This round of gifts as part of the 12 Days of Gifts series is focused on getting you a better night’s sleep. I have done a ton of work on getting my sleep corrected over the past three years.
I have outlined how important sleep is to your performance and to your brain health / longevity in a couple of prior posts.
In the past I’ve outlined a few hacks that I’ve developed, and this list is the best of the best I have found to assist in a better night’s sleep. If you have issues sleeping, this could be useful to share with friends/family for yourself, and if you have someone in your life that needs better sleep – here’s a shopping list!
I can imagine a scenario where you could build a little gift basket for someone with a few of these. Nearly everything below is linked out to Amazon, and it is tied to an affiliate code of mine – so if you do buy based upon the links in this article – I’ll get a sliver of something on the purchase for the same price to you.
Here’s the goodness for this set of gifts:
- Light Blocking Curtains – This may be the best part of my bedroom. You can get light blocking curtains at Wal-Mart, and I’m sure they are okay too. However, I did some research well over a year ago on light and noise blocking curtains – Moon Dream is expensive comparatively. However – they have high quality products that have proven to over deliver. I have both types of light and sound blocking curtains in my home, and I LOVE the blackout conditions these offer. My bedroom has a ton of windows facing the south east, so these are key for those days when the days are long. The quality from Moon Dream is exceptional, and the color selection is varied and rich.
- Sleep Mask – I know…this is tough to picture, and I bought this on a whim as I think Tim Ferris had mentioned he used one. I believe this is one that he recommended at one point. It works folks, it will put you into total darkness, which is what our brains expect to have as a signal for sleep. The ambient light from phones and other electronics in our bedrooms is not good for our pineal gland – this type of ambient light is confusing to our hard wired sleep mechanisms. Also, this sleep mask works exceptionally well when on a plane – particularly on a red eye flight. I also found this very, very helpful earlier this year when I found myself spending multiple nights at the hospital with one of my loved ones. The notch for the nose on this particular model is key, it is comfortable and cool to the skin.
- Mister with Essential Oils – Historically, I thought essential oils were garbage that really did not work at all. I was a very skeptical person when it came to this. However, I always had a humidifier growing up in Vermont during the winter months. I was good for a nose bleed at least once a week growing up back then due to the air being so dry, and that was even with a humidifier running all the time. Looking back, there were a couple reasons for the dry air, so this notion of a humidifier was never in question. However, in the past year especially, I have come to embrace the value of some lavender essential oils in an ultrasonic humidifier/mister. This is the humidifier pair I have in my home, and then each of my sons has one in their rooms as well. When it comes to essential oils, I go with the lavender at night. During the daytime hours, I may throw down a peppermint or lemon to get the energy flowing. Probably worth another post on essential oils…I am now convinced this stuff makes a difference. Hell, even the W and Westin Hotels I stay at – they are using this stuff, there’s something to this.
- Electrical Tape – Here is where this plays – you need to tape over all electronic light sources in your bedroom if you must have the electronics in there at all. The ambient light does mess with your sleep big time. Red light is another thing that I’m researching, and there is a ton of science emerging on this topic as well. If you have a power light on your TV, tape over it. If you have a bright alarm clock – toss it out frankly. If you have power indicators on other smaller electronics in your room, tape over them. It may sound out there, and for those of you that have not done the research on pineal and light sources – it is a legit tactic.
- Calm Magnesium – I learned of this from Tim Ferris. This is to be taken about an hour before going to bed, and you just mix it in with some water. I have since learned from my holistic nutritionist that not all magnesium is equal. I have learned that some types are not helpful for sleep patterns. Calm is one of those that is helpful. I no longer take Calm, as I have a prescribed magnesium supplement from my nutritionist that is tailored to my needs. If you do not have someone like that on your team – take the Calm, the stuff works. It has been heavily endorsed for a reason. A couple other points here – if you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night – it is most likely due to a deficiency of magnesium on some level. The right type of magnesium can help keep you asleep – Calm does this. Also, if you find you have leg or foot cramps, it is likely due to a mineral deficiency. When I am regularly doing my magnesium – those cramps are eliminated. Simple and effective stuff here.
- Herbal Tea – This stuff is magnificent. I have talked about my morning coffee cocktail in the past. I’ll share my nighttime cocktail in a future post. The base of it is this tea. There was a podcast probably 8 months ago from Tim Ferris (he has dealt with chronic sleep issues too) and he RAVED about this stuff. Well, I have gifted this to a few people in my life, and it has become known as ‘the crack’ for bedtime. I have modified what else I take with this, however for someone that has a tough time winding down naturally at night – this stuff is magic. This solves ‘sleep onset’ issues, and if you couple this with the Calm magnesium – that will solve the duration of your sleep. One, two punch…
- Honey – Not just any honey though. It has to be raw and non pasteurized, ideally organic as well. I teaspoon of raw honey before going to bed. Strangely enough, this will keep your sugar levels stabilized through the night. If you are getting up each night at 3 or 4am (historically this has been my experience) you could be suffering from low blood sugar, which triggers an adrenaline release causing you to wake up in search of more food. This is a hard wired thing in our bodies. Taking raw honey will solve this need for a strong 8 hours, and it is another ingredient in keeping you asleep. Personally, I am on a Manuka honey kick. This is a very unique honey that has been demonstrated in clinical studies to help in a variety of improved health aspects. You can get it at Costco’s. The higher the number the more health benefits can be had. I think anything above a 24 score on the Manuka is probably unnecessary for most of us. I bought a package of ‘5 Manuka’ at Costco’s a few weeks back, and I have been able to withstand all sorts of challenges to my immune system since. I really believe this honey is helping. For this post – it is a side benefit. NOTE: Do not mix your raw honey with anything at bed time, eat the spoonful raw, unmixed, as is.
So there you go – seven legit gifts you can give out to those in your life that have suffered from sleep onset, sleep duration, and sleep quality issues. I have done every single one of these, and each of them has worked for me. Every single gift on here is something I do use on a nightly basis.
Let me know if you have any questions on getting some better sleep. The topic is fascinating to me.