1. Welcome to NoFap! We have disabled new forum accounts from being registered for the time being. In the meantime, you can join our weekly accountability groups.
    Dismiss Notice

How to Sleep

Discussion in 'Self Improvement' started by Deleted Account, Jan 5, 2019.

  1. It is apparent that many of us have poor sleep. And to attenuate our recovery even more there is this pernicious belief - particularly in the West - that sleep is laziness and non-conducive to productivity.

    Well gentlemen, sleep is THE primary foundation of every single aspect in our lives.

    I am not saying you should lounge around all day and I'm most definitely not saying that you should be in bed as much as possible. It's a very good thing to rise with the sun and get out of bed as soon as you wake up. It is a very bad thing to burn day light. Much of this advice I'm about to give is at-best annoying to put into practice, but it will be very beneficial if followed properly. Without proper sleep recovering from addiction would be much more impeded than necessary.

    Have you ever experienced more (vivid/frequent etc.) dreams when you've remained porn free for awhile? This is your brain trying to make up for lost REM (dream) sleep. Your brain keeps track of how much REM sleep you're lacking, addiction greatly reduces this important REM sleep.

    Sleep

    Wake up at the same time every day, non-negotiable. Important but less crucial, go to bed at the same time every night.

    Less than <0.5% of the population can sleep less than 7 hours per night without health consequences. Everyone else requires 7-9 hours of sleep.

    No training within 3 hours before bed, core body temperature must drop to induce sleep. No screen light 2-3 hours before bed. No large meals 3 hours before bed.

    Incandescent light is best at night. It has the highest amount of red wavelength. Another option is himalayan salt lamp (salt refracts light and only allows lower frequency light pass) or Red OLED lighting. Red wavelength is fine because our ‘reptilian brain’ and limbic system recognize this as sunset (night time).

    Artificial lighting (particularly screens) produce high amounts of blue light wave lengths (400-520 nanometers). Our bodies interpret blue light as day time (blue skies) and therefore will not produce the appropriate hormones (eg. Melatonin). You cannot overpower millions of years of 24-hour sun cycles through will power.

    Another method of reducing/blocking excessive blue light is to buy night/blue block glasses such as ‘swannies’.

    Exercise, but not too late in the day (no later than three hours before bedtime).

    Avoid caffeine and nicotine. I’ve read one study where subjects ingested 200mg of caffeine (1x moderately-strong coffee) at 0700 hours and it negatively impacted their sleep that night. Caffeine has a <6 hour half life for most. So imagine, if you drink 1x 200mg caffeine coffee at 11am. By 5pm 100mg of caffeine is circulating. At 11pm 50mg of caffeine is still present in the blood stream for most. That would be like drink 1/4 cup of coffee right before bed. I personally only drink caffeine in the morning of gym days, exercise may help it metabolize more rapidly.

    Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed. (It blocks REM sleep and causes REM rebound).

    Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.

    Avoid medicines that delay or disrupt your sleep. (opiates, benzos (they sedate, not aid sleep quality)).

    Don’t take naps within 6 hours of sleep. When you do take naps allow maximum of 45 minutes. If you need to rest in the afternoon, elevating your legs above your heart and closing your eyes for 5-10 minutes is fine - just don't fall asleep.

    Relax before bed, such as reading, writing, talking or light stretching.

    Roughly -0.5celcius core temperature drop is required to sleep. Take a brief hot bath/shower before bed. Hot water flushes blood to surface and thus internal body temp reduces.

    Dark, cool bedroom, gadget-free bedroom (anything that might distract your sleep). Make your room as dark as possible. Blackout curtains. ZERO TECHNOLOGY IN BED. ASSOCIATE BED WITH SLEEP.

    Have the right sunlight exposure. Wake up with the sun or bright lights.

    Don’t lie in bed awake for more than 20min (get up if you can’t sleep, go read a book or do something gentle in dim light).

    Supplements which may help:
    Magnesium Glycinate 200mg-400mg at night
    Valerian Root <600mg at night
    L-theanine 100-400mg (varies a fair amount from person to person)

    Melatonin - I do not think melatonin is a supplement to mess with without guidance from a medical/sleep expert. Technically it's a hormone, not a supplement. It's a good choice for when shifting time zones, but that's about it. Also most supplements have ridiculous doses of 5mg and even sometimes 10mg. 0.5mg - 2mg is plenty.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 12, 2019
  2. I used to have trouble sleeping when I was little but now I sleep good try to not read in bed and get exersize hours befor bed so your body isnt all worked up before bed
     
  3. Infrasapiens

    Infrasapiens Fapstronaut

    1,787
    5,061
    143
    Having more vivid dreams has only caused my nightmares to be even worse. That would explain it.
     
  4. That's good stuff. Removal of blue light is probably the most challenging.

    Yeah, unfortunately it's one of those things we have to push through. When I get 20-30 days deep I have vivid horror dreams also.
     
  5. I dont have much blue light in my room but thanks good advice
     
  6. TopEssayServices

    TopEssayServices New Fapstronaut

    2
    0
    1
  7. This won't help everybody but posting in the hopes it's relevant for others who have trouble sleeping. I've personally let go of sleep and focus on rest instead. Still doing all the things your mentioned, routine, environment etc. Just with rest as the main goal. Sleep is something that occurs naturally, when it needs to, under the right conditions. Rest included. If I'm focused on, or worried about sleeping, I'm only fuelling insomnia. If I just focus on resting, no matter what happens, even if I wake up in the middle of the night and just need to rest some more, at the very minimum I'm had some rest... but more likely I'll fall asleep more often with less effort. Better than waking up tense from stress of not being able to sleep etc. Body still gets a chance to relax no matter what...
     
    RollerCoaster likes this.
  8. RollerCoaster

    RollerCoaster Fapstronaut

    325
    437
    63
    A good sleep is one of mymain struggles
     
  9. Beekay148

    Beekay148 Fapstronaut

    47
    115
    33
    I have bad sleeping problems and often get Insomnia. I also keep waking up throughout the night for no apparent reason.

    Doctor said similar things to what you have posted (Going to sleep at the same time, using your bedroom only to sleep, to eat 3 hours before you sleep etc) and even told me to get Melatonin.

    Its hard to do all that because it's already a lifestyle and habit for me. But i guess some things need to change otherwise i will always look tired and fatigued.
     
  10. You raise a very good point. As addicts we have certain brain changes that will impede sleep no matter how healthy our routine/environment is.

    You can also take this point and translate it to day time resting. Eg. When you rest, you do nothing but rest. You sit down with your feet up and close your eyes. Watching tv, scrolling instagram and reading through google is not rest.
     
    Deleted Account likes this.

Share This Page