Sleep and Your Immune Response
Have you ever noticed that when you’re consistently getting poor sleep, you’re sick more often? Almost every time I come down with something I have also been neglecting proper sleep. We all know sleep is important for brain function, but it’s also critical to our immune system. Sleep strengthens your immune response and gives your body time to rest and repair to better fight off disease and pathogens you come in contact with. With everything going on in the world right now, we can use all the immune support we can get.
If you want to get a little more scientific, research has shown that quality sleep can bolster T cells in your body. T cells provide defense against pathogens and provide help for the antibody response. They are critical to the body’s immune response, and studies have proven that sleep enhances the efficiency of these cells. The recommended amount of sleep for adults is 7-9 hours per night.
Sleep Routines
Think about sleep as the most important thing you’re doing to set yourself up for success tomorrow. I talk about routines all of the time because, when practiced regularly, it’s where change and growth happens. If you want to start falling asleep more easily and enhance your sleep quality, commit to a nightly routine. It sends a message to your body that it’s time to wind-down and get into sleep mode.
To help you stay consistent with a sleep routine, identify a trigger or cue to start. Pick something that is specific and immediately actionable, like a time or a preceding event. For me, it’s when I “close down the house” for the night, which I explain more in my routine below. If you’re interested, here’s a good article about triggers, and the 5 types of cues that help habits stick.
A Few Suggestions When Creating a Sleep Routine
-Make it short, easy and only incorporate things that actually fit into your lifestyle. Start small and add on as you get more comfortable. For instance, having a bath every night isn’t an option for me, I just don’t have time. Even though it does relax me, it’s not something I include as part of my regular routine.
-Avoid blue light (found in your TV, phone, computer screen) an hour before bed. Studies have shown it to disrupt quality of sleep.
-If thinking about everything you have to do tomorrow keeps you up at night, make a to-do list of the things you need to get done before you go to sleep. Rather than bringing that stress into bed with you, write it down and leave it on the paper. It can help you fall asleep because you’re not being distracted by mental to-do lists, and you wake up knowing exactly what you need to focus on that day.
-Try to avoid alcohol before sleep. Though it may make you drowsy and help you fall asleep quicker, it actually contributes to poor quality shut-eye. It can block REM, which is the most restorative state of sleep. It also throws off our circadian rhythm, which is basically a 24-hour internal clock that is running in the background of your brain and cycles between sleepiness and alertness at regular intervals. Personally, I haven’t cut out alcohol, but when I do enjoy it, it’s usually earlier in the evening. It’s suggested that our bodies are better able to metabolize alcohol in the early evening, or around that “happy hour” time.
-Stick to a schedule - try going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time every day
- Create a relaxing sleep environment - declutter and clean your room and wash your sheets
My Night Time Ritual
Setting myself up the night before changes how I start my mornings. Haiden wasn’t a great sleeper for his first 12 months, and my sleep deprivation made me prioritize it in a whole new way. When it comes to my health, there’s little I value more than waking up feeling rested.
No one bedtime ritual will work for everyone, and mine is flexible because hello, I have a baby! But the majority of my nights are a version of this routine. Before I dive into it though, below are a few ways I set myself up for success throughout the day.
- I avoid caffeine after 2pm
- I set my phone to automatically go into “Do Not Disturb” mode from 9:30pm - 7am
- I’m particular about the content I consume. I am extremely sensitive - if it’s too violent, dark or twisted I get terrible dreams and wake up feeling restless. I don’t watch a whole lot of TV, but recently it’s been light content like Fixer Upper. I also don’t look at the news at night, but stay up to date during the day.
- If I’m having wine, I try to have a glass while I cook instead of later in the night. I’ve found that one glass doesn’t have a big impact on my sleep if I do it earlier in the evening, and my body has more time to metabolize the alcohol.
- I often have a non-caffeinated roasted dandelion tea after dinner that helps with digestion, and helps relax me at night
As I mentioned above, one thing that helps me stay consistent is identifying a trigger. This trigger cues my brain to automatically get my routine started. For sleep, it’s closing down our house. Chris and I can’t sleep with a messy kitchen, so we always clean up after dinner, put Haiden’s toys away (he's not quite old enough to do this himself!), close all of our blinds, lock the doors, set our alarm system and turn off the lights. If I want to check social media or text someone before bed, I do it before I head upstairs so that when I do, I’m sticking to my sleep routine and avoiding blue light.
Once I’m in our bedroom around 9-9:30pm I plug my phone into the charger and don’t use it for the rest of the night (except for some nights when I meditate with the Insight Timer app). Next, I change into pajamas, brush my teeth, and do my skincare routine (which includes gua sha if I didn’t have time in the morning).
Then, I turn my diffuser on using either sage or lavender essential oil. When I crawl into bed I do some deep breaths and check in with myself about the day, and do a quick mental gratitude practice. Last, I either read, do a sleep meditation, or if I’m tired enough I pass out immediately (after I kiss Chris goodnight, because that’s the best part!). Honestly, the whole routine takes maybe 15 minutes, and I feel so relaxed climbing into bed. When I settle into the night this way I always end up falling asleep more quickly and getting better quality sleep.
Like all routines, it can be a little trial and error. It’s taken some time to get my ritual down, and I'm constantly tweaking things. Start small and with anything that’s easy for you to incorporate into your night without much resistance. Once you master that, add in another element. It’s crazy how just a short routine completely changes my quality of sleep, and sets me up to feel amazing the next morning (and for my morning routine).
Remember, it's all about the little wins!
