for a long period of time before you can actually fall asleep.

00:02:20.633 --> 00:02:29.084
So I would lie in bed for up to two hours, most nights waiting for sleep to come extremely frustrating, looking at the clock and getting more frustrated.

00:02:29.644 --> 00:02:33.683
So I got to the point where I thought, I cannot, I can't take this anymore.

00:02:33.693 --> 00:02:39.437
So I went to my doctor and I was prescribed Ambien, which I took because why not?

00:02:39.477 --> 00:02:40.576
Doctor prescribed it.

00:02:40.576 --> 00:02:42.627
I thought this is all I know.

00:02:42.667 --> 00:02:45.106
So, okay, if there was a pill, I'm going to take it.

00:02:45.736 --> 00:02:55.417
so I took the pills and it did end up getting me to sleep more quickly for sure, but I had a lot of residual side effects the next day.

00:02:56.157 --> 00:03:09.336
And I came to find out, you know, after researching sleeping pills, just, you know, a few years ago that 80 percent of people who are taking sleeping pills have some kind of grogginess or residual side effect the next morning.

00:03:09.937 --> 00:03:13.787
So it manifested for me as just lots of brain fog.

00:03:14.266 --> 00:03:16.917
Um, I had the kind of job where I was.

00:03:17.417 --> 00:03:22.377
Forced to write very quickly as a PR kind of communications person, press release.

00:03:22.866 --> 00:03:26.826
And I remember there were several times where I was just paralyzed at my desk.

00:03:26.826 --> 00:03:28.197
I couldn't type, I couldn't think.

00:03:28.516 --> 00:03:33.917
And it kind of got me into trouble at work a few times because I wasn't quick enough to produce the content.

00:03:34.514 --> 00:03:37.093
And I just, I kind of just dealt with the side effects.

00:03:37.204 --> 00:03:38.753
You know, I didn't know what else to do.

00:03:39.114 --> 00:03:42.683
And then about eight years into that Ambien experience,

00:03:42.883 --> 00:03:43.433
Oh, wow.

00:03:43.813 --> 00:03:44.713
You took it for eight

00:03:45.014 --> 00:03:45.984
eight years.

00:03:46.104 --> 00:03:46.364
Yeah.

00:03:46.443 --> 00:03:46.653
Eight years.

00:03:47.084 --> 00:03:47.463
Yes.

00:03:47.593 --> 00:03:50.834
a long time to deal with the daytime effects.

00:03:51.413 --> 00:03:51.984
it is.

00:03:52.824 --> 00:03:58.774
So eight years into it, I met a man who I started dating who is actually now my husband.

00:04:00.054 --> 00:04:00.894
Congratulations.

00:04:01.003 --> 00:04:02.454
happy ending to that story.

00:04:02.743 --> 00:04:03.044
Thank you.

00:04:03.223 --> 00:04:08.834
And, um, in the early stages of our dating, he said to me, you know, when you take that pill.

00:04:09.239 --> 00:04:12.098
It really freaks me out because you act like a zombie.

00:04:12.878 --> 00:04:17.519
And I was like, and in the most loving way he said this, but it really, it really got to me.

00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:21.199
It really made me think, what am I doing taking these pills?

00:04:21.658 --> 00:04:24.658
So I decided that I was going to come off the pills.

00:04:25.117 --> 00:04:32.257
What I did was, and I don't recommend people doing this, I just took it on myself, you know, this whole getting off the pills.

00:04:32.598 --> 00:04:41.598
So I like cut the pills in half and then to quarters and, and, you know, fortunately I was able to come off successfully without like a lot of problems.

00:04:41.987 --> 00:04:51.458
But knowing what I knew now about sleeping pills and sleep, if you are in a sleeping pill that's prescribed, you really need to work with your prescribing.

00:04:51.475 --> 00:04:59.336
Physician or nurse practitioner, whoever prescribed it because you will want to get some kind of a titration schedule to follow.

00:05:00.036 --> 00:05:13.475
It also helps if you do have a sleep coach alongside you to give you that accountability and support because it's not always easy because a lot of times people who are taking these sleeping pills don't have much sleep competence at all.

00:05:14.031 --> 00:05:16.550
So they need support and having someone build that up.

00:05:16.550 --> 00:05:20.290
And unfortunately, the doctors are just too busy to like hold your hand through it.

00:05:20.300 --> 00:05:22.701
They can give you the schedule, so that's the sleep story.

00:05:22.701 --> 00:05:23.380
Number one.

00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:28.350
And I slept fine after, you know, getting off the pills for many years.

00:05:29.391 --> 00:05:42.461
And then a plot twist happened that, uh, and that plot twist actually was experienced by all of us collectively in March of 2020, when the pandemic started, I started to have trouble sleeping again.

00:05:42.600 --> 00:05:48.620
And I was really, really concerned because I did not want to go down that road of full blown insomnia again.

00:05:48.622 --> 00:05:50.350
So I went to Dr.

00:05:50.350 --> 00:05:54.350
Google and started looking up sleep tips and how to sleep better.

00:05:55.975 --> 00:05:57.855
Got an Oura ring to track my sleep.

00:05:58.146 --> 00:06:03.815
And within a short period of time, I was actually able to turn my sleep around before it got too bad.

00:06:04.586 --> 00:06:11.586
And I got pretty fascinated with this whole topic of sleep, you know, because it was, it seemed very fixable, you know, in a short period of time.

00:06:12.206 --> 00:06:19.975
So I started to just organically post what I was doing, what I was learning about sleep on Facebook.

00:06:20.005 --> 00:06:27.196
And I came to find out that a lot of other women in my circle were struggling with sleep around the same time I was during the pandemic.

00:06:27.946 --> 00:06:31.545
So late in 20, I think it was late summer 2020.

00:06:32.076 --> 00:06:42.245
I had this revelation and it just like, it was like, I'd been struck by lightning, Morgan, you need to become a sleep coach for women because so many people are struggling with their sleep.

00:06:43.146 --> 00:06:50.485
So it was at that point that I was off to the races, getting multiple certifications, taking classes and really getting up to speed.

00:06:50.485 --> 00:06:52.675
I spent about a year or so doing that.

00:06:53.156 --> 00:06:57.216
And then I launched my sleep coaching practice, um, a little over two years ago.

00:06:57.485 --> 00:07:01.435
So that is kind of how I got into this kind of a roundabout story, but I feel like.

00:07:02.136 --> 00:07:09.625
In this field of health coaching, a lot of people who are practitioners have had the same issue they're helping others with.

00:07:09.636 --> 00:07:11.485
It's sort of that pain into purpose.

00:07:12.036 --> 00:07:13.665
And that was the 100%.

00:07:14.180 --> 00:07:14.581
Yeah.

00:07:15.190 --> 00:07:15.480
Yeah.

00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:24.490
And Morgan and I went to the same health coaching certification program at Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which is great by the way, it is a great foundation for health coaches.

00:07:24.490 --> 00:07:33.519
But then she was telling me before she did additional coursework specifically in this area to really hone in on the sleep issues that women are having.

00:07:33.978 --> 00:07:36.899
So first of all, thank you for sharing that story.

00:07:36.949 --> 00:07:41.759
I think it's fascinating that you were able to titrate down and like you said, like work with your doctor.

