Delighted to see that my little “sleep therapy” tip made it into your excellent post. Also enjoyed the other interesting recommendations that your followers shared.
Speaking again about sleepless nights, one thing that has rudely awakened me in the past, usually in the early morning, has been the proverbial “charley horse,” painful cramps in calf muscles. One leaps out of bed and hops around to stop the cramping. But there goes your beauty rest.
So these days I try to be more mindful of stretching my calves by the end of my day, especially helpful if we’re trying to get in our daily 10K steps!
For the charley-horse prone, my acupuncturist also suggests massaging a small dab of magnesium gel into calves at bedtime. Which he says can also help you on your way to slumberland. He likes MagnaGel from www.designsforhealth.com.
It has magnesium salts from the Zechstein seabed in Europe. Works for me! With daily stretching, I need it less often for calves but it helps with other muscle aches too.
Wow, the Zechstein seabed! Haven't heard of that in a while (or ever)! Thanks, dear C, as always, for your thoughtful comments and your suggestions. At least you're still hopping around, always a good sign. xo
One way to respond to a charly horse (where does that name come from anyway?) is to breathe into it versus tightening. Of course it is SO painful but when I don't fight it and breathe deeply into the contraction, it'll relax in a few moments. Of course the muscle will feel a bit sore so I massage it a little with a nice cream. I'll have to try the magenisum cream mentioned here.
A few years ago I worked on figuring my actual circadian cycle to see if I can get up in the morning without an alarm clock. At that time, having 9 hours of sleep was the ticket so I trained myself to get to bed at a time to better assure that 9 hours of sleep. These days, due to my long commute of over an hour twice a day, I feel the need to use an alarm just in case. Yet, interestingly, I always get up 10-15 min before the alarm (bladder calls!) I've been taking CBD + melantonin gummies but in truth I think I just like the taste of them and not sure if they make any difference. I try to read a chapter or two of a "real" book (no screen readers) and put my phone across my room although thinking perhaps I need to leave it downstairs - still too tempting to read that one last NPR article. Another thing I've done when I was training myself to sleep earlier is to tell my brain, "Wake up at 7am, wake up at 7am, wake up at 7am" and guess what? I do. (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/12/26/1139781557/i-usually-wake-up-just-ahead-of-my-alarm-whats-up-with-that)
That is a lot of ways to fall asleep. I got sleepy reading them all! Here's my foolproof one...I count backwards from 500 in German. I usually am out by vier Hundret und achtzig (480).
Great list! One more think for sleep is to check your chronotype - great to know so your not trying to muscle sleep on the wrong schedule for you. Michael Breus - the sleep doctor wisdom. https://chronoquiz.com/
Last night I had a period of wakefulness in the middle of the night that no amount of "heavy breathing" would help. Sigh. Sometimes the brain just refuses to be turned off!
Delighted to see that my little “sleep therapy” tip made it into your excellent post. Also enjoyed the other interesting recommendations that your followers shared.
Speaking again about sleepless nights, one thing that has rudely awakened me in the past, usually in the early morning, has been the proverbial “charley horse,” painful cramps in calf muscles. One leaps out of bed and hops around to stop the cramping. But there goes your beauty rest.
So these days I try to be more mindful of stretching my calves by the end of my day, especially helpful if we’re trying to get in our daily 10K steps!
For the charley-horse prone, my acupuncturist also suggests massaging a small dab of magnesium gel into calves at bedtime. Which he says can also help you on your way to slumberland. He likes MagnaGel from www.designsforhealth.com.
It has magnesium salts from the Zechstein seabed in Europe. Works for me! With daily stretching, I need it less often for calves but it helps with other muscle aches too.
Wow, the Zechstein seabed! Haven't heard of that in a while (or ever)! Thanks, dear C, as always, for your thoughtful comments and your suggestions. At least you're still hopping around, always a good sign. xo
I never heard of that seabed either until I saw it on the MagnaGel label. As John Lennon used to sing, “Whatever gets you through the night…” xo
One way to respond to a charly horse (where does that name come from anyway?) is to breathe into it versus tightening. Of course it is SO painful but when I don't fight it and breathe deeply into the contraction, it'll relax in a few moments. Of course the muscle will feel a bit sore so I massage it a little with a nice cream. I'll have to try the magenisum cream mentioned here.
A few years ago I worked on figuring my actual circadian cycle to see if I can get up in the morning without an alarm clock. At that time, having 9 hours of sleep was the ticket so I trained myself to get to bed at a time to better assure that 9 hours of sleep. These days, due to my long commute of over an hour twice a day, I feel the need to use an alarm just in case. Yet, interestingly, I always get up 10-15 min before the alarm (bladder calls!) I've been taking CBD + melantonin gummies but in truth I think I just like the taste of them and not sure if they make any difference. I try to read a chapter or two of a "real" book (no screen readers) and put my phone across my room although thinking perhaps I need to leave it downstairs - still too tempting to read that one last NPR article. Another thing I've done when I was training myself to sleep earlier is to tell my brain, "Wake up at 7am, wake up at 7am, wake up at 7am" and guess what? I do. (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/12/26/1139781557/i-usually-wake-up-just-ahead-of-my-alarm-whats-up-with-that)
Wow, Elena, thanks for that link! I've already passed it along to a friend wondering about the same thing! xo
That is a lot of ways to fall asleep. I got sleepy reading them all! Here's my foolproof one...I count backwards from 500 in German. I usually am out by vier Hundret und achtzig (480).
😲😲😲
Val, Woman!!! You are the Edison of your generation:
“I have not failed 10,000 times—I've successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”
Going to tattoo that on my freshly-Botoxed forehead right now. xo
Great list! One more think for sleep is to check your chronotype - great to know so your not trying to muscle sleep on the wrong schedule for you. Michael Breus - the sleep doctor wisdom. https://chronoquiz.com/
Wow, interesting, TC! Thanks! xo
No 5a Club for this owl : )
Last night I had a period of wakefulness in the middle of the night that no amount of "heavy breathing" would help. Sigh. Sometimes the brain just refuses to be turned off!
B.A., that's when I just listen to an audiobook or a podcast and try to feel grateful for a beautiful sunrise... Thanks for sharing here. xo