I am fortunate to be working part time in a place where the majority of employees are boomers. It doesn’t seem to be a deliberate policy – though reverse ageism seems like an admirable direction for any company to select – but it does mean that I get to eat lunch with other people living with the effects of midlife.
What surprised me was how many conversations end up being about the need for quality sleep, and the difficulties of achieving it. I heard strategies about running to get more physical activity and starting the day earlier so you get more sleep before midnight. The bottom line was that despite knowing what we should do to get better quality sleep, our bodies don’t seem to be on the same page.
A big issue seems to be trying to find the right temperature for the room and bedding. Granted we are transitioning from summer to autumn and the night time temperatures can vary by 10 degrees from one day to the next, but even when we guiltily put on air conditioning to try to standardize our sleeping environments it doesn’t seem to help. I know hot flashes can scramble the ability to sleep, but this temperature issue seems to be a post-menopause phenomenon as well.
The next issue we noticed is how noise can startle us from the sleep we have manage to achieve. Any unexpected noise seems to have the capacity to do this, no matter how benign – a car coming to a stop or birds waking up for the day. The bad news seems to be that having entered ‘fright or flight’ mode because of this abrupt awakening, getting back to sleep again is much harder, if possible at all. Again, strategies from white noise machines, to ear plugs, to noise canceling headsets have been tried, but without astonishing success.
We know about limiting caffeine and alcohol, especially later in the day. We know about eating well and not eating too late in the day. We know about – and mostly practice – the beneficial effects of exercise to balance out sedentary work hours. So why is a good night of undisturbed sleep still so elusive?
A quick search brings up all the usual information about hormonal changes, but I want to find out what I can do to help myself sleep better. This article in More magazine suggests four solutions that I hadn’t heard before. They include cooling your core while maintaining body heat in your extremities, eating foods rich in vitamin b as they include higher levels of tryptophan, keeping your pets out of the bedroom and interestingly, modifying light bulbs in your home to create less blue light, especially in the hours before sleep as the blue end of the spectrum has been found to make it harder for your body to produce melatonin, that helps you get to sleep.
Looks like I have some work to do, but if a good night’s sleep is at the other end of it, it will be worth every ounce of energy it takes!
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It seems there can be a variety of reasons for this problem, which is something I’ve suffered from since infancy. One of the biggest problems is lack of confidence that you Can sleep. A motorbike goes by your window and you’re up gnashing your teeth in frustration. There used to be an extremely noisy family who lived above me, and I when I woke at around 5:30 am to use the bathroom, I’d be thinking about the noise that would be beginning soon. Then I trained myself to let it go. When it happened, it happened. It had nothing to do with me. I would lie quietly, and when the noise passed it was easier to fall asleep again. No, it’s not a perfect solution and yes, I tried asking them nicely to tone it down. Not much response. However, it made some improvement within myself, and I’ll take anything I can get.
My own history of this is that I was an underfed, coliky baby, and the poor start may have followed me through life. My parents would walk me for hours in the carriage, hoping that I’d sleep. In camp settings or family get togethers, when the other kids were asleep, I would be up for another hour or more. On vacations in a strange bed, I’d lie awake for hours. Much later in life, when both my parents were going downhill seriously and simultaneously, my sleep was so disturbed that I finally said to the doctor that if she didn’t give me something to help me, I risked crashing the car from sheer exhaustion. This was about 7 years ago and now I’m addicted.
So for all of you out there suffering from longterm sleep disorders, my advice is to first of all try changing your responses through practice and meditation. If white noise machines, earplugs, noise-cancelling headsets help somewhat, then use them. There are many books on the market that may give you some useful ideas. The only quick fix is heavy duty sleeping pills and then you’ll face more problems down the road. Don’t go there.
Good Luck and Sweet Dreams.