00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:48.559
If If you are wanting to do that, but you were able to get off of them, but then still be able to sleep.

00:07:48.579 --> 00:07:59.879
Do you think that was associated more with like the stable relationship as opposed to what, like how it happened in the first place, or just sort of your body was used to sleeping at that point

00:08:00.074 --> 00:08:01.514
Yeah, it's, it's a good question.

00:08:01.514 --> 00:08:04.624
I think it was probably because I was just in a more stable place.

00:08:04.874 --> 00:08:06.607
And, I would, maybe I was just ready.

00:08:06.607 --> 00:08:08.836
I was determined to make it work out.

00:08:08.947 --> 00:08:14.247
And I had, you know, kind of tried to stop a few times before that, but it just wasn't the right time for me.

00:08:15.262 --> 00:08:21.822
But I'm really, really glad that I got off of them because I did not have that fogginess that I was dealing with.

00:08:21.942 --> 00:08:23.351
And in fact, this is really interesting.

00:08:23.351 --> 00:08:33.471
I found out that in 2013, so about a year before I stopped taking the pills, the FDA ended up changing the dosage for women.

00:08:33.481 --> 00:08:42.851
They ended up cutting the dosage in half because what they were finding is that so many women were being overmedicated and having these residual side effects.

00:08:43.476 --> 00:08:45.596
That they, they had to reduce it.

00:08:45.606 --> 00:08:51.187
So in essence, I was being over medicated without my knowledge because they changed that in 2013.

00:08:51.907 --> 00:08:58.216
And then in 2019, they put a black box warning on these meds like Lunesta.

00:08:58.621 --> 00:08:58.942
Yeah.

00:08:58.942 --> 00:09:01.701
Look, all the Z drugs, Lunesta, Sonata, Ambien.

00:09:02.381 --> 00:09:07.841
And for, for those who don't know what a black box warning is, it's, it's a warning on a drug itself.

00:09:07.841 --> 00:09:14.152
You can see it in the package insert and the drug basically stating that, you know, certain side effects can happen.

00:09:14.851 --> 00:09:25.121
And the reason why they put the black box warning on it is because there were actually several and continue to be several incidents where people harm themselves or other people.

00:09:25.792 --> 00:09:29.022
So getting behind the wheel of a car when you're under the influence.

00:09:29.657 --> 00:09:39.466
and even, you know, I know that in my case, you know, I hate to admit it, but there were mornings when I had to get my butt to work and I had major grogginess from the sleeping pills.

00:09:39.466 --> 00:09:44.106
It was like, almost like I was still under the influence, but I had to get to work, you know?

00:09:44.106 --> 00:09:44.576
So,

00:09:44.596 --> 00:09:49.614
So, you were definitely driving and what you kind of look back on is an unsafe state.

00:09:49.943 --> 00:09:50.813
I believe so.

00:09:50.864 --> 00:09:51.134
Yeah.

00:09:51.134 --> 00:10:01.801
And I think, you know, if you think about all the people out there who are taking sleeping pills, um, sadly, you know, a lot of people are probably under the influence and may not even realize it.

00:10:01.821 --> 00:10:05.931
So there's some really, gruesome consequences to these pills.

00:10:05.961 --> 00:10:12.096
And perhaps the most poignant description of the dangers is in Matthew Walker's book.

00:10:12.126 --> 00:10:13.057
why we sleep.

00:10:13.149 --> 00:10:13.850
I love that book.

00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:14.799
It's amazing.

00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:25.986
He has a section on the book and the book on sleeping pills and he delivers some really powerful statistics, some of them even being, sleeping pills being correlated with higher mortality rates.

00:10:26.323 --> 00:10:26.714
Scary.

00:10:26.714 --> 00:10:32.464
And, you know, he's not saying that if you take sleeping pills, you're going to have an earlier death, but there is some kind of.

00:10:32.854 --> 00:10:47.624
Association, especially when you're looking at, like sleeping pills and infection rates, And one of the theories is that when you're asleep on a sleeping pill, you're actually not getting the same quality sleep you would in a natural state.

00:10:47.724 --> 00:10:53.063
And you're also not going through the proper sleep stages and the sequential order that they're supposed to be in.

00:10:53.774 --> 00:10:54.923
And because of that.

00:10:55.359 --> 00:11:01.399
Perhaps that lack of sleep quality is affecting our immune function, right?

00:11:02.208 --> 00:11:06.528
so yeah, it gets pretty deep if you really, you really think about it.

00:11:07.697 --> 00:11:08.538
absolutely.

00:11:08.768 --> 00:11:13.067
I think most of us, although I certainly don't recommend, like you said, Dr.

00:11:13.067 --> 00:11:16.238
Google, I think we've all been like, Oh, I'm not sleeping well.

00:11:16.238 --> 00:11:25.028
What could help and done those sleep hygiene tips, which I appreciate where we talked a little before that we're really going to get beyond those sorts of things.

00:11:25.118 --> 00:11:28.898
So I did hear you say, you know, you spend a third of your life sleeping.

00:11:28.898 --> 00:11:30.028
So you do some quick math.

00:11:30.038 --> 00:11:31.107
That's eight hours a night.

00:11:31.138 --> 00:11:32.408
Is that your recommendation?

00:11:34.373 --> 00:11:39.332
So the national sleep foundation recommends seven to nine hours a night.

00:11:40.173 --> 00:11:42.993
So eight is sort of like kind of right in the middle.

00:11:43.633 --> 00:11:49.673
And because I'm a sleep coach, I get served a lot of ads and a lot of products and a lot of content.

00:11:50.462 --> 00:11:54.753
And so much of it is, you know, get eight hours of sleep, get eight hours of sleep.

00:11:55.513 --> 00:12:03.317
The reality is that if you look, I'm going to use this analogy because your listeners, interested in food and nutrition.

00:12:04.187 --> 00:12:11.388
So not everyone has the same calorie need depends on, you know, many factors, how active you are, your age.

00:12:11.388 --> 00:12:12.798
I mean, so many things go into this.

00:12:13.298 --> 00:12:15.357
So it's kind of the same with sleep.

00:12:15.842 --> 00:12:18.062
Not everyone is going to need that eight hours.

00:12:18.232 --> 00:12:29.743
Most of us are probably going to need probably seven to eight, most of us, but you really kind of need to, to figure out kind of what your own sleep need is by listening to your body.

00:12:30.206 --> 00:12:42.407
When you look at the National Sleep Foundation, uh, the full, recommendations for sleep for adults and all different age groups, you will 10 hours may be appropriate.

00:12:43.466 --> 00:12:45.366
So that's a little, that's quite a

00:12:45.402 --> 00:12:46.231
That's quite a range

00:12:46.517 --> 00:12:47.417
It's quite a range.

00:12:47.797 --> 00:12:52.267
And, you know, there are very, very few people who can get by with six hours of sleep.

00:12:52.777 --> 00:12:58.996
In fact, they probably have some kind of genetic variance that allows them to be, in that category.

00:12:59.376 --> 00:12:59.746
But

00:12:59.822 --> 00:13:01.432
they're just using a lot of caffeine.

