Preconditions: Sleep

An effective mindfulness practice is holistic and addresses causes and conditions. Meditators attend to conditions that affect their practice, and sleep is one of the most impactful. Mood and attention are dependent on sleep. A good night’s sleep promotes clarity and focus. Clarity and focus promote cognitive flexibility and emotional balance. In this talk, we share research from quality, peer-reviewed studies and actionable protocols that you can use to improve your sleep hygiene.

Transcript

Meditators attend to conditions that affect their practice,

And sleep is one of the most impactful.

I'll share some actionable protocols,

But I must stress the importance of consulting with a doctor or specialist first,

And requesting a sleep study if you suffer from chronic sleep deprivation.

It's also important to note that while the suggestions listed here come from quality peer-reviewed studies,

Which have our own unique biochemistry and lifestyles,

Some of the tips may not work for you.

I struggled with sleep and insomnia for many years.

It affected my moods and relationships,

Contributing to the collapse of my marriage.

I was tired all the time.

When I got home after work,

I had no energy for my wife.

She misinterpreted this as rejection.

More than anything,

My body craved rest.

I wanted to stay home and just snap on my days off.

Two jobs,

A strained marriage,

And three young children at home taxed my reserves.

The stress worsened my insomnia,

Which further increased my stress.

We went to marriage counseling.

My detachment and lethargy were symptoms,

Not root causes,

But we talked in circles about disconnection.

Desperate to get to the root of the problem,

I requested a sleep study from my doctor after my aunt told me that sleep apnea ran in the family.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly starts and stops.

This occurs when the throat muscles relax.

Loud snoring,

Episodes in which you stop breathing during sleep,

Gasping for air during sleep,

A dry mouth,

Difficulty staying asleep or insomnia,

Excessive daytime sleepiness or hypersomnia,

Difficulty paying attention while awake,

And irritability were some of the symptoms.

My doctor didn't think I was a candidate initially because I was athletic and fit.

Excessive weight and obesity are the most common causes of obstructive sleep apnea.

I pressed him anyway and he ordered a sleep study.

It turns out I was diagnosed with sleep apnea.

It made sense.

I was relieved to know that there was one condition at the root of most of my distresses.

I could see the exhaustion and the stress and the sadness and irritability that often tormented me within context,

And in an objective way that appealed to my logical mind.

The problem was mostly biological,

Not moral.

It was solvable and reversible,

And I was determined to learn more and experiment until I found protocols that worked.

Today my sleep is optimal most nights.

I wear two devices that track sleep.

The sensors measure oxygen,

Saturation,

Heart rate variability,

Temperature,

Resting heart rate,

Blood pressure volume,

Respiratory rate,

And movement.

While the data is not as reliable as what one would get from lab-grade equipment,

These wearables are accurate enough.

The data is granular and allows me to examine the results and experiment.

My meditation not only provided some relief,

But also the insight and feedback I needed for these experiments.

With training we develop interoceptive awareness,

Which is the sense of the internal state of the body.

By tuning in,

I could isolate different variables and test what was working and what wasn't.

One reason meditators attend to sleep hygiene is because mood and attention are dependent on sleep.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that influences learning,

Attention,

And motivation.

Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that amplifies activity of brain circuits associated with focus and attention.

Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter that amplifies activity of brain circuits associated with alertness.

During sleep,

The neurotransmitter receptors regenerate and regain sensitivity.

We wake up feeling alert and motivated.

By contrast,

When we do not sleep well night after night,

We wake up with brain fog and begin to feel unmotivated.

Over time,

These chemical imbalances impact our behavior,

Affect our cognitive performance,

Dampen our mood,

And affect brain health.

Anxiety,

Depression,

And lack of sleep are strongly correlated.

No drug is as beneficial as sleep is for health.

Neither therapy nor pharmaceuticals will avail us much if our sleep is consistently compromised and our habits and sleep patterns are not addressed or corrected.

Many people turn to meditation for relief from anxiety,

Depression,

Or mental distress.

And meditation can help orient the mind to treat these symptoms by tending to root causes.

And the most effective mindfulness practice is holistic and addresses causes and conditions.

A good night's sleep is both a condition and a cause.

A good night's sleep promotes clarity and focus.

Clarity and focus promote cognitive flexibility,

Interceptive awareness,

And emotional balance.

The more balanced,

Equanimous,

And untroubled the mind is,

The better the quality of sleep.

A good night's sleep often begins when you rise in the morning,

Not when you lay your head down.

Each cell in our bodies contains a built-in timer or series of clock genes that regulate cell function with names like Per,

Bimal,

And Clock genes.

These regulatory processes are entrained or fixed to light cycles.

Each cell has its own circadian rhythm.

