🧠 The Big Idea

Estimated Read Time: 4 Minutes

Sweet Dreams: The Vital Importance of a
Good Night’s Sleep & How to Get It

By Bill Harris, Founder Centerpointe Research Institute

Regular, sound, rejuvenating sleep is a necessity, not a luxury.

Researchers have proven over and over again that a good night’s sleep is vital to good health, mental clarity and longevity.

40 million American adults suffer from some type of sleep disorder, and many more people across the world do as well. The consequences can be severe.

Anyone with a sleep disorder is more likely to suffer from chronic diseases or problems such as:

• Difficulty concentrating, reduced mental clarity

• Emotional and relationship problems

• Reduced energy and productivity

• Obesity, hypertension, diabetes

• Depression and anxiety

• Reduced quality of life

• Increased mortality

• Poor memory

• Cancer

If you have trouble sleeping, you know that it’s quite an ordeal, night after night. You might even say it’s a nightmare. A normal healthy sleep cycle is key to a good night's sleep.

Unfortunately, stress, poor diet, lack of exercise, too much time looking at your phone or computer screens, and a host of other factors…

...can make it difficult for the brain to maintain healthy sleep cycles.

3 Sleep Stages

A good night's sleep can be broken up according to three main sleep stages.

• Twilight: A high Alpha brainwave state between wakefulness and sleep; this is where a lot of tossing and turning can happen
  
  

• Dreaming/REM: Relaxing, dreamlike sleep in the Theta state. REM sleep is thought to play a role in memory consolidation, the synthesis and organization of cognition, and mood regulation.
  
  

• Deep Sleep: Predominantly Delta waves; this is the most difficult stage to wake from, and when you are awakened in this stage, you will usually be sleepy and disoriented.

During the course of a good night's sleep, your brain cycles through these three stages several times.

Then, if you've gotten a good, restful sleep, it eventually rises up into the Beta (wakeful) stage and…

...you wake feeling refreshed and ready for the day.

The problem is that millions of us simply don't get enough time in these stages, or they're interrupted by noise pollution or even our own internal stress.

Bottom line:

If you are not spending quality time in EACH of these sleep states, you are not able to function at your best. Period.

Sleep Enemy #1

Insomnia is often the result of high cortisol levels during sleep, which is related to an overactive limbic system.

In the morning, relatively higher cortisol levels are healthy–it wakes you up and provides energy. Then, levels decrease throughout the day. At bedtime, your cortisol levels should be low enough for you to fall asleep.

But, if your cortisol levels remain high in the evening, you’ll stare at the ceiling all night.

Cortisol levels increase when stress elevates adrenal function, causing the release of adrenal hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.

If adrenal activity remains elevated you can develop adrenal fatigue, which leads to low blood sugar and a host of other problems.

(Cortisol plays an important role in regulating blood sugar.)

Low blood sugar sounds an internal alarm, signaling the body to wake up and refuel.

Since sleep problems (even for those without adrenal fatigue) are generally caused by increased nighttime cortisol production. The question, then, is…

…how do you regulate your cortisol levels?

Exercise, nutrition, and stress reduction are all effective methods for regulating cortisol.

Volumes have been written (many by me) about the benefits of exercise, nutrition, and stress reduction. So I’ll leave those topics for another day. I do want to recommend something else that you…

...may not know about that can help you get the sleep you need:

Supplements

Taken at bedtime, these supplements can lower your stress, calm your brain, and help you drift off to La La Land:

• GABA: GABA calms activity in the limbic system, regulating the production of cortisol
  
  

• L-theanine: This is a calming supplement. It reportedly increases alpha waves in the brain
  
  

• Phosphatidylserine: Known to dull the rise of cortisol levels and reduce cortisol caused by physical stress
  
  

• L-tyrosine: Combats fatigue and anxiety symptoms related to stress.

Other Tips For a Good Night’s Sleep

• Read in Bed: Calming activities, such as reading (in print, not your e-reader), will help you wind down and slow your brainwaves.
  
  

• Get Off Your Computer: The light emanating from your device actually activates your brain.
  