00:13:01.976 --> 00:13:02.417
yeah,

00:13:02.682 --> 00:13:07.231
that say, Oh, I only need six hours are either like lying to themselves.

00:13:07.782 --> 00:13:14.292
They could be functioning at a much higher level, or they're depending on a lot of caffeine during the day.

00:13:14.927 --> 00:13:15.677
I think you're right.

00:13:15.687 --> 00:13:18.667
And we, we look at long term studies.

00:13:19.065 --> 00:13:51.596
What we will find is that when people are these are longitudinal studies when we're when we're looking at people who are consistently getting less than six hours of sleep on a long term basis, we do find increased associations with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cognitive decline, so it's not necessarily to say that you're automatically going to get these conditions, but it's something to really think about if you are the kind of person who is Burning the candle at both ends and not really prioritizing your sleep.

00:13:52.173 --> 00:14:00.712
The people that I've really worried about though, are people who have insomnia and see these headlines about these terrible things may happen to you.

00:14:00.732 --> 00:14:05.169
Because these, the, the, and I'm mostly working with people who have insomnia.

00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.190
They are, they are trying to get that sleep.

00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:14.190
So when they see these messages in the media about X, Y, Z is going to happen, if you don't get six hours.

00:14:14.690 --> 00:14:26.980
They become even more anxious about their sleep and I'm, when I'm working with them, I have to really reassure them about, you know, just because you have insomnia doesn't mean you're going to die of this, this, or this,

00:14:27.590 --> 00:14:45.120
And insomnia is so different than just not prioritizing because I, yeah, with my clients, I feel like we talk about sleep a lot because like you said, it is so important to a lot of our food choices and to preventing obesity and other health issues that could come down the road.

00:14:45.139 --> 00:14:48.570
And so a lot of times it's just a matter of.

00:14:49.019 --> 00:14:59.450
Choosing to turn the TV off, choosing to put the book down, choosing to a lot of my mom clients are like, it's my only time it's when I do my projects and that sort of thing.

00:14:59.460 --> 00:15:03.320
And so it becomes a matter of choosing to prioritize sleep.

00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.559
Insomnia is a whole, whole different.

00:15:07.164 --> 00:15:07.784
Issue.

00:15:07.804 --> 00:15:13.274
And that does not have anything to do with just their choosing to be in bed at the right time.

00:15:13.274 --> 00:15:20.585
And you did say that's primarily what you help with and you use cognitive behavioral theory therapy, which is it.

00:15:21.399 --> 00:15:21.799
Therapy.

00:15:22.009 --> 00:15:25.450
It's called CBTI, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.

00:15:26.019 --> 00:15:26.490
Yeah.

00:15:26.625 --> 00:15:27.075
Yeah.

00:15:27.725 --> 00:15:28.774
So tell us about that.

00:15:28.970 --> 00:15:38.153
yeah, So it sounds very clinical and very, you know, therapy like, but in actuality, it's not as therapeutic, in that, in that realm as one might think.

00:15:38.153 --> 00:15:46.604
In fact, there's a very well known sleep doctor who I heard lecture and he said, CBTI is more like potty training and less like therapy.

00:15:47.543 --> 00:15:49.673
And I thought, Oh, you really, you really nailed it.

00:15:49.683 --> 00:16:01.854
So when you're looking at CBTI, you're looking at the C part being the cognitive part, that's really related to changing some negative maladaptive thoughts about sleep and attitudes about sleep.

00:16:02.293 --> 00:16:06.374
So we're working to, make those corrections over time.

00:16:07.114 --> 00:16:14.629
So an example might be the person who is like, I have to get eight hours of sleep or I'm going to suffer from this.

00:16:14.828 --> 00:16:17.769
It's actually reframing that into something more positive.

00:16:18.543 --> 00:16:24.283
The B part, the behavioral part, is actually sort of the crux of the whole CBTI protocol.

00:16:24.634 --> 00:16:28.244
And that's actually changing some key behaviors around sleep.

00:16:28.573 --> 00:16:32.423
And you're essentially just training your brain to get, to get better sleep.

00:16:32.754 --> 00:16:37.053
And a couple of the techniques that are used, one is called sleep restriction.

00:16:37.053 --> 00:16:41.354
And it's a terrible phrase because it sounds like you're making people sleep less.

00:16:41.374 --> 00:16:43.833
But in actuality, it's bedtime restriction.

00:16:44.443 --> 00:16:55.474
So, for example, a lot of people who have insomnia will lie in bed, they'll spend what, nine hours in bed, ten hours in bed, only to generate like six hours of sleep.

00:16:56.053 --> 00:17:04.713
So, what we want to do is we want to kind of consolidate that sleep so that the time they're asleep, they're spending in more quality sleep, right?

00:17:05.045 --> 00:17:16.528
another thing that's part of the behavioral part of CBTI is something called stimulus control, and that's essentially making the bed or the bedroom, the bed, a place only for sleep and sex.

00:17:17.239 --> 00:17:21.939
So what we don't want someone to do is spend a lot of time worrying in bed, right?

00:17:22.219 --> 00:17:36.249
So somebody who wakes up at, you know, 1 in the morning and can't get back to sleep after about, you know, 2030 minutes, what we instruct them to do is to sound so so counterintuitive, but to get out of bed.

00:17:36.558 --> 00:17:45.278
And to go into another room and do something relaxing and pleasant and dim light until they become sleepy again, and then they return to bed.

00:17:45.578 --> 00:17:55.584
So it's a real, it's a real kind of behavioral technique that basically unpairs Your brain with the anxiety of being in bed.

00:17:56.064 --> 00:18:00.693
We want to make your bed a place where you're relaxed and you're not stressed out.

00:18:01.588 --> 00:18:08.439
So do you include like not working, not being on your phone, not bringing your laptop into bed, not watching TV, all that kind of stuff as well.

00:18:08.784 --> 00:18:14.084
all of the above now, the TV is a little, can there can be a little bit of a grace period with that?

00:18:14.084 --> 00:18:22.354
Because some people just with their lives and their partners, it's part of their ritual, but definitely not working in bed.

00:18:22.662 --> 00:18:25.021
Definitely not scrolling their phone in bed.

00:18:25.031 --> 00:18:28.082
I mean, I've had lots of clients have disrupted sleep.

00:18:28.622 --> 00:18:33.491
because of that, you know, the blue light and everything, um, the stimulation of social media.

00:18:33.942 --> 00:18:38.501
So really, you just want to make your bed for sleep and sex as much as you can.

00:18:39.112 --> 00:18:55.521
And so what, what I do in my practice is I take some of these concepts from CBTI when they're appropriate for the client, and then we implement them to help them improve their sleep quality so that they are, getting better sleep overall.

00:18:55.969 --> 00:19:07.805
And they're feeling better in the day because a lot of, people talk about insomnia as being like a nighttime problem, but in, in reality, so much of the fallout from insomnia happens during the day, right?

00:19:07.845 --> 00:19:12.015
When people have fatigue and they're irritable and they can't concentrate.

00:19:12.595 --> 00:19:16.664
so that's just sort of a little background of CBTI and how it works.

00:19:17.015 --> 00:19:26.265
So switching gears a little bit, you mentioned that you kind of started with sleep onset insomnia where you can't go to sleep at night, but so many of us in midlife.