There are subsidiary clocks in other brain regions and peripheral clocks throughout the body.

A number of processes throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract and liver,

For example,

Appear to be under circadian control.

Such as nutrient uptake,

Processing,

And detoxification.

The intestinal microbiome is regulated by circadian rhythms,

Which can significantly impact immune function and metabolism.

Even the heart has its own rhythms which affect output,

Workload,

And energy supply-to-demand ratios.

The brain's ability to clear amyloid beta-42,

A protein closely linked to Alzheimer's disease,

Is tied to the circadian cycle.

When our rhythms are entrained or fixed to diurnal cycles of night and day,

Our cells function optimally.

When they are disrupted,

Our hormonal schedules become dysregulated.

Our mood suffers.

Our health is compromised.

We increase the risk of cancer,

Obesity,

Heart disease,

Anxiety,

Disorders,

And depression,

Type 2 diabetes,

And the kind of neurodegeneration typical of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

One way to set or entrain your circadian rhythm with nature's diurnal rhythm is to go outside and get some morning sun.

You might even consider exercise in the morning.

Exercise promotes good sleep,

But timing is important.

Exercising prior to bed stimulates the mind and body.

It raises the heart rate and body temperature.

If it's too late,

Exercise may compromise sleep.

Exercising first thing in the morning has more benefits,

Especially if you get natural sunlight.

Natural sunlight triggers photosensitive ganglion cells in the retina.

This activation primes the suprachiasmatic nucleus,

Which sets our circadian clock both globally and at the cellular level.

A good night's sleep is usually divided into four stages.

The stages follow a specific order.

Each has a unique function and role in maintaining overall brain health.

Stage 1,

Non-rapid eye movement,

Is the transition between wakefulness and sleep.

During stage 1,

Brain activity slows.

Heartbeat,

Eye movements,

And breathing decrease.

The body relaxes.

The muscles may twitch.

This brief period of sleep lasts about 5 to 10 minutes.

Interestingly,

Sleep is not a global state.

Neuronal populations in different parts of the brain go to sleep before others.

As we fall asleep,

For example,

The thalamus cycles down before the frontal cortex.

The thalamus serves as a switchboard or relay station for motor and sensory information.

Sensory information still enters the sense doors.

The ears still process sound waves.

Mechano-receptors still process touch.

The nose still detects odors.

But when the thalamus unplugs,

The raw data doesn't get interpreted.

We spend about 50% of our total sleep in NREM stage 2,

Or light sleep,

Which lasts for about 20 minutes per cycle.

During stage 2,

We become less aware of our surroundings,

Our body temperature drops,

Unless you're eating late,

That's why it's important maybe not to eat right before going to bed.

Eye movements stop,

And breathing and heart rate become more regular.

In stage 2,

The brain produces bursts of rapid rhythmic brainwave activity called sleep spindles.

They're thought to be a feature of memory consolidation,

When your brain gathers,

Processes,

And filters new memories you acquired the previous day.

In non-rapid eye movements stage 3,

The slowest brain waves,

Known as delta waves,

Peak.

Neurons in the thalamus appear to regulate sleep and wakefulness.

This stage is referred to as delta sleep,

A period of deep sleep where any noises or activity in the environment fail to register or wake the sleeping person.

During stage 3,

Muscles are completely relaxed,

Blood pressure drops,

Breathing slows,

The body starts its physical repairs,

Toxic proteins are cleared,

The brain consolidates declarative memories,

General knowledge,

Facts or statistics,

Personal experiences,

And other things learned that day.

In REM or rapid eye movement stage 4,

The brain is aroused with mental activity,

But voluntary muscles become immobilized,

Which prevents us from acting out our dreams.

REM sleep begins approximately 90 minutes after falling asleep.

In stage 4,

The brain lights up with activity,

The body is relaxed and immobilized,

Breathing is faster and irregular,

Eyes move rapidly,

We dream,

Memories are consolidated,

Emotions and emotional memories are processed and stored.

When we are alert and awake,

Signals travel from the dendrites or arms of the cells to the soma or body of the cells.

At the soma,

A spike is generated and a signal runs down the axon to the other cells.

During REM sleep,

However,

Dendrites in the prefrontal cortex show increased activity,

But the soma shows decreased activity.

This decoupling suggests that the neurons are processing information received,

But not sending them on.

This is consolidation and allows the brain to respond to environmental cues the following day.

We cycle through these four stages several times during the hours we sleep,

From light to deep,

Usually in the first half of the night,

Then from light to REM,

Usually during the second half of the night.

The brain also wakes up neurologically more than 100 times a night.

Waves of noradrenaline trigger short awakenings,

Which are usually not detectable to the conscious mind.

