The Truth About Your Cell and Your Sleep

• We all have a cell phone or device that we love and we need to love sleep, too.

How do phones affect your brain and your sleep? Let’s talk about it.

Technology

Is your mind too busy to sleep, does your mind turn off as soon as your cell does? Technology has made life easier, more efficient and more fun, but at what cost?

We are always checking emails and obsessing over social media. Technology is good at keeping us awake.

Determining Your Sleep

Life wasn’t always like this. It used to be that the when and how long of your sleep depended on the season. The only pressure to wake up for work was the sun.

What Changed?

The industrial revolution radically altered our sleep patterns. Artificial oil and gas lamps made it possible for people to work around the clock.

It was 1879 when Thomas Edison invented the incandescent light bulb which seems to have had a tremendous impact on our circadian rhythm, also known as the body’s natural wake and sleep cycle. Artificial lighting meant a much longer work day and changing our attitudes about sleep.

Blue Light

Since then, sleep patterns have continued changing. The rise of technology has brought even more disruptions to your sleep. Primary blue light used to come from the sun.

Now it’s from tvs, computers and devices. We are all constantly connected to media and other tech. Once we turn out the lamp, a lot of us will grab our phones with glowing screens, just inches away from our eyeballs. This bright light can disrupt the change from wakefulness to sleepiness.

Melatonin and Blue Light

Melatonin is naturally secreted with the onset of darkness. It rises an hour or two before bedtime normally. But that blue light we cannot get away from suppresses melatonin, signaling our brain, awake mode on.

In a study, people who used devices before bed in a study showed more disrupted sleep patterns and less rested in the morning compared to a physical book. The blue light goes right into our eyes and also causes shorter REM sleep which helps in the consolidation of memories.

Blue Light Blockers?

Experts say that the problem isn’t the blue light as much as how we use our devices. The dim light mode could help as it limits exposure to too much light at bedtime. Having devices near bed with notifications like “likes” or a text from a friend stimulates dopamine. This makes us feel happy and triggers the reward system in the brain. That’s why its hard to quit devices. And what’s hard for adults is worse for teens who don’t control their usage or have the reasoning of why.

Technology Isn’t Inherently Good or Bad

It’s not just about better sleep but also about better usage with our devices. Ways to combat tech during your sleep are to

• Use an actual alarm clock
• Use DND (do not disturb) at bedtime. This function will not allow any sounds while you sleep, or for whatever reason you turned it off. The exception are alarms, perfect. And if someone calls you more than once (like in an emergency situation) in like two minutes, it will go through as well. There are also settings for you to choose numbers/calls that come through regardless of DND.
• Use your phone at bedtime to help enhance your sleep with soothing music or a sleep winddown or sleep cast. This can be one of the best ways to help us fall asleep.

A Winddown Exercise:

• Get comfortable, flat or a little recline, knees bent if comfortable.
• Focus on letting go and relaxing into the surface your on
• Enjoy the feeling of the body letting go and relaxing into the surface beneath you
• Start with your breathing, just breathe and pay attention to your breathe. Notice where you feel your breath. within  your nose, throat, chest, and diaphragm
• Breathe in for 4, hold for 4, and breathe out for 6

Now return the breath back to normal (if you haven’t already fallen asleep=)

Another Sleep Exercise:

• Now think back to the very first part of the day, almost as if it’s a video of your day in fast forward, touching on each of the things that happened throughout the day. Reviewing them in your minds eye
• It could be as simple as getting up, having breakfast, taking a shower, and getting ready for work. Apply that level of detail as you visualize your day
• Maybe think on 20 or 25 small moments that bring you all the way up to the present moment. Repeat this review a couple of times. Each time, only take about 20 or 30 seconds, briefly thinking on your day and all the way up to the present moment
• When you reach the present moment, begin one deep breath in. As you exhale, feel your body relaxing

Is Your Mind Still Very Active?

Allow your body to continue resting but mentally and slowly, begin to count backward from 1000 to 0. Don’t rush it or try to fall asleep. Focus counting one number to the next and keep a steady pace.

As you lie there in this way, the mind and body are already at rest, getting what they need. Try not to worry too much about when sleep will come.

Did you read The Biggest Sleep Myths and Some Sleep Help?   Watch for more sleep articles to help your sleep and I wish you a great nights sleep tonight!