00:19:26.335 --> 00:19:36.365
And it's not that I only have listeners that are in midlife, but if you're not there yet, this might happen to you is we wake up at 3 AM and knock on wood.

00:19:36.404 --> 00:19:41.734
This isn't one of my perimenopause symptoms just yet, but that one, two, 3 AM wake up.

00:19:41.744 --> 00:19:42.714
Why does that happen?

00:19:42.744 --> 00:19:43.154
Yeah.

00:19:43.565 --> 00:19:47.684
So first of all, I just want to normalize that wake ups are normal.

00:19:48.049 --> 00:19:52.299
So a healthy adult can have up to 12 wake ups a night.

00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:56.210
And the thing is, is that most of these wake ups are very brief.

00:19:57.009 --> 00:20:02.839
So we are actually kind of designed to wake up very briefly after we've completed a sleep cycle.

00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:05.960
And those awakenings are sort of designed to.

00:20:08.845 --> 00:20:11.474
Um, And then once we realize we're safe, we go right back to sleep.

00:20:11.815 --> 00:20:21.662
I did, uh, I don't want to say a sleep study, but it's a device and app that I used and I measured it against my Oura ring and the device was saying, I woke up like 16 times.

00:20:22.021 --> 00:20:24.221
I only remembered one of those awakenings.

00:20:24.251 --> 00:20:25.271
That's how brief they were.

00:20:25.321 --> 00:20:28.781
if it's like three minutes or under, you're probably not going to remember it.

00:20:29.148 --> 00:20:33.028
That was actually going to be my question is like, I do not remember waking up.

00:20:33.028 --> 00:20:34.259
So am I not waking up?

00:20:34.278 --> 00:20:34.469
No.

00:20:34.659 --> 00:20:36.628
So it's, it's normal to not remember it

00:20:36.753 --> 00:20:38.203
it's normal to not remember it.

00:20:38.503 --> 00:20:38.943
Okay.

00:20:38.973 --> 00:20:44.713
So just, I want to normalize a couple of brief, brief wake ups that you might even remember are normal, right?

00:20:45.138 --> 00:20:51.509
And let me just say that some other reasons why we might be waking up other than we're finishing a sleep cycle.

00:20:51.609 --> 00:20:53.950
Here's, here are the main reasons I see in my practice.

00:20:54.452 --> 00:20:56.442
Number one, we're too hot.

00:20:57.032 --> 00:21:09.512
And that doesn't necessarily mean we're having a hot flash, but we may just be sleeping too hot, in which case, we can consider interventions like Turning up the A.

00:21:09.542 --> 00:21:09.762
C.

00:21:09.762 --> 00:21:10.363
In your room.

00:21:10.373 --> 00:21:17.252
You actually should be having your temperature in your bedroom a couple of degrees cooler at night just to help set your sleep.

00:21:18.093 --> 00:21:20.432
than what you typically desire during the day.

00:21:20.663 --> 00:21:21.163
yes.

00:21:21.173 --> 00:21:28.423
So for example, we keep our house on 72 during the day, then we go back to 68 at night.

00:21:29.593 --> 00:21:31.163
That's generally the recommendations.

00:21:31.212 --> 00:21:44.782
There's some recommendations that say like 63 to 65, which I think is quite chilly, but, but you have to, you have to kind of figure out your own preference, but essentially you want to make it a little cooler than your temperature during the day.

00:21:45.238 --> 00:21:48.438
I have to tell you that we were just at this Airbnb.

00:21:48.480 --> 00:22:01.454
I was, telling Morgan before we got on, I've been out of town for a week, taking my daughter to college and I was staying in an Airbnb and the thermostat was controlled apparently by the owner because we, it was like locked and it was 76, 24 hours a day.

00:22:01.904 --> 00:22:03.055
And we were dying at night.

00:22:03.065 --> 00:22:04.365
Like I'm okay with that during the day.

00:22:04.365 --> 00:22:04.964
That's fine.

00:22:04.974 --> 00:22:05.355
70s.

00:22:05.394 --> 00:22:06.164
I'm actually.

00:22:06.775 --> 00:22:16.924
That's fine for me during the day, but at night we were like, seriously, and so I feel really validated right now that you're like, you definitely should have it lower during the, during the night.

00:22:17.140 --> 00:22:17.630
yes.

00:22:17.660 --> 00:22:21.589
I've heard this situation quite a few times with Airbnb's hotels.

00:22:22.130 --> 00:22:25.029
They're not considering women and midlife.

00:22:25.394 --> 00:22:26.654
No, no.

00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:28.559
they need to be corrected.

00:22:29.029 --> 00:22:31.369
But, um, anyway, there's other interventions.

00:22:31.369 --> 00:22:36.410
You use, bamboo fabrics for your bedding and for your sleepwear.

00:22:37.220 --> 00:22:40.279
There's even mattress cooling pads that are great.

00:22:40.309 --> 00:22:42.599
Those are game changers for a lot of people.

00:22:43.194 --> 00:22:47.755
The fact is, is that when you're, sleeping in a cooler environment, you tend to get deeper sleep.

00:22:48.664 --> 00:22:57.634
And I, and I know this for a fact because we, my husband and I do have a cooling mattress pad that has been on the fritz a couple times.

00:22:57.634 --> 00:23:03.285
we're sleep geeks and we look at our sleep data and our deep sleep is never as good when the, cooling pad isn't on.

00:23:04.164 --> 00:23:04.555
so.

00:23:05.269 --> 00:23:05.849
Being hot.

00:23:05.900 --> 00:23:07.019
One reason for waking up.

00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:10.299
Second reason is low blood sugar.

00:23:11.089 --> 00:23:16.660
So when our blood sugar crashes, we have these cortisol and adrenaline spikes, which wake us up.

00:23:17.289 --> 00:23:22.569
So we have this kind of recommendation to not eat like three hours before bed.

00:23:22.962 --> 00:23:30.883
However, there are certain times when if a client is waking up a lot at three, we may do this experiment where she has.

00:23:31.512 --> 00:23:43.502
A very small snack an hour before bed that consists of like a Greek yogurt with some almonds, something that's got some protein, some fat, a little bit of carbs to see if that prevents the blood sugar crash.

00:23:43.913 --> 00:23:50.282
So that could be, that could be something someone could try to see if it prevented the wake up if they're having it real consistently.

00:23:50.823 --> 00:23:58.992
And then the third reason, and this is quite common, not talked about nearly enough, is that women have sleep apnea episodes that wake them up.

00:23:59.742 --> 00:24:02.942
And they don't really realize that they're waking up because of this.

00:24:04.042 --> 00:24:18.353
Another, I'm getting a little tangents off on a little tangent, but I feel like it's really important that women in midlife, especially realize that the rates of sleep apnea increase quite a bit as we get into our menopausal years.

00:24:18.663 --> 00:24:31.212
Because the lack of our female hormones, that decrease actually affects our airways that our female hormones protect our airways and when we don't have those hormones, our airways may reflect that.

00:24:31.752 --> 00:24:45.950
And so, when women are not feeling refreshed in the morning, even though they've had their seven or eight hours of sleep, when they're feeling really low, sometimes that's a really good sign that they need to get a sleep study done.

