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Have you ever been traveling and just can't sleep? I
shot up, wide awake, at 3:45am this morning. Really. Technically it’s
6:45 on the East Coast where I live, but still, this is feeling a
little crazy.
In an ideal world, I would follow Dr. Deepak Chopra’s prescribed mindful routine “R.P.M. Rise-Pee-Meditate”. I’m not in my own home. I didn’t want to wake up my hosts. So instead, I allowed mindfulness to disappear and my mind turned to my daily to-do list. First, I decided to check my Twitter-feed. I see that someone has retweeted my article on mindfulness. I think that was sign from Twitter saying “Dr. Romie, what sort of tweeting hypocrite are you? Put down that iPhone.”
I start making excuses for myself, or as it is called in life-coach training, “reframing”.
I’m traveling across the country. 6 times in 5 weeks. I shouldn’t have had that grande cup of coffee to keep me alert while driving last night. My pajamas are itchy. There isn’t a healthy “reframe”.
The truth of the matter is that disturbed sleep is one of the first signs that the brain and body are functioning under the stress response. Functioning under the stress response means slower metabolism, poor memory and difficulty focusing. Certainly this is more common for anyone traveling for work.
After a lot of trial, error, and research, I figured out a few tricks to help me catch up on my sacred sleep.
Dr. Romie’s 5 steps to combat irregular sleep schedules on the road:
1. No caffeine after 12pm. If that doesn’t work, cut out all caffeine completely. Caffeine suppresses melatonin levels for hours after the energy buzz has worn off. Try chamomile tea in the evenings.
2. Travel with melatonin supplements and start taking them several days prior to traveling. Start with 3mg and increase up to 9mg.
3. Take a great multivitamin and vitamin B complex early in the morning. (I prefer plant based vitamins)
4. Travel with your own pillow and favorite pajamas.
5. In addition, while flying, stay hydrated with non-alcoholic beverages. Jet lag is worse when you are dehydrated. I once read a suggestion of drinking 8oz of water for every 30 minutes of flight.
I ended up cutting coffee and any form of caffeine out completely until I was on a regular sleep schedule.
What are your tricks for regulating sleep on the road?
Source: http://www.brainbodybeauty.com/post/conquer-jet-lag-mindful-sleep-habits
In an ideal world, I would follow Dr. Deepak Chopra’s prescribed mindful routine “R.P.M. Rise-Pee-Meditate”. I’m not in my own home. I didn’t want to wake up my hosts. So instead, I allowed mindfulness to disappear and my mind turned to my daily to-do list. First, I decided to check my Twitter-feed. I see that someone has retweeted my article on mindfulness. I think that was sign from Twitter saying “Dr. Romie, what sort of tweeting hypocrite are you? Put down that iPhone.”
I start making excuses for myself, or as it is called in life-coach training, “reframing”.
I’m traveling across the country. 6 times in 5 weeks. I shouldn’t have had that grande cup of coffee to keep me alert while driving last night. My pajamas are itchy. There isn’t a healthy “reframe”.
The truth of the matter is that disturbed sleep is one of the first signs that the brain and body are functioning under the stress response. Functioning under the stress response means slower metabolism, poor memory and difficulty focusing. Certainly this is more common for anyone traveling for work.
After a lot of trial, error, and research, I figured out a few tricks to help me catch up on my sacred sleep.
Dr. Romie’s 5 steps to combat irregular sleep schedules on the road:
1. No caffeine after 12pm. If that doesn’t work, cut out all caffeine completely. Caffeine suppresses melatonin levels for hours after the energy buzz has worn off. Try chamomile tea in the evenings.
2. Travel with melatonin supplements and start taking them several days prior to traveling. Start with 3mg and increase up to 9mg.
3. Take a great multivitamin and vitamin B complex early in the morning. (I prefer plant based vitamins)
4. Travel with your own pillow and favorite pajamas.
5. In addition, while flying, stay hydrated with non-alcoholic beverages. Jet lag is worse when you are dehydrated. I once read a suggestion of drinking 8oz of water for every 30 minutes of flight.
I ended up cutting coffee and any form of caffeine out completely until I was on a regular sleep schedule.
What are your tricks for regulating sleep on the road?
Source: http://www.brainbodybeauty.com/post/conquer-jet-lag-mindful-sleep-habits
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