A quote,

Short-term awakenings are a natural part of sleep phases related to memory,

Asserts C.

Leric Jarby,

Lead author of one of the studies published in Nature on sleep.

These waves are important for the consolidation of learning and memory.

During sleep,

The glymphatic system clears out toxins and metabolic waste from the brain.

Take glutamate,

For example.

Glutamate typically excites neurons,

Playing key roles in learning and memory,

But too much of it can disrupt brain function.

In a 2022 study,

Researchers used magnetic resonance spectroscopy to monitor brain metabolites throughout an approximate workday,

During which two groups of participants performed either high-demand or low-demand cognitive control tasks.

Hard cognitive work,

They concluded,

Led to glutamate accumulation in the lateral prefrontal cortex.

High glutamate concentrations may be associated with cognitive fatigue or what we call mental exhaustion or brain fog.

When sleep is deprived,

The active process of the glymphatic system doesn't have time to clear out excess toxins like glutamate so toxins can build up,

And the effects will become apparent in cognitive abilities,

Behavior,

And judgments.

Chronic sleep deprivation can negatively affect immune cells,

Which leads to inflammation and cardiovascular disease.

Losing even an hour and a half of sleep a night potentially increases these risks,

According to a 2022 study published by researchers at the School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Lifestyle choices such as sleep position,

Alcohol and caffeine intake,

Exercise,

Supplementation,

Diet,

Meditation,

Intermittent fasting,

And chronic stress all modulate glymphatic clearance for better or for worse.

So we'll take a closer look at some of these choices.

Sight sleeping improves glymphatic clearance compared to either supine,

Which is on the back,

Or prone,

Which is front-lying positions.

Alcohol impairs sleep.

It's a sedative.

It blocks REM sleep,

Which is critical for mental health and recovery.

Alcohol also fragments sleep,

Punctuating it with more awakenings and disturbing the natural cycle.

Ingesting caffeine late in the day for most people affects the quality and quantity of sleep.

Pharmacologically,

Caffeine is an adenosine receptor antagonist.

Adenosine is a hormone that regulates sleep and sleep induction.

As the day progresses,

Levels of the hormone adenosine gradually increase in areas of the brain that are important for promoting arousal.

Elevated concentrations of adenosine inhibit arousal and cause sleepiness.

The more adenosine builds up over the course of the day,

The sleepier we feel.

By the end of the day,

We're ready for a good night's sleep.

But caffeine blunts adenosine by binding to the receptor sites,

Which explains why,

Even though the body may be exhausted,

It becomes harder for most people to fall asleep after ingesting caffeine.

Many hormones that regulate hunger and appetite are replenished after a good night's sleep.

Sleep upregulates the satiety hormone leptin and downregulates the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin.

Hunger and appetite increase after a poor night's sleep.

Not only do we eat more,

We crave the kinds of nutrient-poor sugary foods that compromise sleep,

Which leads to more stress on the body and mind,

Which leads to more binging,

Which leads to more weight gain,

Increasing our risk of stress and illness,

Which further compromise our sleep,

Mood,

And affect.

And like this,

We can easily fall into a negative feedback loop.

When and what we eat can affect sleep.

Sugar is a stimulant.

Avoid sugary foods,

Especially as bedtime approaches.

My last meal of the day consists of foods high in tryptophan,

A precursor to serotonin,

The calming molecule.

Kiwi,

Tart cherry,

Pumpkin seeds,

Chocolate,

Banana,

Peanuts,

Oats,

Bread,

And cheese are some foods high in tryptophan.

I might also consume more carbohydrates later in the day and more proteins and fats earlier in the day.

A spoonful of coconut oil before bed can help stabilize blood sugar during sleep.

Eating big or spicy meals can cause discomfort from indigestion that can make it hard to sleep.

You might want to avoid eating large meals for two to three hours before bedtime.

This gives the digestive system a rest.

If you eat before bed,

Your body temperature and metabolism rise.

The body must digest the late-night meal while you sleep.

If you're hungry,

Try a light snack like kiwi,

Which has been shown to improve sleep onset,

Duration,

And efficiency.

About an hour before bedtime,

You can wash it down with tart cherry juice.

Tart cherry juice contains tryptophan and melatonin and has been shown to promote good sleep.

Meditators have been fasting intermittently before it became trendy.

Fasting intermittently by eating all your meals within,

Say,

An eight-hour window,

And then fasting for 16 hours promotes good sleep.

So if you wake up at six,

You eat until about two or three.

There are other schedules,

But I found this one worked best for my constitution.

It's important to stress,

However,

That what works for one may not work for another despite the research,

Which often covers populations.