00:24:46.625 --> 00:24:58.795
And I know people are very scared of that, but you can order, you can even do consumer grade sleep, studies that you can just order on your own from home and test your breathing at home, which is pretty great.

00:24:58.835 --> 00:25:00.394
You don't have to go to a sleep lab and do it.

00:25:00.444 --> 00:25:00.785
Yeah.

00:25:00.951 --> 00:25:03.030
this might not be in your area of expertise.

00:25:03.090 --> 00:25:13.045
But when you're talking about that hormones, I have had a couple of guests on talking about bioidentical hormone replacement therapy do you see that helping with sleep?

00:25:13.625 --> 00:25:14.585
interesting question.

00:25:14.595 --> 00:25:18.005
Yeah, I, I do actually hear of it helping with sleep.

00:25:18.295 --> 00:25:18.785
Okay.

00:25:19.214 --> 00:25:21.825
I personally have started taking biogenical hormones.

00:25:22.204 --> 00:25:32.664
For my own sleep, because I had, I'm 53, um, going through perimenopause, I have started having more early morning, morning wake ups, like four o'clock.

00:25:33.694 --> 00:25:40.755
And I approached my doc and of course, being a sleep coach, I know all of the things to do and I don't have anxiety about sleep.

00:25:40.835 --> 00:25:47.142
So I look at HRT as sort of the last resort once you've tried all of the other interventions.

00:25:48.037 --> 00:25:52.186
In my case, the HRT didn't really affect my sleep.

00:25:53.176 --> 00:25:54.836
Now with other women, it does.

00:25:54.846 --> 00:26:02.396
So in my experience, it seems to be like a 50, 50 shot, which isn't really that promising, but I mean,

00:26:02.432 --> 00:26:15.741
There's just so many other reasons to take HRT, so I, I just was curious if you'd seen that in your clientele, if anyone has been taking it, or, I mean, it's just so fascinating how many things the hormones are protected up.

00:26:15.882 --> 00:26:20.711
Protective of like, you know, we, we know like vaginal walls and bone density and all of that stuff.

00:26:20.711 --> 00:26:22.271
And now you're like, Oh, the airways.

00:26:22.271 --> 00:26:23.531
I'm like yet another thing.

00:26:23.541 --> 00:26:30.102
I just feel like the, the reasons for taking them are just racking up like crazy lately for me.

00:26:30.317 --> 00:26:40.916
You know, and, and now that you mentioned it, the HRT, I, I do have several clients who are on it who already have been on HRT and they come to me because that's not working.

00:26:40.926 --> 00:26:48.386
And so we do the CBTI protocol because they have actually shown in clinical studies that CBTI can help women.

00:26:48.737 --> 00:26:51.336
who are having menopausal insomnia.

00:26:51.557 --> 00:27:05.826
It's the, the CBTI isn't actually fixing the physical symptoms, but it's helping our subjective reality the next day or during the night of how we're interpreting and, dealing with those on a psychological basis.

00:27:06.201 --> 00:27:06.551
Yeah.

00:27:06.801 --> 00:27:08.672
It is so stressful not to sleep.

00:27:08.682 --> 00:27:12.912
I knock on wood, honestly, I am a great sleeper.

00:27:12.942 --> 00:27:18.701
And if you're a long, long time listener, you know, I interviewed Janet Whalen, who's a sleep coach over a year ago.

00:27:19.061 --> 00:27:21.422
And I told her like, I'm a good sleeper.

00:27:21.422 --> 00:27:28.571
And she's like, you just keep telling yourself that and can keep speaking it out loud because there is so much benefit to having positive.

00:27:28.846 --> 00:27:44.067
Thoughts about, you know, anything, but sleep included, this last year, I have just been really, really trying to just keep saying I'm a good sleeper, despite the early morning wake ups and, you know, just randomly here I am awake at five 30 in the morning, ready for the day, but not really.

00:27:44.406 --> 00:27:48.356
So I still believe that I am a good sleeper.

00:27:48.356 --> 00:27:52.946
So I don't have as much, firsthand knowledge on this kind of thing.

00:27:53.037 --> 00:27:55.517
So I appreciate all of your expertise.

00:27:55.547 --> 00:27:57.336
I'd really love to get into some.

00:27:57.832 --> 00:28:02.102
You know, actionable tips, like a toolkit here for sleeping better.

00:28:02.112 --> 00:28:05.622
And I know you've mentioned a couple of times you use an Oura ring.

00:28:05.622 --> 00:28:08.662
So I don't know if that's part of some of those tips.

00:28:08.912 --> 00:28:09.362
Yeah.

00:28:09.362 --> 00:28:15.112
Well, that wasn't part of my tips, but I'll just share that, you know, with sleep trackers.

00:28:15.132 --> 00:28:21.872
I think they can be a really great tool for people who are interested in optimizing their sleep and improving it.

00:28:22.461 --> 00:28:28.602
my worry is it will increase anxiety about it that I'll start tracking it and then be like, Oh no, I'm not as good of a sleeper as I thought I was.

00:28:28.932 --> 00:28:30.201
So I I've shied away.

00:28:30.481 --> 00:28:30.801
Yeah.

00:28:31.031 --> 00:28:32.432
You're bringing up a really good point.

00:28:32.451 --> 00:28:39.122
And that that's the flip side of the whole sleep tracker conversation is that you have to know yourself.

00:28:39.162 --> 00:28:42.701
And so it sounds like you've got a pretty good, you know, self awareness there.

00:28:42.852 --> 00:28:43.882
So congratulations.

00:28:43.902 --> 00:28:52.612
But if you, if you are on that anxious side, and you're afraid that that might happen, that's probably probably isn't a good move for you.

00:28:53.201 --> 00:28:59.031
but if you feel like you're not going to be emotional about the data and you can actually, I'll use myself for an example.

00:28:59.352 --> 00:29:02.872
it's been helpful for me, especially with alcohol use.

00:29:03.231 --> 00:29:03.652
Okay.

00:29:03.652 --> 00:29:11.842
So when I see that my scores are worse with alcohol, it actually gives me that impetus to decrease.

00:29:12.271 --> 00:29:23.561
So if you're the kind of person who can look at the data and then you're able to make behavioral changes based on the data that you see, then it's a great tool and you're not getting emotionally invested in it.

00:29:23.582 --> 00:29:23.991
Right.

00:29:24.311 --> 00:29:33.172
But for example, my clients who have insomnia, most of them would not do well with a sleep tracker because they'll get in the weeds with all of their.

00:29:33.521 --> 00:29:34.112
Oh, Morgan.

00:29:34.142 --> 00:29:34.791
Oh my gosh.

00:29:34.801 --> 00:29:36.281
I only got 9 percent deep sleep.

00:29:36.541 --> 00:29:37.172
Oh my gosh.

00:29:37.251 --> 00:29:43.051
You know, I've, I've heard of people getting up, like if they have a wake up at 3am, they'll, they'll go check their Oura ring.

00:29:43.102 --> 00:29:44.872
That's really counterproductive.

00:29:44.882 --> 00:29:48.201
So if you're going down that route, don't use an Oura ring.

