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Day 1: Introduction
Today's lesson gives an overview and what to expect over the course of the next 28-days, as well as an introduction to Eric and his background in developing the program.
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Day 2: Consistency
In today's lesson we'll discuss why consistency is so important for sleep, and set the goal of a set target wake-up time for the rest of the program (and beyond!)
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Day 3: How to Wake Up
The transition from sleep to wake is important. Get an alarm that isn't on your phone so the first action you take each day isn't grabbing your smart phone.
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Day 4: Sleep Environment
Keeping a clean, cool, dark, quiet, and sacred space is fundamental to a good night of rest. Use these suggestions and reflections to optimize your sleep environment.
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Day 5: Morning Light
Getting direct sunlight upon awakening anchors our circadian rhythm, helps to consistently wake up at the same time, and increases alertness. In today's lesson we will talk about why this is a good practice and how to go about it.
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Day 6: Evening Light
Let's be real, no one listening to this is going to totally abandon screens after sunset. Here we discuss ways to protect ourselves from bad light; get sunlight at sunset, wear blue-blockers, and avoid screens in the period of time right before bed.
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Day 7: Wind-Down Routines
Establishing a wind-down routine can be a great tool for preparing for a restful night of sleep. By making a plan for what to do in the window of time before bed, we can intentionally engage in activities that facilitate relaxation, as well as train the mind to know when it's time to sleep.
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Day 8: Internal (Mental) Environment
We can't always control every detail about our external environment. Life happens, and sometimes we deal with stress. In times when our external environment is nuts, we need to really lean into working with our internal (mental) environment; learning what's happening in our mind, and how can we train it to shift into relaxation when we need it.
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Day 9: Naps
A nap can be a great way to supplement a poor night of sleep and not sacrifice your consistency. Today we'll learn how to take a nap in order to minimize drowsiness and avoid it impacting our sleep in the evening.
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Day 10: The Power Of The Breath
The breath is a power-switch that can activate our relaxation response. An incredible tool that we can use on nights when we have trouble falling asleep.
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Day 11: 4-7-8 Breathing
Today's lesson will teach the 4-7-8 Breathing practice, a powerful tool that will strengthen your parasympathetic (relaxation) response and help ease you into relaxation.
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Day 12: Coherent Breathing
Today's lesson will teach the Coherent Breathing practice, which uses the breath to evoke a particular autonomic nervous system response of optimal balance of relaxation and mental readiness.
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Day 13: Mindfulness & Sleep
How are Mindfulness and Sleep interrelated? We will dive more into this topic and see how paying attention to what's happening, while it's happening, without judgement or preference (Mindfulness!) is a useful skill for improving sleep.
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Day 14: Mindfulness Of The Breath
Today's session will teach a Mindfulness of Breathing meditation. Practicing this regularly will strengthen our mental focus, clarity, and resilience.
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Day 15: The Experience Of Sleep
Today we will elaborate on how the night-time experience of sleep is unique to each individual, and how paying attention to this experience (bringing mindfulness into it) can benefit us.
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Day 16: The Stages Of Sleep
Today we will dive into the stages of sleep, some of the science around their brain signatures, their importance and primary functions, and the experience of those stages.
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Day 17: Liminal Sleep
Today we'll discuss the first stage of sleep, the doorway into sleep known as the Liminal or Hypnagogic state. Learning to find this doorway, we can then pass through it and fall into deeper stages of sleep and get a restful night of sleep.
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Day 18: Non Sleep Deep Rest
Today's lesson will introduce some of the benefits of Non Sleep Deep Rest practices like Yoga Nidra and Hypnagogic Mindfulness, which can help us become more familiar with this doorway into sleep and promote deep rest and relaxation.
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Day 19: Sleep Paralysis
Today we will discuss a natural side-effect that can happen when working with the hypnagogic/liminal state; sleep paralysis. We'll learn there is nothing to fear, and strategies to work with this state if it happens to you.
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Day 20: REM Sleep
Today we will dive deeper into the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage of sleep. We'll explore how the brain is as active in this state as in waking, and how dreaming that happens in this state is an evolutionary tool for boosting creativity, problem-solving, mental health, and emotional regulation. We'll learn why REM Sleep and Dreaming is a form of Overnight Therapy.
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Day 21: Mindfulness + Dreams
Today's lesson discusses the connection between Mindfulness and Dreaming. We learn that "paying attention to what's happening, while it's happening, without judgement or preference" - our definition of mindfulness - is very applicable to the dream experience.
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Day 22: Why Dream?
In this lesson we will hear several examples of famous dreams that have changed the course of history, from science to art to athletics. We'll also touch on some of the scientific functions of dreaming to inspire you to pay attention to your own dreams.
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Day 23: Overnight Therapy
Today we'll expand on this idea of REM Sleep and Dreaming as a form of "Overnight Therapy," and share some scientific studies that demonstrate that even our challenging dream experiences like nightmares can be useful for us.
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Day 24: Dream Experience
Today's lesson will provide additional examples as to why dream experience, and the emotional content of our dreams, is valuable. We learn that while challenging experiences and difficult emotions that we work through in some dreams are important and valuable and nothing to be concerned about, it's also important to note that we can actually proactively shape the experience of our dreams.
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Day 25: Lucid Dreaming
This lesson will introduce the topic of Lucid Dreaming, the experience of knowing you are dreaming, while you're dreaming, and share some benefits for learning this skill.
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Day 26: Dream Incubation
Today we will introduce another practice for shaping the content of our dreams; Dream Incubation. This practice has existed for thousands of years, and is just as applicable today as it was in Ancient Greece.
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Day 27: Dream Recall
The foundation of dream practice is remembering your dreams. This is a skill that can be learned and built upon, and in today's lesson we will discuss tips and techniques for how to remember more dreams.
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Day 28: Wrap-Up
Thank you for joining me in this journey into Mindfulness of Sleep and Dreams. Today we will wrap up the program and discuss different opportunities to dig deeper into these various practices presented.
