Hacking REM Sleep.

I’m obsessed with sleep these days.

I’ve always been a pretty good sleeper… Falling asleep easily and anywhere.

(Once as soon as I sat down on a 12 hour flight… I was upright in my seat and out before the flight even took off. I woke up eight hours in just as they were serving the SECOND meal.)

And I tend to sleep on the longer side than most adults. Slightly.

I didn’t give too much thought to my sleep until a few months back when I got my Oura ring.

Now each morning I wake up obsessed with knowing what my sleep stats were for the previous night. The ring’s app shows me all the details about what happened, and how it might affect me for the day. And most of the time my overall score is “Good” and in the low 80s, though a few times a week I achieve Optimal with a score in the mid 80s.

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But as you will notice on most nights of the week, my REM Sleep level is terrible.

And while my Deep Sleep score is usually pretty good, I would like to see that REM Sleep with a stronger score than it currently has.

REM Sleep: Helps your brain recover from the day.

Deep Sleep: Helps your body recover from the day.

Both are vital. And REM Sleep is supposed to make up 20% of my night’s sleep, helping with memory, learning, and mood. Which, now that I am in my mid-40s (despite what my peers want to acknowledge our age as) ensuring these things are at their optimal performance is a priority for me. And mornings when I wake up and see my REM score in the red, I am crushed. And go into full on “sleep clean up rage” where I look out at the next few days and remove anything from schedule that is going to prevent me from getting good sleep.

I’m a total “Sleep Bitch.”

And I have no guilt about that.

THINGS I FOUND THAT CAN HAPPEN BOOST REM SLEEP

• Bedtime Routine
  • With the exception of two nights a week when I go to yoga, I hop in the tub for a bubble bath by 8:30pm. I soak and wash my face (double-cleansing!).
  • I make tea to sip. Lately it’s peppermint.
  • I do my evening face routine, and then hop into bed and use my Rose Quartz face roller on George.
• Cold Room
  • I sleep in boy shorts and a tank top, even in winter.
  • The fan is on the middle speed the whole night.
  • Sometimes I turn on the AC to 75 degrees – which is chilly for me now.
• The Bitch Stays In Her Own Bed
  • I do not allow George to sleep in my bed. She has her own bed. She does try to fall asleep before me on one side of my bed. But as soon as I pet her awake and say, “Time for bed,” she gets up and hops into hers.
• No Alcohol Before Bed
  • I do have a glass of wine most days. But I have it around 6pm-ish. So it’s hours before I need to fall asleep.
• If needed, take half a Melatonin or Indica gummy.
  • Both are excellent. And with recreational marijuana now here in Arizona, I can procure the Indica gummy. By taking only half of each, I don’t wake up groggy.
  • I only take them if I am falling asleep on the later side, and want to ensure I get a deep sleep that is as uninterrupted as possible.

Also… Lately, I have my Amazon Alexa Dot play either Ocean Waves or Rainforest sounds for me through the night.

REM Sleep is often the dream state too. And I pay precise attention to the activity in my dream space.

Why?

That’s for another post. 🙂