00:29:48.281 --> 00:29:56.291
Another alternative, if you have an Oura ring and you find yourself getting a little bit too concerned with the data, you can take what I call a data fast.

00:29:56.791 --> 00:30:01.701
Essentially, you could wear your ring or not, but if you wear your ring, the data will track.

00:30:01.701 --> 00:30:04.872
You can just check the scores weekly, right?

00:30:04.922 --> 00:30:06.662
So that you're not checking every day.

00:30:06.662 --> 00:30:11.842
So that you're looking at your sleep from a little, a little bit of a wider lens than that narrow lens.

00:30:12.511 --> 00:30:19.662
but you know, in certain cases with my insomnia clients, sometimes the Oura Ring actually helps them.

00:30:19.692 --> 00:30:29.970
And these are people who have something called paradoxical insomnia, which is when You have insomnia and you really, your brain isn't registering that you're asleep.

00:30:30.490 --> 00:30:33.960
So essentially you think you've slept like one hour the whole night.

00:30:34.190 --> 00:30:40.240
Like I have clients who report on their sleep journals, the written kind, I slept one or two hours and.

00:30:40.730 --> 00:30:46.559
If you're sleeping one or two hours sustained, like you're, you're not going to, you're not going to be actually functional, you know?

00:30:46.819 --> 00:30:53.569
So in my mind, I'm like, okay, this person probably has paradoxical insomnia and those kinds of cases.

00:30:53.839 --> 00:31:03.000
Sometimes we do work with a sleep tracker because I've found that when they get a sleep tracker, if they're saying they sleep one or two hours, the sleep tracker will tell them.

00:31:03.339 --> 00:31:08.079
You got five and they're like, oh my God, I got five hours, which doesn't sound like a lot to us.

00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:08.500
But

00:31:08.595 --> 00:31:08.944
But it's a

00:31:09.109 --> 00:31:09.369
thinks.

00:31:09.375 --> 00:31:10.244
than one or two.

00:31:10.525 --> 00:31:11.375
exactly.

00:31:12.045 --> 00:31:20.914
So they're like, they're that's actually a use case where the sleep tracker is helpful because they're like, Oh my gosh, I'm sleeping more than I think I am.

00:31:21.744 --> 00:31:24.085
So it's a really, really individual decision.

00:31:24.085 --> 00:31:28.994
You really have to kind of know yourself and how you're going to react to the data when you see it.

00:31:29.335 --> 00:31:29.674
Yeah.

00:31:29.684 --> 00:31:33.471
Yeah, it sounds like that the Oura ring is sort of the gold standard.

00:31:33.480 --> 00:31:35.681
Is this the only sleep tracker you recommend?

00:31:35.681 --> 00:31:40.980
I mean, I have an Apple watch, but I don't really love wearing it at night, but I know it will do some tracking.

00:31:41.840 --> 00:31:43.820
So I think if you look at the sleep tracks.

00:31:43.921 --> 00:31:54.121
community sleep coaches, sleep doctors, you will find most of them saying that the Oura, as of this moment, is the gold standard because it seems to have the most accurate data.

00:31:54.790 --> 00:31:58.570
Plus, there is some benefit of having a ring versus a watch.

00:31:58.590 --> 00:32:09.290
There's a little bit more compliance to wearing a ring, but the field of sleep tracking is really, A growing field so or is not the only game in town.

00:32:09.300 --> 00:32:13.871
There are other sleep trackers that are going to be launching very soon.

00:32:14.161 --> 00:32:16.611
but yeah, I mean, they are, they are good tools.

00:32:16.621 --> 00:32:26.070
Some people really like, I think that, the Wootband or the Fitbit there, they might be better choices for people who really want the activity tracker piece of it to be better.

00:32:26.330 --> 00:32:34.651
And they're somewhat interested in sleep data, but if you're like really honing in on that sleep data, probably, or at this point in the marketplace, or is probably the best choice.

00:32:35.390 --> 00:32:35.809
Okay.

00:32:35.849 --> 00:32:37.400
Well, let's get into some actionable tips.

00:32:37.430 --> 00:32:38.839
Everyone wants to sleep better.

00:32:38.859 --> 00:32:42.839
Even if you are like me and you're like, I basically sleep well.

00:32:43.210 --> 00:32:50.450
It's just so important to our overall health that I always feel like anything to improve is going to be

00:32:50.640 --> 00:32:51.170
Yes.

00:32:51.460 --> 00:32:51.480
Yeah.

00:32:51.490 --> 00:32:55.579
Well, I do have a few really, actionable free tips I'll share with you all.

00:32:56.190 --> 00:33:00.630
So the first one is to keep a consistent wake up time every day.

00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:07.190
And people are like, even on the weekends, let me ask, even on the weekends, because our bodies don't know the difference between the weekend and the weekday.

00:33:08.039 --> 00:33:12.650
The reason why is because this keeps our circadian rhythm very strong and very consistent.

00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:16.710
So that is something actual that that we can do.

00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:20.753
We just sometimes might need to use an alarm clock to do this.

00:33:21.064 --> 00:33:29.394
Now, if you're waking up at the same time every morning, what you will find over time is that you will become sleepy around the same time each night.

00:33:30.144 --> 00:33:30.493
Right.

00:33:30.773 --> 00:33:35.233
So this, this regularity with our wake and sleep times is actually really important.

00:33:35.273 --> 00:33:49.973
They did a study that found that women who had a variation of 90 minutes or over with between their sleep and wake times had a higher body fat percentage than women who had 60 minutes or under a variance with their sleep and wake times.

00:33:50.443 --> 00:33:51.193
16.

00:33:51.294 --> 00:33:52.193
16 minutes.

00:33:52.864 --> 00:33:53.693
Oh, 60.

00:33:54.223 --> 00:33:56.304
I was like, whoa, that's really specific.

00:33:56.304 --> 00:33:57.604
That's, that's pretty tight.

00:33:57.663 --> 00:33:58.693
That's a little too tight.

00:33:59.124 --> 00:34:00.003
an hour either way.

00:34:00.003 --> 00:34:03.144
So I could wake up like between 630 and 730.

00:34:03.163 --> 00:34:05.713
That would be considered a consistent wake up time.

00:34:06.013 --> 00:34:06.874
would be pretty good.

00:34:07.173 --> 00:34:11.643
You know, if you could have it a little bit, little bit tighter, like within a half hour, that would be even better.

00:34:12.043 --> 00:34:17.634
the, the question often arises with my clients is, Hey, I'm going out to a wedding on Saturday night.

00:34:17.634 --> 00:34:18.853
I'm going to be out later.

00:34:19.353 --> 00:34:20.284
Can I sleep in?

00:34:20.454 --> 00:34:20.744
Okay.

00:34:20.744 --> 00:34:21.483
So on the weekend.

00:34:22.199 --> 00:34:30.489
You can probably get away with sleeping in by like an hour, but I wouldn't push it out too far because what could end up happening is you could get social jet lag.

00:34:30.838 --> 00:34:36.088
And so that's essentially the same as jet lag, but you're not benefiting from traveling.

00:34:36.099 --> 00:34:37.889
Your body is just sort of out of sync.

00:34:38.659 --> 00:34:42.789
And what ends up happening if I mean, this happened to me personally years ago.

