Val Halloway, 4-time former caregiver, is the creator and host of Caregiver Tea Time. In this episode, called Let's get Physical with Sleeping. Those who study sleep feel it could be the single most important behavior we experience from day to day. Val shares her tips for getting a good night's sleep including "legs up the wall" pose and suggestions from Michael Brues, known as the "sleep doctor" and author of The Power of When.
Val devotes this episode to sleep because difficulty falling asleep and waking up in the night are common experiences for caregivers. Val shares that getting enough sleep supports a healthy immune system, cell repair, learning, memory consolidation, and it helps us maintain a healthy weight. Poor sleep lowers metabolism and affects the hormones that regulate hunger and appetite.
Val offers a few tips for sleeping that worked for her. First, she explains the "legs up the wall" technique and how to do it. Next Val shares a compilation of sleep hints from Michael Brues, PhD, and author of the book, The Power of When. Dr. Brues has divided people into Chronotypes, which helps individuals learn the best time of day for their behaviors related to sleeping.
Val shares the hints from his book she has found most helpful. They include a morning routine, information about caffeine intake, an evening routine, and ways to get back to sleep after waking in the night.
Val also shares her experience with using the Dreampad Sound Pillow. This was her favorite way to improve her sleep.
Val encourages caregivers to make it a priority the get the best night's sleep possible, whether it includes room darkening curtains, and eye mask, noise cancelling earbuds, or a DreamPad pillow.
For this episode's cheer, Val leads listeners through a good night hug, and ends the podcast with "Good night Sweetheart!"
Hello,
welcome to season two of Caregiver Tea Time about mood and energy. It's called Let's Get Physical. Today in episode two, I will focus on sleep.
While there is not a scientific consensus on exactly why we need sleep, those who study it believe it could be the single most important behavior we experienced from day to day.
Getting enough sleep supports a healthy immune system, cell repair, learning, memory consolidation, and best of all, It helps us regulate our weight.
That's right! Sleep is essential to regulating the hormones that affect hunger and appetite. Poor sleep can lower your metabolism and make it harder to burn calories.
And of course we know it affects our moods and feelings of tiredness can easily become overwhelming. Caregivers are especially susceptible to lack of sleep.
Difficulty falling asleep and waking up in the night are common experiences. Just ask any caregiver. Getting sleep while spending the night in the hospital with your loved one is next to impossible.
And I'm just starting to feel a bit overwhelmed just talking about it. But I don't want to overwhelm you with sleep advice. I will just offer a few tips that have worked for me,
and I'll share a couple of fun stories about how I tried to get a good night's sleep. My first tip for a good night's sleep is called "legs up the wall." This is something you can do for just five minutes before going to bed.
It can help relieve tired legs, swelling feet, and studies showed it reduced tension and stress in nurses who practiced it regularly. It might also help with digestive issues.
It was a bit difficult for me to get my feet up there at first, but it's definitely worth a try. And here's how you do it. I put my feet up on the wall while I'm laying in bed,
rather on the floor, mostly because I have trouble finding enough wall space next to an empty space on the floor. I sit on the edge of my bed with one hip as close as I can get it to the headboard.
I take away the pillow first and I put it on the other side of the bed where I can reach it if I need to. Then I swing my legs up the wall and against the headboard. I rest my thighs and heels where it feels most comfortable.
I scooch my rear end as close as I can to where the headboard meets the bed. And if it's too far away, I can place the pillow between the headboard and me and give my rear end something to rest against.
You can stay in this pose for two to twenty minutes but my goal has always been five. Hmm now what to think about for five minutes? How will I know when the five minutes are up?
This troubled me at first so I found a favorite song that lasts five minutes and 20 seconds. It's called South City Midnight Lady by the Doobie Brothers. I would play it while doing legs up the wall.
I just love the instrumental part in the last minute of the song. It has a story too. Back in my college days, my roommate Teresa and I drove from Kansas to Idaho to visit her brother for spring break.
The coach of our intramural basketball team made us a cassette tape of great driving songs. My favorite was South City Midnight Lady. I can Remember it clear as can be,
my little red Plymouth arrow driving that narrow ribbon of highway along a mountain range with a huge full moon just above the snow -dusted peaks. This is a vision I had in my mind when I wrote one of the verses for the theme song for this podcast,
"Nothing but the Good Things." It's the line that says, "Still the rising moon reflects the sun's bright light." I remember the first time I tried the "feed up the wall" technique.
I was at the Ronald McDonald House. My son was in the twin bed next to mine trying to fall asleep. We had some tough stuff going on, and I was hoping he would join me with the "feed up the wall" pose,
but no. There I was with my legs up the wall and listening to the Doobie Brothers. I did warn him I'd be playing a song from the old days, and I told him my spring break story.
I think I detected a smile as he shook his head, rolled over, and probably wondered what I might do next. And now it's time for several sleeping hints I learned from Michael Bruce,
PhD, author of the book, "The Power of When." You may have heard of circadian rhythms, and I confess I don't really understand them other than they determine when our body wants to sleep.
