Over half of Americans report not getting enough sleep (Gallup poll Dec 2023). 

Are you one of them?

If you are, I'd like you to know two things: 

• Sleep can improve significantly with small changes in diet and lifestyle.

• Getting enough sleep and feeling rested are significant factors in your health and longevity. 

Sleep is critical to achieving optimal health and performance, aging well, and preventing illness and disease. The consensus is that 7-9 hours of sleep a night is what most of us need to optimize our health and performance. If you are not getting that and/or do not feel rested in the morning, you might be a tweak or two away from getting a good night's rest. 

Think D.I.N.E. Most of us like to, so it should be easy to remember. 

De-stress throughout your day.

Input the good stuff—mostly plant food and renewing emotions.

Nature every day.

Evolve ongoing.

These four opportunities can make significant improvements in how well you sleep, as well as improve your overall health and quality of life. 

De-stress

I can't recommend enough spending a few minutes during your day to de-stress. Unattended stress accumulates, causing us to process it at night when we're still and during sleep. We often wake up at night only to process the event, situation, or conversation in an even more stressful state. Accumulating stress also makes reactive behavior much more likely, typically adding something else to attend to. 

Here's a wonderful tool to de-stress during your day—when walking into a meeting, during the meeting, before and after the conversation, in a line, in traffic, before a test. Proactively and preventively, do this five or more times/day.

Focus your attention on the area around your heart or the center of your chest. Now, take some breaths, a little slower and deeper than usual, as if the air is coming in and out of your heart or chest area. Find a rhythm that is easy and comfortable for you. Repeat this for a couple of minutes.

You don't have to close your eyes or take time away from what you are doing. I often say, "You have to breathe anyway. You might as well breathe in and out of your heart, regardless of where you are, what you are doing, and who you are with. We call this technique Heart-Focused Breathing.

I do Heart-Focused Breathing during Zoom meetings, listening to the news, brushing my teeth, and talking with a friend or colleague. Why? I want my heart engaged, my head clear, my heart rhythm to brain smooth and orderly, and I want to maintain calm and inner peace, regardless of what is going on, who I am talking with, and where I am. It's a terrific habit to build; it just takes doing it to create the habit. 

For an extra boost to your energy and day, add a second step:

Once you have taken several breaths in and out of your heart or chest area, feel a renewing feeling such as care, appreciation, compassion, or kindness for someone, something, or a special place in your life. Breathe that feeling in and out of your heart for a few minutes. 

We call this technique Quick Coherence® (Heart-Focused Breathing + feeling a renewing feeling). Now, you're creating the optimal state of heart coherence, a smooth and orderly heart signal to the brain where health, performance, and communication are optimized. In a stress state, your heart signal to the brain is erratic, causing a fight-flight-freeze response. We now know we can shift the heart rhythm in just seconds to minutes—anywhere, any time, creating an optimized state for communication, performance, and creativity.

Input

Input the good stuff! I always say fuel your body well, nutritionally AND emotionally. The more plant food you eat, the better. 

Think 90/10—90% plant food and 10% other. So, working to get closer to that ratio will go a long way to improve your energy throughout the day, your performance, and your health—short and long-term. 

And the same goes for our emotions: think 90/10. Renewing feelings 90% of your day, like care, appreciation, compassion, and kindness, will make you healthier and happier. Feelings like worry, frustration, anger, and overwhelm deplete you and those around you—your health, relationships, and performance. Strive not to spend more than 10% of your waking hours hanging out with depleting feelings.

The one and two-step techniques above (see De-stress) will seal the deal when it comes to feeling more renewing feelings throughout your day and putting the good emotions in—proactively and preventively. 

Nature

Why is Finland consistently, 7 times now in a row, ranked the happiest country in the world? (UN World Happiness Report)

One of the top reasons is the people in Finland are likely to spend some time each day in nature. 

"In Finland, you are never more than a 10-minute walk from a park or forest. Clean water, unpolluted air, and unspoiled nature greatly contribute to wellbeing and happiness – and nurture creativity." 

(https://www.businessfinland.com/press-release/2024/why-is-finland-the-happiest-country-in-the-world-for-the-7th-time/#:~:text=Finland is ranked highly for, to well-being and productivity)

Evolve

We are here to evolve. This is our shared purpose—to bring light into our lives and the lives of others. With ongoing growth and transformation, we get closer to fulfilling our shared and unique purposes.

Evolving comes with daily practice. The first critical step is de-stressing and feeling more renewing feelings (care, appreciation, love, kindness, and compassion) than depleting feelings (worry, angst, anxiety, anger, frustration, overwhelm) throughout your day. De-stressed, you can stop reactive behavior in its tracks. As you stop reactive behavior, you can grow. And with growth comes transformation.

I begin and end my day with a 10-minute heart meditation using a longer form of the Quick Coherence technique described above. I want to start my day and end it with a smooth and orderly heart signal to my brain, for my best self during the day, and a de-stressed person at the end of the day in need of a good night's sleep. 

During the day, I recommend using the same techniques so that you stay on the renewing side of the equation rather than depleting. Worry, frustration, overwhelm, and anxiety deplete your body, mind, and spirit. With a change of heart (sending a smooth, orderly signal to the brain), you move into renewing yourself, the situation, and those around you.

Minimize exposure to negativity. Opt for positive instead—feelings, people, news, events, and conversations.

Surrounding yourself with positive people on the path is also vitally important. We are the company we keep, so surround yourself with enlightening books/podcasts, people, and nature. Your surroundings infuse you as you infuse your surroundings with the energy you carry. Make it the renewing kind!

And very importantly, look at every situation and person in your life as a gift—an opportunity for growth and transformation. Ask yourself, why is this person or situation in my life right now? There is a reason. Discovering it is part of your destiny, joy, and fulfillment. 

So remember to DINE. De-stress. Input the good stuff. Get out in nature daily. Evolve and plan for it every day.

Now, imagine yourself de-stressed, putting in the good stuff (more plant food and more renewing feelings than depleting ones), out in nature in that special place you like to go to, and recognizing as things occur, they are meant to happen so that you can grow. As you grow, you handle the situation and your life very positively—for the good of yourself and all concerned. 

Do you think you might sleep better?