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Why Sleep Is Tricky After 40 · The MODERN YIN Podcast

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  Hey, hey, Yinning at Life Gang. It's Kimberly Roberts, your host
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  here, and I'm so excited to deliver little bits of insight
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  on living your best, most extraordinary life with, of
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  course, yin yoga, traditional Chinese medicine, reflexology,
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  and even mindset acts. So thank you so much for
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  pressing play on today's episode.
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  Let's do this. Well, hello there, and welcome
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  to another episode of Beginning at Life podcast.
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  I'm so stoked that you're here because today I want to talk
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  about something actually one of my favourite topics to talk
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  about. Sleep.
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  Yeah, sleep. It's a big one because I'll tell
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  you, nothing works in your life if you don't sleep.
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  But I want to tie this into why does sleep get trickier after
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  40? And actually the things that can
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  help you to get a better night's sleep.
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  Now I don't know about you, but once I hit my 40s my
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  relationship with sleep totally changed.
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  You know? Like what it used to be was so
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  easy, delicious, 8 hours. I would literally like hit my
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  head on the pillow and I'd be out like a light in a hot 2nd
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  right? But then it started to get
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  unpredictable. Some nights I'd fall asleep
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  instantly and sleep all night long and then other nights my
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  mind would do that 2:00 AM thing.
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  We all know that, right? All of a sudden, and especially
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  if you're a woman and you're in perimenopause or menopause and
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  hormones start to fluctuate in the body, that 2:00 AM rude wake
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  up call is coming from your liver, right?
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  And so of course, at 2:00 AM, what are you doing?
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  You're deciding that that's the perfect time to replay every
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  single conversation you have had since God knows when.
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  Can you relate? Sound familiar to you?
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  So what I want to break down today is why does our sleep
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  change after 40? What's actually going on in our
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  body and our nervous system, which is so important, and how
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  Yin yoga, meditation, and breath work before bed can completely
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  transform your sleep hygiene and honestly your entire next day
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  energy. Because I will tell you, when I
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  was in my 20s, I could pull off the three hours of sleep a night
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  and do that consecutively and have all the energy to burn the
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  next day. Now, if I literally get one
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  night of crap sleep, my entire next day, I got no energy, I got
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  nothing in the tank, right? So let's talk about what's
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  really going on here. So first, our hormones, they
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  start to shift in our 40s. Even if you're not in full
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  menopause yet, perimenopause can start to bring little dips and
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  spikes and estrogen and progesterone levels, and those
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  directly affect the quality of your sleep.
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  Now, if you're not aware, progesterone especially is known
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  as the calming hormone. When it drops, your body can
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  have a harder time relaxing at night.
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  And then you add to that, oh yay, stress screen time.
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  Who's scrolling and scrolling at night or sitting and binging
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  Netflix, Right? Just the screen time during the
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  day alone is already overloading.
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  We have the work thoughts, we've got kids, we've got life.
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  And with all of that going on, you got a recipe for that wired
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  but tired feeling. Can you relate to that?
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  Do you know what I mean? Like you're literally exhausted,
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  but then you go to bed and you're like, I can't sleep.
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  Like I'm wired, right? Not a good, not a good
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  combination at all. But here's the beautiful part.
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  Your body wants to rest. It's actually designed for deep
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  healing sleep. Because you see, the only time
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  that we heal is either in deep sleep or when we shift our
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  nervous system into a parasympathetic state.
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  And your body needs the right conditions to find rhythm.
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  Again, this is where yin yoga, breath work and meditation come
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  in. And I will tell you, they have
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  been literally game changing. Even a 10 or 15 minute practice
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  before bed has like completely changed my sleep hygiene.
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  So let's talk about the first one.
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  Yin yoga. It's kind of like your body's
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  lullaby, right? It's honestly one of the most
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  underrated tools for sleep. But think about it Yin yoga.
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  It's slow. It's still it works directly
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  with the fascia and connective tissue that holds much of the
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  tension and emotional residue from your day.
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  And when you hold these gentle yin poses for a few minutes,
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  your muscles soften, your breath deepens, connective tissue
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  fascia layers start to relax, and your nervous system starts
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  to shift from flight or fright to rest and repair or rest and
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  digest your parasympathetic state.
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  It's like you're literally telling your body, oh, hey
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  there, it's safe to slow down now.
