10/12/20 - Sleep

Hello Trailblazers!

With the weather turning, it getting darker and the time change looming, I wanted to talk to you about sleep. Many of us feel like we don't get enough sleep, or that it can be hard waking up. This becomes especially true as you enter adolescence. The adolescent brain shifts to be more nocturnal, which had uses during the cave man era of our primitive brains. The adolescents were often the healthiest, strongest members of a tribe, and it was useful for them to stay up later in the evening watching guard over the cave. The theory is that a natural shift in sleep patterns for the youth of the tribe would keep them safe at night. This does not help you however, when you might be staring at the ceiling trying to go to sleep at 10pm.

Sleep is critically important for many body functions, but for school purposes we can talk about sleep and learning. Sleep helps with long term memory storage, so essentially without proper rest your brain cannot store new memories. In order to learn new things and build on prior learning, you need that storage to happen regularly. Sleep deprivation also has been linked to depression, anxiety, irritability, lower life span, and a whole host of other negative effects. You may have heard also about the effects of technology use or "Blue light" on our sleep patterns. This is really important data to take into account in your daily habits.

To learn about sleep and the body, I really love the documentary, "Sleepless in America". It shows how sleep deprivation can impact the body, and has a special section on the teenage body. I've linked it below!

If you have decided that you need to be getting more, and better quality sleep, there are many things you can do to aid in this process.

• Create a night time routine where you disconnect from all electronics one hour before bedtime. Read a book, take a bath or shower, play a game with your family, write in a journal, do some art - you get the idea. Because of how blue light impacts the brain to stay awake, this is very important if you are having trouble falling asleep.

• Go back to my first blog post, and read about relaxation imagery, or mindfulness. These are both great strategies for helping you focus on your breathing and helping to induce relaxation naturally.

• Do not have any electronics in your bedroom while you sleep. You should have an old school alarm clock, and have any phone, computer or tablet stored in another room. The draw of seeing who texted you back or who liked your post can be overwhelming and can interrupt your sleep.

• As another part of your bedtime routine, be sure that you are eating early enough. Eating right before bedtime focuses your body on digestion and can impact your ability to fall asleep. That being said, try not to go to bed hungry either. Be sure you are having regular, nutritious meals about 2 hours before bedtime.

Read the articles and links below for more tips and science on adolescent sleep!