00:34:43.494 --> 00:34:49.463
you know, when I really didn't know much about sleep, I would stay out really late on the weekend and sleep really late, like three hours.

00:34:49.494 --> 00:34:53.114
There'd be like three hour differential and Sunday nights were brutal.

00:34:53.123 --> 00:34:54.873
Monday mornings were even more brutal.

00:34:55.634 --> 00:34:59.114
So the more regular you can stay, that would be great.

00:34:59.423 --> 00:35:08.313
So like I said, if you're really regular with your wake up times, you're going to just find that each night you're going to become sleepy, probably within an hour window.

00:35:08.684 --> 00:35:13.284
So your, your bedtime doesn't have to be quite as tight, but your wake up time should be pretty tight.

00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:16.528
That does happen to me where I get sleepy at the same time.

00:35:16.528 --> 00:35:20.228
And then that frustrates my husband when we're trying to watch a movie on Saturday night or something.

00:35:20.228 --> 00:35:21.389
He's like, it's Saturday night.

00:35:21.688 --> 00:35:22.849
Like, why can't you stay up later?

00:35:22.849 --> 00:35:24.958
I'm like, cause I'm tired at the same time.

00:35:25.148 --> 00:35:28.429
I'm trying to obey my circadian rhythm and my sleep drive.

00:35:28.429 --> 00:35:30.059
So just deal with it.

00:35:30.869 --> 00:35:38.219
so then the second tip I would have is to get morning sunlight or morning daylight every day.

00:35:38.864 --> 00:35:49.123
So first as first thing, when you wake up within an hour, waking up is try to go outside and get about 10 minutes of light exposure without your sunglasses on.

00:35:49.610 --> 00:35:50.349
I do this.

00:35:50.599 --> 00:35:56.280
I mean, these are the things that I do myself and my clients are doing, and they're getting really, really great results.

00:35:56.309 --> 00:35:58.909
So I know it sounds incredibly simplistic.

00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:04.099
No, I just, I made a face because my eyes are so sensitive to the sun.

00:36:04.099 --> 00:36:08.030
Like my eye doctor is like, you have zero pigment in the back of your eyes because I'm Irish.

00:36:08.489 --> 00:36:11.989
And so he, he's like, never go out without my sunglasses.

00:36:11.989 --> 00:36:13.389
I'm like, I can't, it hurts my eyes.

00:36:13.400 --> 00:36:16.679
So I know I need to try to get a little more sunlight

00:36:16.809 --> 00:36:19.320
know, but I'm, but I'm with, I'm with you though.

00:36:19.349 --> 00:36:21.389
I, I have really light eyes myself.

00:36:21.429 --> 00:36:26.849
And when I started this, it was kind of like a shock to my system, but your eyes actually do adapt.

00:36:27.420 --> 00:36:28.190
over time.

00:36:28.480 --> 00:36:33.769
So right now, I mean, even though I have a collection of pretty cute sunglasses, they rarely get worn.

00:36:34.119 --> 00:36:43.800
they get worn when I'm driving and there's a huge glare, but like when I'm walking in the morning or the afternoon, I don't take them with me because my eyes have become adapted to it.

00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:56.670
The reason why it's so important that our eyes actually hit that light without the sunglasses is because when the natural light hits our retina, it sends this signal to our suprachiasmatic nucleus, which is our circadian pacemaker.

00:36:57.219 --> 00:37:02.050
And when that happens, this beautiful cascade of hormones and neurotransmitters happen.

00:37:02.050 --> 00:37:08.059
So it shuts off any residual melatonin from the night before it boosts your serotonin for better mood.

00:37:08.289 --> 00:37:12.690
And it also prepares your melatonin production for that upcoming night.

00:37:13.139 --> 00:37:27.097
So when you're outside early in the morning, walking your dog or whatnot, and you you're wearing your sunglasses, you're kind of doing your body a disservice in a way, because you're not getting the benefit of those neurotransmitters and hormones syncing up for the day.

00:37:27.679 --> 00:37:32.050
so the third tip, and this is one that I think your, your audience is going to resonate with.

00:37:32.309 --> 00:37:35.000
It probably won't be a stretch for them, but it's exercise.

00:37:35.280 --> 00:37:43.489
And we have So many studies that have shown that getting regular exercise helps us with our sleep.

00:37:43.550 --> 00:37:48.750
One of the reasons being is because the more active we are during the day, the more it builds up our sleep drives.

00:37:49.369 --> 00:37:57.340
And they've actually done about 13 studies showing that consistent exercise helps boost our deep sleep.

00:37:57.539 --> 00:38:00.659
It also helps with our sleep efficiency, our sleep quality.

00:38:01.215 --> 00:38:04.074
and the total time it takes us to fall asleep

00:38:04.916 --> 00:38:10.297
Does it matter if it is a cardio workout or a strength training workout?

00:38:10.726 --> 00:38:11.097
Like, do you

00:38:11.126 --> 00:38:11.496
glad you

00:38:11.697 --> 00:38:13.617
like burn a lot of calories?

00:38:13.806 --> 00:38:17.817
Yeah, you're, you're setting me up for this next thing so well, beautifully.

00:38:18.056 --> 00:38:27.617
So, um, there was a study of middle aged adults done recently where they had people broken up into moderate intensity aerobics, high intensity aerobics.

00:38:28.101 --> 00:38:35.331
Moderate to intense weight training and the group that had the most sleep benefits was the aerobic group.

00:38:35.612 --> 00:38:37.402
And it was the moderate aerobic group.

00:38:38.461 --> 00:38:43.972
Now I'm a huge fan of strength training, so I don't want anyone, anyone in mid life out there to like ditch their strength training.

00:38:44.152 --> 00:38:45.822
I personally feel like we should just.

00:38:46.376 --> 00:38:48.356
Have like an equal balance, right?

00:38:48.856 --> 00:38:53.817
definitely strength training is so critical for women in terms of avoiding sarcopenia.

00:38:54.137 --> 00:38:59.516
But I think the takeaway is we don't have to like knock ourselves out with a hit workout every day.

00:38:59.972 --> 00:39:04.661
Because this study is showing moderate intensity is really was really the sweet spot.

00:39:04.981 --> 00:39:05.842
So I love that.

00:39:05.862 --> 00:39:06.422
totally.

00:39:06.518 --> 00:39:12.518
I think too, if you are really trying to solve a sleep problem, that's the priority.

00:39:12.789 --> 00:39:16.798
So if you're like, okay, I'm going to throw everything at this.

00:39:16.829 --> 00:39:21.349
And that means I'm going to do all I have time for is a moderate intensity cardio workout.

00:39:21.349 --> 00:39:22.849
And I don't have time to strength train.

00:39:23.438 --> 00:39:24.268
I would say.

00:39:24.278 --> 00:39:24.298
Yeah.

00:39:24.463 --> 00:39:33.503
It's more important for you to get your sleep on track and then add back in this strength training when your sleep is on track, because it is really just the foundation.

00:39:33.934 --> 00:39:35.264
Yes, I would agree.

00:39:35.293 --> 00:39:43.943
I think that a lot of women make the mistake of setting their alarm for early morning class that they want to get to even if they haven't had the proper sleep.