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  Let's chill. But here's the thing that most
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  people tend to forget about. The magic happens when you do it
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  consistently. So sometimes people say, well,
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  you know, I've got an hour once a week.
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  That's actually not beneficial. It's consistent repetition.
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  So even 10 or 15 minutes before bed every single night can start
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  to retrain your nervous system to wind down naturally.
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  Like honestly, most of us, let's be truthful, are either
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  scrolling at night or binging Netflix.
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  You can chop 15 minutes off of that and devote it to your yen
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  practice. Yes, you can.
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  I know you can. It just takes a little bit of
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  discipline and a little bit of retraining, but you can do it.
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  Now the next one I want to talk about is breath work and
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  meditation. How they are really powerful
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  tools to retrain your nervous system when you add breath work
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  and meditation into the mix. OMG.
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  When you pair slow, mindful breathing with a short guided
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  meditation, you are essentially clearing the mental clutter and
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  chatter of the day. You know, it's kind of like
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  washing your mind before you wash your face, right?
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  Or brushing your your mind before you brush your teeth.
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  So tonight I'm going to challenge you to try something.
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  I want you to lie down, close your eyes, and take slow, deep
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  breaths. You're going to inhale for a
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  count of four, and you're going to exhale for a count of 6.
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  Now you can inhale through the nose and I encourage you to
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  exhale through the mouth, maybe even make like a little bit of a
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  sigh, right? Let each breath lengthen just a
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  little bit more and I will tell you after about 5 minutes,
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  you'll start to feel that drop, that gentle slide into
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  stillness, that gentle shift out of the sympathetic and into the
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  parasympathetic. And that's really what's
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  happening. It's your parasympathetic
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  nervous system kicking in. It's like your body is going,
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  thank you. Like, I really needed this and I
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  appreciate this. So creating a bedtime ritual,
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  this is really, really important.
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  OK, I cannot emphasize that enough.
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  There are really small little things that you can do.
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  This doesn't have to be fancy, but I'll tell you if you're over
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  40 and you're struggling with sleep or even if you're just not
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  waking up feeling rested. Like have you ever had that?
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  Like you slept for 8 hours but you get up and you're like, I
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  don't even feel like I slept. Well then that's where you
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  really need a nighttime ritual because even if you're waking up
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  and you're not feeling rested after 8 hours, you're not
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  getting deep sleep. So here are just a few really
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  simple things that you can do at night to help you.
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  Have a cup of herbal tea. Chamomile is probably one of the
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  best, or even lavender, or you can mix the two together.
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  Try to stay away with like anything stimulating like
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  peppermint. Try 10 to 15 minutes of yen
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  yoga. Try maybe 5-10 minutes of slow
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  breathing, a short guided meditation or calming playlist.
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  Now I also encourage you as the sun goes down, start to dim the
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  lights in your house because I will tell you, bright lights at
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  night don't work well for stimulating melatonin, right?
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  They keep your pineal gland wide awake.
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  So if your house is lit up like a Christmas tree, turn that
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  stuff down because I'll tell you a nice, you know, candlelit
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  environment or even just dimming your lights is a game changer.
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  If you're not someone who sleeps with an eye mask, I highly
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  recommend that making sure that your bedroom is as dark as
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  possible. If you can't get it super dark.
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  And what I mean by super dark is if you put your hand up in front
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  of you, you shouldn't be able to see it.
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  It should be that dark. So if it's not one simple thing,
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  use the eye mask because it'll block off light.
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  Secondly, you can get blackout curtains.
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  You can make blackout panels. So here's hilarious thing for
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  you. So I have blackout curtains.
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  I invested in some really good ones, but I wanted it even
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  darker. So I made blackout curtains or
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  panels. You know what I made them out of
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  It literally cost me $10. I went to the dollar store and I
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  got white Bristol board and I got black Bristol board and duct
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  tape. So I cut out the white and the
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  black Bristol boards to fit in my windows.
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  And then I put the white facing out so that the white is, you
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  know, like it's reflecting back the light so it's not so bright.
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  And then I put the black on the inside and then I just secured
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  around the edge of the windows with the duct tape.
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  Now, you know what, does it look really fancy?
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  Absolutely not. But I'm going to be honest with
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  you, I never open up my curtains anyway during the day.
