The Potent Hormone that Makes Us Sleepy at Night

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is a hormone naturally occurring in plants, animals and fungus. It is created in animals directly from the amino acid tryptophan. One of it's central roles is aiding our circadian rhythm, our built in clock. A vital process, not only for our sleep but our overall health. The impacts of a circadian disruption include obesity, excessive hunger (polyphagia) and altered glucose metabolism. External sources of melatonin are found in our diets.

Dietary Sources of Melatonin (Ordered by amount per serving)

• Cherry Juice Concentrate
• Cherries
• Walnuts
• Mustard Seed
• Corn
• Rice
• Ginger root
• Peanuts

 influence of light and darkness on circadian rhythms

Around our third month of life our melatonin levels become regular. Every 24 hour period the production of melatonin goes through phases. I am going to focus on what I think is the most important of these phases in regards to sleep and a natural sleep pattern. 

Dim-light Melatonin Onset

Two hours before we fall asleep the body starts producing it's own melatonin. But only if there is dim lighting, this is because there is a direct correlation between light and melatonin as shown below in the graph below. We've all stayed up too late surfing the web wondering why we can't get to sleep. The answer is to shut off all screens in the room and get into bed. 

One astoundingly useful program I have found to help the situation is f.lux. f.lux changes your monitors color temperature at a specific time (based on your geographical location) so that it is not suppressing the amounts of melatonin production in your brain. Official f.lux site linked below.

justgetflux.com

Daily Sleep Tip: November 23rd 2014

Probably one of the most important yet little known aspects of a healthy pre-sleep ritual, progressive muscle relaxation, aims to release tension at it's very source. Try these tips if you are irritable and unable to sleep with muscle aggravation or aggravation in general.

Preparing For The Technique

• Remove uncomfortable or tight clothing and lie down closing your eyes.
• Focus on your breathing taking long deep breaths and exhaling slowly.
• Allow yourself to get into an almost meditative state free from the chains of stress.

Full Body Muscle Relaxation

Now we are in our bed and relaxed, it's a good time to begin. While we do these simple exercises we remain calm and try to let them become natural as opposed to forced. They become part of our routine and can be implemented every night or as needed. We will be hitting every muscle group here from forehead to toes. So! lets begin to learn one of the keys to great sleep.

• Forehead: Stretch your eyebrows and forehead upwards towards the top of your head for ten seconds. Release.
• Eyes and bridge of nose:  Close your eyes as tightly as possible for ten seconds. Release.
• Mouth, cheeks and jaw: Smile very deeply with corners of mouth stretched for ten seconds. Release.
• Hands: Reach out forward from your chest as far as possible, make a tight fist with both hands for ten seconds. Release.
• Wrist and Forearm: First reach arms out with hands flat as if touching a wall that isn't there. Push forward for ten seconds. Release.
• Biceps:  Bend the elbow squeeze and tense the bicep for ten seconds. Release.
• Shoulder Blades: Press shoulders up to the bottom of ear lobes for ten seconds. Release.
• Back: For this we will need to roll over with our stomach on bed. After getting into position arch the back upwards as far as comfortable for ten seconds. Release.
• Stomach and abs: Tighten abdomen and stomach for ten seconds. Release.
• Hips and butt: Tense the hips and buttocks muscles for ten seconds. Release.
• Thighs: Tighten the thigh muscle groups by squeezing your legs together as tightly as is comfortable for ten seconds. Release.
• Feet: Point feet upwards as possible with ankles turning toward body for ten seconds. Release.
• Toes: Curl each toe towards foot as tightly as possible for ten seconds. Release.

Now we've gone over every muscle group in our body! Perhaps a bit mundane? I have personally found in my experience that these types of rituals or exercises actually promote better sleep just by keeping up with them every day. Our minds tend to enjoy repetition if it is rewarding.

What's really going on here is that when we tense the muscle blood enters into the tissue which fills it with oxygen. If you are still experiencing stress and tension in any of the muscle groups repeat them as necessary. Should pain persist beyond the scope of these exercises, it is probably that there is a larger issue. Please contact your doctor and relieve your pain as soon as possible.

Rain Sounds for Peace and Tranquility: 1 Full Hour

Be swept away from the stress of your day! Let this one hour clip of rain and wind sounds lull you to sleep.