Get outside for 2-10 minutes of direct sunlight exposure early in the day, ideally without sunglasses, to properly time your cortisol pulse. Viewing light through windows is 50 times less effective, and this practice has broad benefits for mental health and blood pressure.
Minimize or avoid bright light exposure to your eyes after 8 p.m., and especially between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. This prevents the suppression of dopamine and other detrimental effects on mood, learning, and sleep, as retinal sensitivity to light increases later in the day.
Provide consistent light anchors by viewing bright light early in the day and around sunset, while avoiding light at night. This helps regulate cortisol and melatonin rhythms, leading to improved metabolism, hormones, and overall well-being within a few days.
Engage in 10-30 minutes of Non-Sleep Deep Rest (Yoga Nidra) by listening to a guided script that includes breathing patterns and body scans. This practice helps train your nervous system to relax, improves the transition to sleep, and can reset alertness and emotional stability.
When struggling to fall asleep, focus on body-based mechanisms like exhale-emphasized breathing, specific lying positions, or practices like meditation and yoga nidra, rather than trying to mentally force relaxation.
Before considering supplements for sleep, first ensure your light viewing behaviors are correct, then optimize nutrition and physical activity. Supplements should only be considered if you are still experiencing sleep difficulties after addressing these foundational habits.
To shift your sleep schedule earlier and increase total sleep time, expose yourself to bright light (e.g., timed overhead lights or open blinds) 45-60 minutes before your desired wake-up time, even with eyelids closed. This advances your internal clock, making you feel sleepy earlier.
View sunlight around sunset for 2-10 minutes, ideally outdoors, to signal the end of the day to your central circadian clock. This helps protect your brain and body against the negative effects of artificial light later that night.
To prevent delaying your internal clock and making it harder to wake up early, strictly avoid bright light exposure to your eyes late in the evening and in the middle of the night.
In the evening, place lights low in your environment (e.g., on desktops or floor) and keep them dim. This minimizes activation of light-sensitive neurons in your eyes, preventing unwanted shifts in your circadian clock.
Naps lasting 20 minutes to an hour can be beneficial for many people to boost energy and focus, but if you wake up groggy, it may indicate insufficient nighttime sleep, causing you to enter deeper sleep stages during the day.
Consider taking AG1 daily as a foundational nutritional supplement to ensure intake of essential vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients, and to support gut microbiome health, digestion, immune function, mood, and mental focus.
Utilize a smart mattress cover like Eight Sleep to program and control your bed’s temperature throughout the night, aiming for a 1-3 degree body temperature drop to fall and stay deeply asleep, and a 1-3 degree increase to wake up refreshed, which can improve slow wave and REM sleep.
Wear Roka red lens glasses in the evening after sunset to filter out short wavelength light from screens and LEDs. This prevents melatonin suppression and helps calm your brain, improving your transition to sleep.
Recognize that caffeine acts as an adenosine antagonist, blocking sleepiness signals. This explains why you feel alert after consuming it and may experience a crash when it wears off, as adenosine then binds with greater affinity.
If direct sunlight is unavailable due to environment or time of year, use an artificial light that either simulates sunlight or has a lot of blue light to help set your circadian clock. Blue light is beneficial for this mechanism during the day.
Consult your doctor about taking magnesium threonate, which may help with sleepiness and staying asleep by increasing GABA neurotransmitters.
Consider taking 100-200 milligrams of L-Theanine to help quiet the mind and fall asleep. Be aware that combining it with magnesium might lead to excessive sleepiness, so titrate dosage carefully.
A 50mg dose of Apigenin, a chamomile derivative, can support sleepiness and help with falling and staying asleep. However, be aware that Apigenin is a potent estrogen inhibitor, and individuals (both men and women) needing to maintain estrogen levels should avoid it or consult a doctor.