Treat Insomnia Naturally - I Went To Stanford Sleep Treatment Center

Treat insomnia naturally. I went to the Stanford Healthcare Sleep Medicine Center and I learned how to sleep. Yes you read that right. When we have chronic insomnia we have forgotten how to sleep. Implementing all of these changes work.

Table of Contents

Let’s Start By Debunking Some Myths About Sleep

There are so many myths around sleep. I absolutely hate it when people who know nothing about this or have never actually gotten treatment from a professional give out advice. And here’s what’s even worse there are “professionals” who give out advice that is not based in data, science or any substantiated proof.

Let’s start by debunking the most common myths around sleep and insomnia.

#1 You Don’t Need 8 hours – You do not need 8 hours of sleep. Most people only need 6-7 hours of sleep to function and be well.

Also our sleep happens in cycles and none of us are getting deep sleep for 8 hours. Even if you are in bed for that amount of time – you may only be getting 6 hours of the needed deep sleep.

Stanford is a research hospital. They have spent decades studying and learning this.

#2 – Go To Bed Early – This is the worst advice. Bad. Don’t do it if you have trouble going to sleep. This is almost the worst thing you can do. Instead of going to bed early you need to stay up as late as you can. What happens when you are awake is start to build up sleep drive and this is exactly what you need in order to get a restful night’s sleep.

#3 Exercise – exercise does not help you sleep better. There is no correlation between sleep and exercise. Exercise was encouraged during my sleep treatment, but it has no direct connection with sleep and exercise whatsoever. It was encouraged cause it is good for your health, not because it will help you sleep. This guidance is for hardcore insomniacs. There are a lot of people out there who will tell you that they run five miles and sleep great or work out everyday or go for long walks and that helps them sleep. These people probably do not have insomnia. They may have had some trouble at some point through their life with sleep, but not the chronic insomnia I’m talking about here.

Tips For Treating Insomnia Naturally

Do not go to bed early. Stay up until you are literally falling asleep.
Get out of bed in the morning when you are awake. Don’t stay in bed. Immediately get out of bed.
Don’t work on your computer in your bed or scroll on your phone in bed. Your bed should be for sleeping and love making. That’s it.
If you’re tossing and turning for 15-20 minutes – get out of bed or at least sit up – turn on dim light, read, meditate, listen to something peaceful, a podcast, calming music. Better yet get out of bed. Go into a different room and keep the lights low and do a calming activity like the ones just mentioned. You can even fold clothes. This is an example of something that will not activate your brain. Then when you start drifting go back to bed and try again. You may get up numerous times throughout the night if you just keep tossing and turning for more than 15-20 minutes. Do not stay in bed.
Don’t hyper activate your mind with scrolling, or doing a bunch of work on the computer or any kind of work that will get your mind deep in thought. Best to not be on your device at least an hour before bed.
It’s perfectly fine to watch tv or a movie before bed, but just make sure it’s not something mentally disturbing or scary that will impact your ability to just simply relax and go to sleep.
Don’t drink at least 2-3 hours before bed. A sip or two of water is good, but anything else especially as we age will interrupt our sleep, again particularly if you are struggling to get deep sleep.

Relaxing Bedtime Routine

It’s encouraged to start implementing some relaxation before bed. Things you can do:

Meditate
Yoga
Breathwork
Read
Listen to calming music
Listen to a podcast that is lighthearted – or comedy

Tracking Your Sleep And Building Sleep Drive

So here’s the deal – start tracking your sleep. There are many great sleep trackers out there and sleep apps you can use for this. CBTI-Coach is the one that’s recommended by Stanford Sleep Treatment Center.

Everyone has had some issue with sleep at some point for a night or a week or some trauma or challenges in life that might’ve made sleeping hard for a short or extended period of time. Less than 5 hours of deep sleep is problematic and this is where you want to start considering seeking professional help.

Remember I’m sharing my experience and things I learned that helped me through treatment. This is not meant to replace any medical advice. You can try the tips I’m offering here, but if you are struggling you need to reach out to your doctor for professional guidance. I hope you try some of what I’ve shared here. I’m always offering self-improvement and self-help tips so you can live your most awesome life.

Check out this article or this one for more insights and be sure to checkout my favorite sleep device below. I get a small commission should you purchase using my link that helps support my work.