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  So you can try that. If you want to invest in
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  blackout panels that you can take them off during the day,
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  then absolutely go ahead if that floats your boat, if you got
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  more money. But this is a really simple way
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  to do it. And I will tell you that
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  blocking out the light to the point where you cannot even see
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  your hands is really a game changer.
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  Now for some reason if that doesn't feel safe for you,
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  especially if you have concerns with balance and you have to get
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  up in the middle of the night, then by all means maybe just try
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  the eye mask, OK? Also if you are into essential
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  oils, try diffusing something calming at night.
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  Lavender is really good. It's a simple 1.
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  You can put a few drops in the diffuser, turn that thing on,
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  have it on a low dim light and let it diffuse your space.
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  And then also the temperature in your bedroom.
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  It should not be a furnace in there.
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  It should be quite crisp. You don't sleep well if your
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  body is overheated. If the room is really hot, then
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  turn the temperature down. Even turn off your furnace at
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  night if you can, or turn it to the absolute lowest where you
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  know your pipes aren't going to freeze or something in the
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  middle of the night. You can also open up your window
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  just a tiny little bit to let in fresh air overnight.
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  These are simple changes and literally are like game
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  changers. And I want to tell you another
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  thing, creating this bedtime routine and you know, improving
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  your sleep hygiene, it's not about perfection, it's about
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  permission. This is your permission to slow
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  down. It's your permission to unplug.
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  It's your permission to care for your energy the same way you
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  care for everyone else all day long.
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  It's a way for you to care for your body, your mind.
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  And this is what I want to leave you with.
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  Sleep isn't just rest, it's restoration.
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  There's a big difference between rest and restoration.
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  Restoration is where your body heals, your mind processes, and
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  your spirit resets. And when you start to treat your
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  bedtime as a sacred practice, right, a time to honour your
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  energy instead of just crash and burn, which is what most people
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  are doing, you'll notice that your mornings start to feel
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  lighter, calmer, more aligned. You might even want to try yin
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  yoga in the morning. I even have on my app.
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  This is a big miscanomer. People think that yin is only
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  for night time. While it is very conducive for
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  night time, if the right kind of poses are done in the morning,
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  it can actually bring you energy and set your tone, set your body
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  and your mind for a great day. You release tension, you clear
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  out your mind. It's just a matter of what
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  poses. OK.
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  And I've got a whole series on my app, on the soulful Yin app,
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  the seven mornings of yin yoga. They are all under 15 minutes.
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  They're like one or two poses plus some breath work, a little
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  bit of meditation and literally your whole body and your whole
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  mind resets before you even start your day.
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  I will tell you game changer. So tonight, before you crawl
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  into bed, I want you to take one really deep breath in through
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  the nose and out through the mouth, feel your shoulders drop
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  and just whisper to yourself. I deserve deep restoration
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  because you know what? You absolutely do.
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  So if you want more help starting your bedtime ritual,
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  I've got a full library of yin yoga, breath work, and
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  meditation classes on the Soulful Yin Yoga app, all
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  curated and designed to help you sleep deeply, wake up feeling
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  calm, flexible, and recharged. I will pop the link in the show
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  notes to my app if you want to check that out.
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  And if you enjoyed this episode, drop a comment or share it with
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  your favorite night owl. Somebody else out there who's
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  like, you know what? I'm sleeping like crap.
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  I need some help finding my calm, my rest, and my
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  restoration. There is something that is so
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  incredible that's happening in the Soulful Yin world right now.
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  The Soulful Yin Yoga App. An app that is designed to serve
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  people over 40 who are craving calm, Who are craving better
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  sleep. Who are craving ease in their
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  body, in their minds and in their lives.
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  Who want deep flexibility and mobility in their body.
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  Who want to feel good in their body.
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  Who want to live a life that is beyond extraordinary at the age
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  of 40 and way beyond into that 50s, sixties, even the 80's.
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  The Soulful Yin app. I invite you to come in, join
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  the membership and start to explore and discover how Yin
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  Yoga along with reflexology, acupressure, breath work,
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  meditation, and even very exclusive Yin Yoga series that
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  are all designed for people over 40 who are craving that simple,
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  peaceful life. Thanks so much again for
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  pressing play on today's episode.
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  I look forward to seeing you in the next one.