On the October 8, 2015, episode of The Dr. Oz Show, world-renown sleep expert Dr. Michael Breus—the Sleep Doctor—shows us how to quiet our minds so we can get a good night’s rest.

The reason so many people tell me they are tired all day and then wound-up at night when it’s time to go to bed is because their natural sleep rhythm is off. Their body has an internal sleep clock that’s been thrown out of whack.

We can’t remove all of life’s stressors like bills, family challenges, work hurdles, and other pressures. 🙁 But there are ways to shut down the worrying and get some sleep. 🙂

1. WORRY-WATCH JOURNAL 

For about 10–15 minutes a day—but earlier than bedtime—write down your worries. Every two weeks go back and look at them to see how many of them panned out. Such an understanding may help us challenge our worry perceptions and subsequently may help change our future thought patterns in a positive way.

2. LIGHTS OUT

One of the best ways to get sleep back on track and turn off worry at night is to turn off the lights. The person with the racing thoughts at night is often the one with the busy life that doesn’t slow down after dinner. Your body has a natural and regular rhythm that tells you it’s bedtime, but your need to get things done overrides that. So you stay up late, exposing you to light, which is the problem.

Normally, your body’s internal sleep clock is in sync with melatonin, the hormone that tells you it’s dark out and time to fall asleep. But when you’re exposed to light at night, even from light bulbs and computer screens, you can suppress melatonin, which tricks your body clock into thinking it’s too early for bed. Here’s the kicker: you’re still tired, but you’ve time-shifted your internal clock. It takes you longer to fall asleep. You lie in bed wide awake—so what do you do? You worry and think about your life. The next morning you’re less alert.

It’s a major contributor to our sleep epidemic. It’s like we’re creating permanent jet lag. This disruption in your sleep cycle is common in shift workers and a lot of middle-aged people, because by the time we’re 60, we’re producing half the melatonin we did at age 20. So, you’ve got less natural sleep hormone to start out with to let you fall asleep and override the worrisome thoughts.

3. SET A REGULAR BEDTIME ALARM

Set your alarm clock for an hour before you need to be in bed to remind you to start winding down. Remember, it’s not how tired you are that determines how fast you fall asleep. It’s the time you go to bed.

4. FIGHT THE LIGHT AT NIGHT  

Don’t check e-mail or get on the computer before bed. If you like to read in bed, replace the bulb in your reading lamp with something like the LED Good Night bulb which was originally engineered for astronauts to help regulate sleep patterns. You’ve got to let melatonin do its thing. If you’re using an e-reader, go back to reading paper—old-school style. A new study shows that people who read an e-book before bed released less melatonin and were less sleepy than those who read a regular book. They actually time-shifted their clocks by an hour and a half. We’re now seeing the melatonin drop after just 12 minutes.

5. MELATONIN SUPPLEMENT

If you’ve been up late for a few nights in a row and you’re having trouble getting back to normal sleep, I recommend a melatonin supplement like USANA’s Pure Rest™. You may have a sleep cycle issue, which I see in people with jet lag and shift workers who have changing sleep patterns, and nearly everyone over the age of 55 because they’re not making enough melatonin naturally. A melatonin supplement helps you fall asleep faster.

PURE REST:

• Pure Rest is a high-quality supplement that produces melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone in our bodies that regulates sleep and wake cycles. 
• It’s not habit forming. 
• Think of it as a darkness pill. It boosts your melatonin levels and helps reset your sleep clock.*
• Correct dosage is key. Each Pure Rest tablet delivers 2 mg of melatonin, and they’re scored so it’s easy to split them in half. I recommend 1 mg of melatonin, so start with half a pill. 
• Take Pure Rest about 60 minutes before bedtime. 
• Take it anytime you are having difficulty sleeping, be it from traveling or just an extra hectic day. But if you’re still having sleeping troubles after two weeks, you may want to seek help, because your body’s sleep issue could be stemming from another problem. 
• Order Pure Rest here. 

 

About Michael Breus PhD. Dr. Breus is a clinical psychologist and both a diplomat of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. With a specialty in sleep disorders, Dr. Breus is one of only 163 psychologists in the world with his credentials and distinction. He is the author of The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep and Good Night: The Sleep Doctor’s 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health. Dr. Breus is also the creator of the Dr. Breus Bed™, the first and only mattress collection ever designed by a sleep specialist. In addition to his private practice, Dr. Breus is a highly sought-after sleep expert for the media and consultant for airlines, hotels, and other corporations. This article was first posted on usana.com.