Nekkid Time

The art of living well is getting a good night’s sleep.

Quality sleep provides a foundation for a quality life.

I found this out the hard way because college destroys regular sleep patterns.

This year, class started at a different time every day and so did I. Without a regular sleep pattern the year wore on and my sleep got worse. On weekends I would go to bed at five and wake up around two.

Monday came and so did 9:00am class – Needless to say, I wasn’t going.

Sometimes I would go to bed at three and wake up at eight AM unable to go back to sleep.

Sleeping trouble made me unproductive, irritable, and tired (who would have guessed). I can count on one hand how many times I made breakfast at the dining halls. My condition undermined my efforts to gain muscle and get good grades.

I have been to the edge of bedtime bankruptcy and back. I want to share with you my method for getting better sleep, but first let’s quickly rundown why sleep is so damn important.

1. Gets you on a schedule – Waking up at the same time lets you work, eat, and play with regularity. Regularity equals progress.
2. Improves your physique - Chaotic sleep alarms your body. That means less muscle building and fat burning hormones. Instead it elevates the belly growing muscle destroying variety. Your body isn’t going to waste resources building biceps or shredding your abs if you are sleeping like there is a disaster you are running from.
3. Immunity - You get sick less. Less colds and/or flus make you a happy camper.
4. Enjoyment - Tiredness sucks so does irritability. Quality sleep ninety percent of the time equips you to handle the other ten percent which may include a spur-of-the-moment Vegas run or a all night work session.

Good sleep is the bee’s knees. How do you get some?

Follow these nekkid guidelines to nighttime bliss:

Respect your bedtime - What time you wake up is less important than when you go to sleep. Go to bed early enough that you wake up naturally around the same time everyday. To establish your bedtime start by figuring out around what time you are tired enough to go to bed everyday. If it’s not too late for your schedule then just mark it and stick to it, but if it is too late then go to bed 30 minutes earlier every two days until you are on track.

Establish a sleep routine - Buy a candle and light it 30 minutes before bed. This is your only light til you fall asleep. That means no light from a computer screen, a television or IPhone. Next, its time to stretch and do some light mobility work – check out my guidelines here and here (down the page). Next, sit down in a chair or on the floor and breathe deeply. Focus on the way your breath feels going from your nose into your lungs. After ten minutes pull back the covers, its time.

Cultivate mental tranquility - If you are fighting with your partner say your sorry. Don’t check your email, watch TV or work an hour before bed. Minimize the mental static that keeps you up at night. Always keep a notepad by your bed to get any worries or stray thoughts out of your head and on paper. My best ideas come to me right before bed. This used to keep me up until I kept a notepad close.

Supplement for slumber - Buy some melatonin, its cheap, safe, and works well. Try 3mg twenty minutes before bed and increase as necessary. The only side effect you have to deal with is vivid dreams. This could be good or bad depending on the dreams of course. If you are still having trouble you can also take 50-100mg of 5-htp. Be careful though, the combo will knock you out.

Darken your room - Turn off every light and cover up anything that can’t be turned off. We evolved sleeping in caves. These caves came without an ambient blue glow from our samsung HDTV. Light upsets the body’s hormonal rythym keeping you from good Zzz’s.

Equip yourself  - Buy a pillow you love. Spend some money on and it take it out on a date. It’s going to sleep with you every night. Buy an eyemask. The added darkness is especially helpful for people who sleep later into the day because of work schedules. Earplugs combat otherwise noisy environments, but can make it difficult to hear your alarm. If you follow these guidelines you shouldn’t need one.

It's over!

Address your allergies - If you can’t breath through your nose you are limited to lower quality sleep. Not to mention some mean morning breath. Figure out what you are allergic to and avoid it. If you can’t figure it out there are some great over-the-counter fixes.

Greet the morning sun - Go outside every morning and get some sun. Soak it up. It’ll wake you up and tell your body it’s business time. Sunlight causes a cascade of hormonal changes that will make you feel great.  Who needs caffeine?

Better sleep, better body.

The Skinny:

• Terrible sleep teaches you the value of the good stuff
• Make sleep a priority
• Follow the nekkid guidelines for sweet dreams.

Sleep well, feel well, and look good Nekkid friends.