Dr. Bruce takes sleeping rhythms a step further and divides us into chronotypes in order to learn what sleeping schedule is right for us. What he talks about makes sense to me,
so I'm going to share some hints he gave me with you. They're good for everyone, it's just that your chronotype determines the exact time of day that works best. First things first.
I'll start with what you can do in the morning to help you sleep better at night. There are three things I try to do every day. First get up about the same time each day.
Then I watch the sunrise. Or if it's already up I go outside and look at the blue sky without my glasses on. Or if it's still dark, like it is in the winter,
I use my light therapy box for about 10 to 15 minutes. Next, get some hydration. A glass of water or cup of tea. Or lately,
I've been enjoying some homemade lemonade. Coffee used to give me a nervous stomach. I learned from Dr. bruce that if I wait 90 minutes after waking up before drinking that first cup of coffee,
I feel good energy, not nervous energy. By 2 p .m. I stop eating or drinking anything with caffeine,
which includes black and green tea, regular coffee, and chocolate. For this suggestion, You will want to see how these foods and beverages affect you.
I've been wide awake in the middle of the night, and the only caffeinated thing I had after lunch was a chocolate chip cookie. Imagine that! Were a few chocolate chips keeping me awake? I don't know,
but it does make me wonder. Then in the evening, I have a routine at bedtime. It starts 60 minutes before bed and I divide the time into three 20 -minute segments.
The first 20 minutes I spend the time finishing up little things from my day and getting ready for the next day. I use this time to put a glass of water next to my bed and make sure there's paper and pen there too.
Sometimes I make a quick phone call or write a to -do list. I always try to take a quick look at my calendar and set up what I know I'll need to do the next day.
Then the second 20 minutes is time spent just for me. I usually take a warm bath with epsom salts to relax my muscles. I brush and floss my teeth and then put on hydrating lotion.
This is a good time to pamper your body. For the third 20 minutes, it's time to calm my mind before I go to bed. Sometimes I read a book or do a "quipto" quote from the newspaper.
Sometimes I pray, read a devotional, or add something to my gratitude list on the pad of paper I have next to the bed. Sometimes I listen to relaxing music or a book on Audible.
This is when I do feet on the wall and four, seven, eight breathing. And then before I know it, it's bedtime and time for lights out, and I always say good night.
Now, for when I wake up in the middle of the night, and notice I said when I wake up, not if. I try not to worry that I won't be able to get back to sleep.
I avoid getting up if I can help it because I know that getting up will raise my heart rate and make it harder for me to fall back to sleep. This is why I get the glass of water to put next to my bed before I go to bed.
And then the one thing I know I should not do, but I almost always do, is look at my phone. When I was a caregiver, this was a very hard thing for me to avoid at night.
And I'm sure it made a big contribution to my emotional ups and downs and difficulty thinking clearly. So, I hope you will be better than I was. It does help me to get back to sleep when I bring one foot out from under the covers.
I didn't know why this was until recently when I learned it helps your body to cool down and this brings on deep sleep. I've also tried 4 /7 breathing in the middle of the night.
And when there is a notebook next to my bed, I can always journal. and check out season one episode four for more information on journaling. And there you are,
my caregiver tea time sleeping tips. I do have one more story. This one was a bit expensive, but I loved the experience.
My son and I were watching Shark Tank on TV, and one of the guests looking for an investor had invented a pillow with a built -in speaker. He believed the vibration of the music along with certain soothing sounds helped people fall asleep and get deeper sleep.
So I decided to order one. The first night I used it, I used the cord to connect to my phone and downloaded the music app. I listened to a few songs and found one I liked and then I quickly fell asleep.
But in the middle of the night I woke up hearing a symphony playing. I was half asleep and I couldn't figure out where the music was coming from. I thought maybe it was my son's phone or the room next door and I even wondered if I was dreaming and it was coming down from heaven.
But then I realized it was coming from my pillow. I had not figured out the timer part of the app. I would have to say my dream pad pillow was my favorite way to improve my sleep.
And I'd still be using it today except for darn I left it in the airport last year. I think it's time to order a new one. Here's my special message for today.
Please make it your priority to get the best night's sleep you can. You may need room darkening curtains, or an eye mask, or noise counseling earbuds, or a dream pillow,
whatever it is, it will be worth it. And for our cheer today, let's give ourselves a good night hug. So put your right hand on your left shoulder,
and maybe rub it a little, and your left hand on your right shoulder give it a little rub and then give yourself a squeeze and say good night sweetheart. Are you ready?
One, two, three. Good night sweetheart! In this world,
living in my heart The things nothing but the good things In this world,
living in my heart Living in my heart, "Living in my heart" Caregiver T -Time was recorded at the Coop Studio,
Irvington, New York, engineered by Sammy Wags and produced by Bianca Groves.