Sleep Project

APPE Rotation Home

The role of sleep in healing and as preventative medicine cannot be overstated.

For the final two weeks of rotation, you will make changes in your sleep habits to incorporate the strategies we teach.

Keep a journal of your experiences.

Some ways to achieve this:

• Play in the light – focus exercise activities in the day and early evening, and get as much exposure to full daylight as possible.
• Sleep in the dark – ensure that your sleeping environment is truly dark. (If you don’t have curtains, tack a blanket over the window. If you have electronic clocks, LED lights, etc, remove or obscure them.)
• Identify your target bedtime by determining when you have to wake up in the morning and counting back 9 hours. (For example, if you have to wake up at 7:00am, your target bedtime is 10:00pm.)
• Set a bedtime alarm for one hour before your lights-out / head-on-the-pillow target bedtime, and begin your bedtime routine when it goes off.
• Build a bedtime routine incorporating any of the following: a nervine or sedative tea, a foot bath, quiet music, reading, journaling, or other relaxing activities for one hour before bedtime.
• Minimize lighting and dim necessary lights for at least one hour before bedtime. If you don’t have dimmers, use candles or a low-watt lamp.
• Turn off all sources of media at least one hour before bedtime – television, game systems, radio, computers, phone/texting.
• Plan ahead for “bedtime boredom” – if you find yourself lying in bed unable to fall asleep, have something to occupy your mind. It could be meditation (audio-guided or self-initiated), an audiobook, a “sleepcast”, a visualization practice, etc.
• If you must use your laptop or devices after dark, use f.lux, Night Shift, or similar tools to change the quality of the light.

Also, you can work with herbs to help you relax to sleep and to sleep through the night. Try different nervine and sedative herbs and note how they work differently – such as skullcap and passionflower vs. hops and wild lettuce. This will require some research and experimentation.