  

• Eat Early: Eat your large meal 2-3 hours before bedtime. If you get hungry, have a light snack 45 minutes before you turn in for the night.
  
  

• Lights Out: Research has shown that the deepest, most relaxing sleep occurs when the room is dark; wear a soft eye mask if need be.
  
  

• Set Limits: Alcohol, cigarettes and caffeine can disrupt sleep. ‘Nuff said.
  
  

• Turn Off the TV: While it’s tempting to”veg out” or “drift off” in front of the television at night, programs that spike your adrenaline (intense action, violence or crime) are completely counterproductive to your sleep goals. And, if you fall asleep with the TV on, the lights will actually disrupt your all-important sleep cycles...see “Get Off Your Computer,” above.)
  
  

• Restorative Poses: Certain “restorative” poses and movements in Yoga and Tai Chi have been reported to aid in your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.
  
  

• Pink Noise: Sounds of running water (I’m not talking about a plumbing emergency here), wind through leaves and rain falling are not only soothing, but they block out other, more distracting noises.

Meditation and Sleep Technology

The most effective method I’ve ever found for decreasing limbic system activity (and regulating cortisol levels) is meditation.

The problem with meditation is that few people actually are willing to do it!

Meditation is hard to learn, and it takes a long time to see significant results.

Thankfully, it’s now possible to create the same brain changes as traditional methods, in a fraction of the time, using a technological approach.

Centerpointe’s Holosync technology does exactly that. We even make soundtracks for insomniacs.

💡 Check it Out!

Holosync Sleep Suite II

($50 Off When You Grab it Today)

Those soundtracks for insomniacs Bill mentions have a personal story behind them.

For years, Bill struggled with his own sleep. So he worked with our audio engineers to build Holosync soundtracks that guide your brain through the same stages he describes above: from light relaxation into deep delta sleep, then into dreaming REM and back again.

Holosync Sleep Suite II is the remastered version of those soundtracks. We refined the brainwave transitions and added new tools for middle-of-the-night wakeups, racing thoughts and daytime exhaustion.

No pills. No contraptions. Just press play.

And right now, Holosync Sleep Suite II is $50 off.

As Bill put it, good sleep is a necessity, not a luxury.

🤯 Hack-Worthy

Set an Alarm to Go to Sleep

Bill's tips work best as a routine. But most of us only remember them after an hour on the couch with the TV still on.

Here's an easy fix: set an alarm for bedtime, not just for the morning.

1. Pick your lights-out time. Choose a bedtime that leaves you enough hours before your morning alarm.

2. Set a "wind-down" alarm 30 to 45 minutes earlier. Give it a friendly label like "Time to wind down" so it feels like an invitation, not a nag.

3. When it goes off, start the routine. Screens off. TV off. Lights low. (Sound familiar? Those come straight from Bill's list.)

4. Make the last step the same every night. Bill explains that your cortisol should be low by bedtime. A wind-down alarm gives your brain the same signal at the same time every night that the day is done. Once it becomes a routine, your brain automatically starts the cycle.

You already set an alarm to wake up. This one helps you get the sleep that makes waking up easier.

🔊 Marc's Sound Lab

The Sound That May Deepen Your Sleep

Bill’s essay mentions pink noise: running water, wind through leaves, rain falling.

If you’ve never heard the term, here’s the difference. White noise is the hiss of an untuned radio, with every pitch at the same strength. Pink noise turns the high end down, so it sounds deeper and softer. Think of steady rain or a distant waterfall.

Researchers at Northwestern University wanted to know if that sound could do more than cover up other noises.

They brought 13 adults aged 60 and older into a sleep lab for two nights. On one of those nights, a computer tracked each sleeper’s brainwaves and played a soft burst of pink noise right as their deep-sleep waves were rising. The volunteers didn’t know which night was which.

After the night with sound, their deep sleep had increased. And on a memory test the next morning, they did about three times better than after the quiet night.

It was a small study. But what fascinates me as a sound designer is why it worked. The sound by itself wasn’t the secret. The timing was. The pink noise worked with the brain’s own rhythm instead of competing with it.

-Marc

📣 Your Opinion Matters!

Where do you struggle most with sleep?