What is the best way to reduce stress?

A lot of folks think that the best way to reduce stress is to meditate or to exercise. But there is something else that works even better.

Sleep. There is no better way to help stress dissipate from your life than doing this one thing. Stress is a normal part of life. During a pandemic, it can be particularly acute. By allowing yourself enough time to sleep and rest, you’re giving yourself the tools you need to be at your best to take on whatever comes your way. It does so much for you besides just helping to reduce stress.

Sleep repairs the brain

Your brain must descend into delta waves for about 8 hours within each 24 hour period to be able to adequately repair itself and process daily events. In fact, without adequate sleep, not only do you feel drowsy the next day, but your cognitive function suffers. You also have slower brainwave activity during the day. Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to depression, weight gain, and even a compromised immune system.

You need adequate sleep, yes. As someone who teaches and meditates everyday, I also have to mention that meditation comes in at a close second in terms of reducing stress. Because the brain enters a relaxed brain state during meditation, it’s allllmost like taking a nap (not quite – sleeping is a very different thing than meditation – but you get the idea). If you do both things, that is incredibly helpful in helping you live a more relaxed existence in general. Add in some exercise? You are on your way to a really “chill” kind of life.

Improve your sleep

If you’re like a lot of people, you spend your evening on a screen, right up until a few minutes before you head to bed. Sometimes you even take a screen (such as phone) to bed with you so you can read, or even use it as an alarm clock. As someone who lives in and participates in modern society, I, too, am guilty of this.

I’m going to give you some advice: try to avoid being on a screen right before bed, especially if you have trouble sleeping.

Blue light

Modern electronic devices emit significant amounts of blue light. You may recall from your high school science classes that red light has a long wavelength (and therefore less energy) and that blue or purple light has a short wavelength (and more energy). Just beyond the blue-violet wavelength is UV light that you cannot see, but is responsible for sunburns and even sunburn on the eyes (and you can experience temporary blindness from it). 

Blue light has its benefits, though. It’s what makes the skin produce vitamin D when you’re outside and it makes the sky blue. It can even help ease the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). During the day, the sun emits all wavelengths of light, and the blue/violet light helps with maintaining attention and wakefulness. Your body produces serotonin to help keep you awake and alert. For sleep, you need the opposite: melatonin.

You can imagine what happens when you’re trying to get some rest and you’ve been staring at a screen. When you are on a device for hours at a time, your exposure to blue light significantly increases. You probably have those energy efficient bulbs at home but…most of them are designed to put out blue light. All that blue light you see essentially tells your body that it’s “daylight.”

Blue light also contributes to eye strain, and puts you at increased risk of developing macular degeneration later on in life. It also reduces the amount of melatonin your body puts out to help you relax and go to sleep. Melatonin is essential for winding down. It’s also known to reduce the risk of cancer. This is what you want circulating around in your body when you go to bed.

Ways to improve your sleep over time

What’s a person to do? I’ve compiled some tips and ideas of what I’ve done to help improve my own sleep (and these are research-backed):

1. Limit your exposure to blue light as you are able.
2. Get eyeglasses (with a prescription for computer distance or no prescription if you don’t need it) that have an anti-reflective coating that will help filter out some of that blue light. Another option is using photochromic lenses that filter out UV and blue light indoors or out.
3. Get a blue light filter for your devices. You can try different apps, but many phones require that you do all your internet browsing within the app – so that’s a huge drawback. The Night Shift feature on Apple phones makes your screen look amber-colored, but it doesn’t reduce the blue light your phone emits by all that much. Alternatively, you can get screen protectors for your phone that block blue light. 
4. Get off all screens at least an hour before bed. A couple hours before bed is even better.
5. Try to use LED lights that have a warm-color coating on them to help block out blue light.
6. Avoid sleeping with any light. If you must have lights on to see, consider using red light (which is the lowest energy/wavelength and won’t wake you up more than you already are).
7. Keep all screens out of the bedroom – which, with even just a glance can disrupt your sleep cycle.
8. If you MUST use a phone, tablet, or computer at night, dim the screen on it at night. We’ve all had those nights where we’re trying to finish a project and need to be working. But, by reducing the screen brightness, you can reduce the amount of blue light that reaches your eyes.

The hour before bed to help you rest better

Do you have a “wind down” routine? If you answered yes, take a look at the suggestions below and evaluate your routine. If you answered no, start thinking about ways you’d like to begin the “wind down” process. By doing so, you’re teaching your body to develop a habit of slowing down before bed. This can promote a better sleep cycle over time and help reduce stress overall.

• Take a shower or bath and use aromatherapy (if you’re not too sensitive to the scents); also if you’re the kind of person who “wakes up” with a shower, you may want to avoid taking one at night)
• Drink chamomile tea or other “nighttime” tea
• Read a REAL book if you must read, choose something that won’t be so engaging that you “can’t put it down.”
• Turn off all screens and avoid using bright lights before bed
• Avoid working out or getting exercise less than a couple hours before you try to go to bed

How do you do with screen time, especially in light of the pandemic?