It’s new challenge time again! I was thinking I would do a physically strenuous challenge for this month, but recent foot pain and dysfunction have made that option unwise at this time. Instead, I am going to do something that is long overdue. One of the areas of life I have been trying to restore in the last few years is my dysregulated sleep quality and schedule. This month is all about creating and maintaining a healthy and sustainable pre-sleep and post-sleep routine.

Here are the specifications for the challenge:

• Create a separate podcast account that is strictly for bedtime listening – I want to have a list of podcast episodes on my phone that are solely used for falling asleep and are updated regularly. What works best for me at this time, perhaps paradoxically, is casual political commentary.
• Do inversion practice for 5 minutes immediately before getting in bed – I was thinking about doing an inversion-specific challenge, but in looking into it discovered there are actually some benefits to sleep from inverting beforehand. My main focus is headstands, but I’m okay with sometimes just doing partial inversions on days I’m not feeling it.

• Decrease time spent watching TV or YouTube in bed to zero – This will be my third or fourth time to do this, but I am optimistic about it sticking this time since I’m combining it with a lot of other practices and aids. Also, I am not doing this all at once; I will taper down slowly over the course of the challenge.
• Turn off Wi-Fi at night – I had my students use an article on the dangers of wireless radiation as their scientific reasoning practice at the beginning of the year. Since that time, I have been more mindful of my own exposure. Unplugging at night is a great and easy way to reduce that, and may also have a slight impact on sleep quality.
• Reduce the amount of time between waking up and getting up – Currently, I have a series of small actions I take over the course of 30-35 minutes to gently coax myself out of bed. I developed these when simply judging myself for not getting up was unhelpful. I believe I am ready to curtail these down to maybe 10 minutes.
• Drink water with lemon first thing upon getting up – When researching effective practices to engage in immediately upon rising, drinking water was at the top of almost every list. Adding some lemon flavor can make that even better. I will start by just using essential oil and purchase and prepare some fresh lemons as I progress.
• Meditate outside for 5 minutes in the morning immediately after stretching – This will entail budgeting a few extra minutes in the morning to fit the practice in, but I think it will be worth it. Meditation has been the single most effective aid at regulating my nervous system, stabilizing my emotions, and increasing my level of gratitude. I am excited to try starting the day off with it.

I anticipate some struggles and failures as I implement these calibrations. The area of sleep has been one I’ve struggled with in different ways for decades. However, I am at a stable place in my sleep regimen currently, and hope to supercharge it over the course of this month.

Namaste.