Again,

We each have our own unique biochemistry,

Lifestyles,

And constitutions.

So we have to explore what works best for us at whatever particular point in time we're in and adjust as our bodies or life circumstances change.

Hydration is important to our overall health.

I drink half my body weight in fluid ounces each day,

But stop after around 2 p.

M.

As frequent midnight bathroom runs would undermine the health outcomes I'm trying to achieve.

Now,

With sleep apnea,

I control what I can.

I sleep well most nights.

Oxygen saturation levels are 98 to 99 percent.

I follow the simple protocols I've researched and shared with you.

There's some additional evidence-based tips.

Some may be familiar,

Like sticking to a sleep schedule,

And some may be new,

Like sleep tape.

Again,

Consult with a professional first and then experiment for yourself.

Stick to a sleep schedule,

Even on the weekends.

This helps to regulate your body's clock and helps you fall asleep and stay asleep for the night.

If possible,

Follow nature's rhythms,

Waking up before the sun rises and going to bed a few hours after the sun sets.

Practice a relaxing bedtime ritual.

My rituals include gratitude practice and microjournaling as a form of brain dumping.

Meditation improves sleep,

And a good night's sleep improves meditative concentration.

Meditation has been correlated with decreased sleep onset latency,

Or sleep onset insomnia.

Sleep onset latency can decrease total sleep time,

And meditation helps reverse this.

But some types of meditation before bed might actually compromise sleep,

As you might fall into a state of rest,

But then return to a state of alertness after the practice ends.

Relaxation techniques might be better for bed,

Before bed.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing with slight breath holes and long slow exhalations may help,

For example.

Because of sleep apnea,

My oxygen levels would fall at night.

Deep breathing techniques and other breathwork exercises that I perform throughout the day help improve oxygen efficiency.

During sleep,

Breathing acts as a pacemaker that entrains the various brain regions and synchronizes them with each other.

Respiration coordinates neuronal activity in the hippocampus,

Medial prefrontal and visual cortex,

Thalamus,

Amygdala,

And nucleus accumbens by modulating the excitability of these circuits.

This coordination is essential for memory consolidation.

After reading James Nestor's book,

Breath,

I began taping my mouth closed to force nasal breathing.

I think this was a recommendation made to him by Patrick McEwen.

I used a small strip of painter's tape.

Within a few weeks,

I began to notice a difference in the quality of my sleep,

And I found this more effective than the CPAP machine,

Which I eventually discarded.

I began sleeping throughout the night and felt more rested.

Interestingly,

There were fewer late-night bathroom runs as well.

I started using an oral appliance to correct the mild airway obstruction due to sleep apnea,

But found that oxygen efficiency was at 98 to 99% with just sleep tape and breath work.

Again,

This is not a suggestion that I would recommend.

Exercise caution before trying out this or any of the protocols listed here.

Sleeping pills do not produce naturalistic sleep.

Most sleeping pills are classed as sedative hypnotics.

Sedation doesn't give you the restorative natural benefits of sleep.

Supplementation may be better.

300 to 400 milligrams of magnesium L-threonate,

5200 milligrams of apigenin,

And 100 to 200 milligrams of L-theanine are effective supplements to help me stay asleep.

It took less than a week to notice the effects.

I'm grateful to Dr.

Andrew Huberman at Stanford University School of Medicine,

Who shared these protocols and tips.

I also supplement with omega-3 krill oil prior to bed,

Which improves lymphatic functioning.

I don't recommend melatonin or 5-HTP.

These will help you fall asleep faster,

But you may find yourself waking up in the early morning feeling quite alert and unable to return to sleep.

I'd only use melatonin for jet lag and only for about one to three days.

You may also benefit from recording your sleep in a sleep diary to help you better evaluate common patterns or issues you may see with your sleep or sleeping habits.

Again,

I use technologies which track that for me.

Evaluate your room.

Design your sleep environment to establish the conditions you need for sleep.

Keep your bedroom cool between 60 and 67 degrees,

Or 15.

6 to 19.

4 degrees Celsius,

And free from noise or light.

I use blackout curtains,

Eye shades,

Earplugs,

And a white noise,

Brown noise app.

Sleep on a comfortable,

Supportive mattress.

Quality mattresses have a life expectancy of about 9 to 10 years.

It's important to note that some people have biphasic sleep patterns.

Biphasic sleep describes a pattern of sleep that's divided into two phases.

This happens to me occasionally.

I may sleep from 8 to 2 in the morning,

Then from 4 to 6.

When this happens,

I use the time to meditate or listen to hypnosis recordings I produced,

And there are many free ones available online.

I hope you find these suggestions helpful.

These research-based strategies worked for me,

And I hope you find what works best for you.