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Get Your Best Sleep Episode 3: Mindset Shifts for Great Sleep · The Bridges and Beacons Podcast

• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Mystic Nerd Squad Podcast.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Kelly Meyerson, here today to chat with you about mindset shifts for great sleep.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: We are in the middle of a series on improving your sleep, and this is another one of those interlocking circles I talked about that are going to really enhance or contribute to poor sleep.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: So mindset shifts.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: When I talk about mindset with relation to sleep, I like to use the term for people whose head hits the pillow and their brain gets busy, my fellow busy brains.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I am definitely one of those.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: And we can have busy brains for a number of different reasons.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: It could be that you have a lot on your mind, a lot of stress, anxiety, whether it's situational or long term.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it can also be creative minds, people who have so many ideas, they just can't seem to fall asleep when their head hits the pillow because their brain is like, let's go through all of them and figure out if they're gonna work right now.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: So how do you overhaul your mindset?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I talked in our first episode about setting the scene with your environment and having a really nice sacred sleep space.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: So once you've got that set for yourself and you feel like it's a real comfortable place, you want to think about your mindset in terms of not just going to bed, but all day long.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are a busy brain like me, what's going to be really important for you is finding space and time during the day to unload all of that great information in your brain so that you're not just doing, doing, doing all day long, but you also take some time to sit, to reflect, to write, to get those things that are in your head, out of your head, and onto paper.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: For example, one of the things I love to do is the family to-do list.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if other moms can relate to this or not, but I tend to have a lot more things on my to-do list for the house than anybody else.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I find it really helpful to take that and create a to-do list and stick it up on the fridge.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not just existing in my mind and I'm not trying to hold on to everything.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Certainly another thing you can do is get those to-dos onto your calendar.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I love a shared calendar.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, maybe that doesn't help so much with sleep, but I really do feel like getting everything in there in one place that I don't have to keep it in my head means that when I go to rest my head at the end of the night, I'm not also thinking, tomorrow I've got to do XYZ.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Child number one has an appointment at this time, etc.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: So you guys get how I'm feeling here.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are some daily mindful practices?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Some things to really think about feeding your head.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're into meditation or stillness.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: If you're somebody who's never meditated, I always recommend just call it sitting still.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: And your brain may not be able to stop being busy.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you're ready to dive into meditation, then go for guided meditation.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: I know for me, I tend to do much better that way.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: If I try and quiet my mind, it never really quite happens.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: So guided meditation gives my brain something to do while my body is being quiet.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Another great practice before bedtime is mind dumping.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And now this is the practice you can use all the time, and you can do the second part of that, which is time blocking.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're someone who really starts to get a very busy brain at bedtime, 30 minutes before bedtime, find a quiet place to sit with a blank piece of paper or a notebook, a pen, maybe a glass of decaffeinated tea or a glass of water, set the scene, maybe a little bit of lavender or a candle that you like, kind of create this very soothing atmosphere where you can just mind-dump all the things.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this can certainly include to-do lists and things you need to do.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: It can include great ideas that you have, it can include things you're worried about.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: And the whole purpose of this is not to figure out what to do about all the things that come out of your brain, it's just to get them onto the paper.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And now at another point in time, you might want to sit down and figure out does this need to go onto my calendar or to a to-do list or something I need to talk to somebody about, but you don't have to do anything about it when you're mind-dumping.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: You're just getting everything out and onto the page.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And another thing I recommend, if this is a new practice for you, leave that notebook or that piece of paper next to your bed at night.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: And when you start to fall asleep and your brain is like, ooh, and another thing, all you have to do is just write it down.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even recommend turning on the light, just write it.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's enough for your brain to know that you put it down.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it doesn't have to be in your best handwriting or even legible to you.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's really just this practice of resting your brain a little bit.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Another thing I recommend, and maybe this won't be such a popular one, is a technology fast.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: So just like we can fast from food, we can fast from technology.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: So many of us, myself included at times, can really be taking in way too much media throughout the day, whether it's social media, any kind of a screen, um, scanning on the websites or doing work on our computers.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: All of that light that's coming into our eyes is really impacting our ability to fall asleep.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it really triggers this sense of I need to stay awake and keep going.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's why, you know, we turn on all the lights, we get on the computer, we can go and go and go and just keep procrastinating bedtime.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: So technology fasting can give yourself a nice break where you're not overloading your mind and your eyes with all of that light and all of those things so that you can really rest.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe finding something in the evening besides the mind dumping, maybe reading a book, maybe talking to someone quietly on the phone, whatever it is for you, that is a nice, quiet, restful routine for your mind.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: So we talked about the mind dumping, we talked about technology fasting.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think also introducing more stillness into your life and some time, if you're a busy brain, to get those ideas out.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: So pairing that mind dumping at night with a session in the morning and trying to retrain your brain to associate that time in the morning with getting all of the ideas out and onto paper versus forcing you to think about all of the things you've ever done or ever need to do as you're trying to drift to sleep at night.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: So finally, and probably I should have said this at the outset: if you are someone who is struggling with anxiety, if you've experienced trauma, some of these strategies are not going to work for you.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: And you really want to seek some external support, whether you're looking into working with a therapist or talking to your medical doctor, if you're experiencing a lot of difficulties.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: These strategies are holistic ideas that you can really put into place.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but if you really need the help, then you want to seek it.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And a great place to start is with your general practitioner.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you have specific questions for me about your sleep, go ahead down into the show notes and there's a place where you can connect with me via Calendly, schedule an appointment.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's just a 15-minute quick check.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And what I do is we talk about your sleep and we figure out what is that one thing that would be the great first step for you to help your sleep.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're concerned and you think maybe there's something else going on, I can also help you figure out where is that right first step for you and who else may be a good external support.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: I hope this has been really helpful for you.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Please let me know in the comments whether something has really helped you.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, share with other people as you know I'm a sleep enthusiast, and I want everybody to get their best sleep ever.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: I look forward to chatting about this topic again.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Next, we'll be targeting your habits.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Take care, and I hope you get your best sleep ever.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Have a good one, everyone.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Goodbye.