Who amongst us does not experience stress? Today, I want to begin a dialog with you about some coping tools that you may find useful. Let’s start with a reset of your sleep schedule. To do this, you will need to get good quality (and quantity) sleep. The “stress hormone” cortisol regulates the production of melatonin, import and not only for sleep, but for optimizing our immune system function as well. So, if your cortisol is high, your melatonin will be suppressed, increasing your risk for sleep problems. But not only that! You may increase you chances of developing inflammatory conditions ranging from diabetes to dementia to cancer. Not to say anything about your energy and cravings for sugar and carbohydrates.

How much sleep? Aim for a minimum of seven hours. And your go to sleep and awakening times are important, too,. Try to adopt a regular sleep cycle that has you going to bed at approximately the same times each day, and awakening at consistent times, too. Of course, I would be remiss not to point out the problems of using electronic devices in the hour before sleep. Ditch the devices in favor of a hot bath, meditation, reading, or (yes) sex! Watch the caffeine and alcohol too.

I love this book: https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/1501144316. Better yet, see if your local bookseller has it. I’m Dr. Michael Hunter, and I would remind you that while we aim for 7 hours sleep minimum, we need time to go to sleep and to awaken. Calculate your sleep opportunity (time you need to be in bed to get your desired number of hours of sleep).

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