00:39:43.943 --> 00:40:04.688
And I've really, I've really discouraged people from doing that because if you're Going at it pretty hard and it's in a spin class, you know, and you're not well slept your injury risk can go up and you don't want to an injury, So, it's a great point you made, you really want to prioritize the sleep and there's such a wonderful interesting by directional relationship between exercise and sleep.

00:40:05.208 --> 00:40:06.447
If we're getting great sleep.

00:40:06.992 --> 00:40:18.543
We're going to wake up and we're going to feel motivated to work out, you know, and then in turn, our workouts, like I just said, are going to help increase the quality of our sleep and the depth of our sleep.

00:40:18.693 --> 00:40:24.253
and here's something really awesome is if you can do a morning, an early morning walk, you're getting, you're hitting.

00:40:24.788 --> 00:40:30.487
I hate the term killing two birds with one stone, but you're feeding two birds with one scone is what I'd like to say.

00:40:30.768 --> 00:40:36.168
You are getting your, you're getting your sunlight, like I'd said, and you're getting your movement.

00:40:36.208 --> 00:40:37.838
So you're multitasking,

00:40:38.032 --> 00:40:38.552
Yeah.

00:40:38.612 --> 00:40:39.043
Yeah.

00:40:39.152 --> 00:40:39.543
Perfect.

00:40:40.182 --> 00:40:40.893
Yes.

00:40:41.092 --> 00:40:41.663
I love it.

00:40:42.193 --> 00:40:43.693
Well, I love those three tips.

00:40:43.713 --> 00:40:48.393
Any, any last thing that we haven't covered that you'd like to add to this conversation?

00:40:48.483 --> 00:40:55.693
Gosh, I will just briefly touch on the, the importance of an evening routine as well as a morning routine.

00:40:55.702 --> 00:41:01.922
Those are both the bookends of your day are really critical times to prepare yourself for sleep.

00:41:01.922 --> 00:41:05.253
And sometimes people say, when should I start preparing for sleep?

00:41:05.302 --> 00:41:07.733
And I say the second your feet hit the ground, right?

00:41:07.902 --> 00:41:09.742
The morning routine is critical.

00:41:10.043 --> 00:41:12.242
And the evening routine is just as critical.

00:41:12.559 --> 00:41:19.579
I do have a free mini course that actually guides you on how to create your own perfect morning and evening routine.

00:41:19.849 --> 00:41:26.130
And you can maybe link that in your show notes, but again, yeah, evening routines and critical morning routines.

00:41:26.130 --> 00:41:36.590
And if you have problems with the evening routine and getting it, I think that one of the best tips is like put an alarm on your phone alerting yourself that, Hey, now is the time to shut everything down.

00:41:36.920 --> 00:41:41.170
And start going into that evening routine because sometimes you mentioned just with some of your clients.

00:41:41.250 --> 00:41:43.989
It's, it's that procrastination, right.

00:41:44.480 --> 00:41:50.510
And we can kind of like maybe mitigate that procrastination by setting some of those boundaries with an alarm.

00:41:51.420 --> 00:41:55.262
I actually love the bedtime feature on my Apple phone because.

00:41:55.992 --> 00:41:57.443
I just, I have that set.

00:41:57.443 --> 00:42:00.922
And so it's kind of a darker screen past a certain time.

00:42:00.952 --> 00:42:03.123
And it tells me like, it's time to get ready for bed.

00:42:03.143 --> 00:42:07.413
And I know people think that it's dumb and like, that doesn't help me, but it does.

00:42:07.413 --> 00:42:08.333
It's just like, Oh yeah.

00:42:08.333 --> 00:42:08.632
Okay.

00:42:08.632 --> 00:42:09.342
That's what time it is.

00:42:09.643 --> 00:42:15.563
I often get lost in what I'm doing or sidetracked and it just is a great little alert.

00:42:15.603 --> 00:42:18.532
And I do use that.

00:42:18.543 --> 00:42:21.612
So I like that idea of alarms because I do think it's helpful.

00:42:21.623 --> 00:42:23.583
And then it automatically turns on, do not disturb.

00:42:23.583 --> 00:42:25.463
And so I don't have to worry about being disturbed at

00:42:25.552 --> 00:42:26.032
Yeah.

00:42:26.302 --> 00:42:27.402
It's all automated.

00:42:27.503 --> 00:42:27.983
Love it.

00:42:28.768 --> 00:42:29.038
Okay.

00:42:29.038 --> 00:42:37.358
Well, in addition to your free mini course, which I think a lot of people are going to be interested in, tell us how people can find you online and work with you if they'd like to.

00:42:38.222 --> 00:42:38.632
Yeah.

00:42:38.632 --> 00:42:42.083
Um, my website is MorganAdamswellness.Com on it.

00:42:42.103 --> 00:42:51.523
You can schedule a free sleep clarity call where if you're having trouble with sleep, I can help, maybe troubleshoot, get to the root cause, maybe leave you with a couple of tips.

00:42:52.123 --> 00:42:54.543
And, you know, get you started on better sleep.

00:42:54.623 --> 00:42:58.893
So you can schedule that on my website and I'm really active on Instagram as well.

00:42:58.932 --> 00:43:01.052
My handle is morganadams.

00:43:01.523 --> 00:43:01.992
wellness.

00:43:02.023 --> 00:43:04.592
I do a lot of stories and reels and stuff like that.

00:43:04.603 --> 00:43:06.862
So yeah, love to chat with anyone about sleep.

00:43:06.967 --> 00:43:07.407
Perfect.

00:43:07.418 --> 00:43:09.297
And we'll put all of those links in the show notes.

00:43:09.297 --> 00:43:10.608
Thanks again, Morgan, for being here.

00:43:10.608 --> 00:43:11.498
I really appreciate it.

00:43:11.927 --> 00:43:12.717
Thank you, Lisa.

00:43:13.710 --> 00:43:18.181
If this episode has helped you in any way, all I ask is for you to share it.

00:43:18.391 --> 00:43:21.871
Share it with one friend or share it on your social media tag me.

00:43:22.201 --> 00:43:23.880
And I'll give you a shout out as well.

00:43:24.210 --> 00:43:32.880
I have been getting a lot of comments lately about how beneficial the free content is that I have been putting out in the world and sharing it can really help someone else.

00:43:33.181 --> 00:43:39.630
You can also leave a five star rating on apple and Spotify and review the show on apple podcasts.

00:43:39.840 --> 00:43:46.351
That also really makes it easier for other people to find it because apple loves that and then they push it out to more people.

00:43:46.351 --> 00:43:49.050
So your review actually helps other women.

00:43:49.440 --> 00:43:54.271
Have a great week and as always, thanks for listening to the Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well podcast.
Morgan Adams Profile Photo

Morgan Adams

Holistic Sleep Coach for Women

Morgan Adams is a holistic sleep coach for women who struggle with getting a good night's sleep consistently. Her goal is to help women feel better and live better, and the key to both begins with a good night's sleep. Morgan is also a former insomniac who spent almost a decade using prescription sleeping pills despite knowing that her overall sleep quality suffered. She’s also a two-time breast cancer survivor who advocates for a lifestyle of disease prevention and integrating holistic strategies for cancer treatment.