Resource Page for Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness

Nova

Hey all,

We'd love to create a resource page for this category of things that have helped you with your mental health, sleep, meditation, mindfulness, yoga, etc. We'll add some resources too, but curious if there is anything from apps, to processes, to types of food, things that are helpful to say out loud, breathing exercises, etc, or anything of that nature that has been helpful for you.

AnnPT77

I often recommend the "Relaxation Response" meditation approach to people who are new to meditation, especially if they're concerned about the (perceived) spiritual implications of more traditional forms of meditation. It's super easy to learn, has been well-studied for benefits, and has zero religious/spiritual implications in the basic process.

There's a "steps" page here:

http://www.relaxationresponse.org/steps/

Dr. Herbert Benson's book, "The Relaxation Response" is a small book that goes into much more detail about the benefits of basic meditation like this. He has a YouTube video teaching the technique, too, but I admit I haven't watched it. (It's sponsored on YouTube by Massachusetts Department of Health, as part of cancer patient support.)

I also found Lawrence LeShan's book "How to Meditate" helpful: It's a very accessible overview of many meditation traditions and practices, including some Christian ones and some from other major religions, which might be reassuring to those who are concerned that meditation is always inherently Buddhist or something.

Maelstrom143

Not getting proper sleep actually can interfere with weight loss goals, as well as general overall health goals. For some of us, it can even cause tachyarrhythmias if we allow ourselves too many sleepless nights over a long period of time.

For myself, I use my cell phone to help me stay on track. My alarm clock has a wake up/sleep cycle on it that awakens me and alerts me to bedtime (it grays things out and mutes sounds at bedtime, although I can override it).

I wake up early, usually 6 am or 7 (I may change it up on some weeks, depending on how tired I may feel) and go to bed by 2200h. If I stay up too late, my days get screwy and I have to start all over again.

Whenever possible, I will hit a nature trail near home after breakfast for 30 minutes to an hour to get my metabolism moving. I break my meals up into six small meals throughout the day, carrying small bags of nuts, popcorn, jerky, protein cookies, and water bottles to avoid fast foods as much as possible.

I garden or sit out on my back porch and enjoy the warmth and cook meals for the next couple of days while listening to music and dancing in the kitchen (not too fast, just enough to be moving at all times; be careful not to fall). The purpose of all this is to keep active so that by the evening I will be tired and ready to go to bed (I tend to be hyper and all too often previously could not sleep).

By the time my phone tells me it is bedtime, I have a cup of chamomile or warm water, a good book, and am ready for bed. Sometimes I may put the extra phone on Pandora very low volume to play piano instrumental music on a 1 hour timer while I go to sleep. Sometimes, I ensure everything is very quiet. But I always make sure everything is very dark. We use blackout curtains. In this manner, I've managed to control my sleep/wake cycles a little better.

Developing a routine takes time and repetition. While some studies used to say it took 21 days, new research says it may take as long as a few months and others as long as a year. It depends on the person, situation, and determination. However, it is something that we can accomplish.

LlamamaLoca

I recently purchased and worked through a '30 Day Happiness Challenge' by Dr. Daniel Amen

One of the chapters was about getting better sleep (a key component of happiness, for sure!). He recommended music that had been designed to calm your brain and help with sleep. I thought it was a bit hokey but gave it a try because it was part of the challenge.

OK. Call me a believer, now! He has a song on Spotify that has been amazing for me (it's 4 or more min long, but I put it on loop mode)

Here's a sample of a different song:
https://youtu.be/wmEvsh5tNo8


And an explanation about his approach (there's a subscription, so ignore the sales pitch and get the details about how it works)

https://youtu.be/AaXD7BrlV3c

lcharpentier2

I have cookie at night the good kind helps me sleep. I started at 70 so I don't think it will do any damage to the system.

carriedminetree2

I often have a hard time sleeping and staying asleep. But what usually works for me is to close my eyes, breathe deeply through my nose, and imagine or see the darkness in my mind. It usually looks like a black and gray nebula. Wisps of grayness. If I keep looking I'll start to see small specks of light that I imagine are stars and that I'm floating through that darkness toward the stars. At that point I usually fall asleep.

lonescouter

I used to have a really difficult time falling asleep and then not waking back up in 30 minutes or less.....I have PTSD from serving in the military. I recently found out that I have severe sleep apnea to go along with my plethora of other ailments. I was stopping breathing during sleep over 7p times an hour! No wonder I never felt rested! Well, the doctors have given me a bi-pap machine that helps me both inhale and exhale while sleeping, plus they attached an oxygen concentrator to the bi-pap too because my O2 levels would drop to 55% when sleeping. It has made quite a difference in getting rest, with occasional PTSD demons, but now I hopefully will be more successful in losing weight and getting a good rest!

mlpatrick335

As I add more steps daily, from about 200 when I began MFP gradually increasing to over 3000, I sleep better. More exercise equals better sleep.

Melaney1

Thank you everyone for your comments, they are very helpful.
Always looking for something new to try. Good luck , sweet dreams.

DecryingShame

Binaural beats is an interesting new thing that has been helping me sleep. You put on a pair of headphones and two different beats play in each ear. Your brain translates the two beats into one so you hear only one beat, but the part of your brain that does the translating gets fired up. Depending on how far apart the beats are in hertz determines what effect they have on your brain. Lower ones help you sleep while higher ones help you concentrate and stay alert. I use these in combination with a meditation and I sleep a lot better than normal.

200Karen

daytime binaural music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acQS2Fef8tU

matinaaz

I find not eating at least two hours before bed helps me fall asleep faster. When I eat closer to going to bed I toss and turn.

ellensgerhart

I do both Taijichuan (Tai Chi) and Qigong. In the morning it helps gently shake off any overnight stiffness, and before bed, it helps my mind relax. The breathing techniques help me fall back to sleep if I wake up during the night. I also occasionally use a Dream Machine with nature sounds and a timer.

Zebra_Aitch

I have had Major sleep issues ,
it started 30 plus years ago because my young daughter had nighttime seizures, and I had to be up during the night to see to her and I was always on high alert, never really getting a deep sleep, my cortisol must’ve been skyhigh.
I then had surgery on my spine and have had pain for most of my adult life, so the combination of this really affected my sleep patterns.
She grew up ! and left home ! and I now have a bedtime routine of sorts. I only have the lights very low in the house after 6 pm, only watch or read calm things ! Warm bath , meditation,

and then I found …….ASMR !

I listen to it on YouTube , you have to listen through headphones as it’s like a 3-D experience ,,There are many many different ones , I prefer the ones that are like an experience of a spa or head massage, some recordings are really not for me, but it’s finding the ones that suits you, it REALLY helped me during times of great stress,

JoleneMiller9664

Arriving late to this party. 😊

The Insight Timer app helps me with guided meditations and timed meditations for mindfulness, centering, and sleep.