The JD Letter

December 21, 2024

The most common, overlooked, and dangerous health problem in the world:

Lack of sleep.

It's the reason why most people are depressed, anxious all the time, and can't focus.

A third of modern societies are sleep deprived and sleep less than 8 hours but here's a fact that might surprise you:

If you go without food, water, or sleep for 24 hours, it is lack of sleep that will damage you the most.

For me, this topic hits home especially this past year.

For the first time ever, I experienced sleep paralysis, and insomnia.

Needless to say that none of these feel great when you experience it.

I used to be the type of person who would brag about how great my sleep always was. But that has changed…

It felt like my mind and body started betraying me.

At first I didn't understand why, but when I started taking more down time to reflect I realized this was a year of massive changes for me.

• I moved across the world
• I adapted to working in different time zones
• My entire routine is new

And as a consequence my sleep has been affected.

When my struggles with sleep started, I decided to dive deeper into how I could solve this issue.

The purpose of this newsletter is to share with you everything I found out about it.

Sleep & Mental Health

Here’s something most people don’t realize:

Your brain uses sleep to heal.

The longer you go without sleep, the more your body and mind deteriorate.

You get moody.

You're less productive.

Lack of sleep literally shaves years of your life.

If you have negative emotions like PTSD, trauma, or loss of a loved one, your body processes these events in the form of dreams.

These memories will keep repeating until your brain disassociates the emotions from the event.

There's science that backs this up:

The massive problem here is that fixing your sleep is not a one size fits all.

I tried everything:

• Cutting out caffeine after 12 PM
• Meditating before bed
• Keeping a consistent sleep schedule, even on weekends

Some of it worked. Some of it didn’t.

The key for me is to become extremely self-aware of how your body responds to stress, and to schedule time to rest.

Most people are stuck in the hustle culture and then wonder why they are relapsing back to sadness and numbing behaviors.

If you don't learn to listen to your body and give it time and space to rest, reset, and restore itself, your own body will do it for you. Except when it does, it won't be pretty.

I recently had a conversation with a friend who experienced this first hand. She got really sick and had to go to the hospital because she had been pushing herself to exhaustion with an insane routine of trying to balance it all out. She knew something had to change but kept pushing it, until her body shut down and said no more. I'm done.

That was her wake up call. She learned that taking time to rest and heal is the most important thing you can do for yourself.

Resting is self-care. Slowing down is self-love.

What works for one person might not work for another. But let's go over some universal tools to improve your sleep backed by science.

How to get high quality sleep

If you've read this far and are thinking of sleeping pills let me stop you right there. That is not a solution. They are sedatives and being sedated is not the same as sleep.

It's better to deal with the root cause and most common cause of insomnia:

Anxiety.

Here is a 6 step protocol to get high-quality sleep:

1. Get Morning Sunlight

As soon as you wake up, go outside for a 10-30 minute walk.

This resets your circadian rhythm and helps send a signal to your biological clock telling it it's daytime making you feel energized. When you don't get morning sunlight, you're more likely to feel tired all day.

2. Have a regular sleep schedule

Your body LOVES routines.

Most people have an alarm to wake up. Why not have one to go to bed?

A regular sleep schedule will increase the quality of your sleep.

Here’s what you’ll notice:

• Better energy
• Sharper focus
• Emotional stability

Small commitment. Life changing results.

3. Only lay in bed when you're tired

If you've been in bed for 25 mins and can't sleep, get up and go do something else until you feel sleepy.

You want to train your brain to know that being in bed equals relaxation and sleep - not anxiety.

When my insomnia was at it's peak at the end of this past summer, this tool was a game changer.

My anxiety with sleep got so bad to the point where I literally started to feel anxious anytime I laid in bed and my brain would go "here we go again another sleepless night".

You will feel annoyed if you have to get up and do something else in the middle of the night. But trust me, it works. It calms down the anxiety you start to associate when laying in bed and you can't sleep.

Instead, when you go and do something else you'll notice that you'll slowly start craving going back to bed to relax and feel cozy.

4. Night Time Routine

Sleeping isn't a flip you can switch on and off.

It's a physiological process. Your brain needs time to slowly start feeling sleepy. Create a relaxing night-time routine and stick to it.

Hot baths, meditation, reading, and journaling, are the most common for a night-time routine.

The nights I listen to NSDR (non-sleep deep rest) protocol by Dr. Huberman are my best nights of sleep. You can listen to it on YT or other streaming platforms. I highly recommend it.

5. Sleep in a cold dark room (65℉ or 20℃).

When it's time to sleep your body needs to drop it's temperature by 2-3℉.

A cold room helps drop your body's temperature faster.

That's why it's easier for you to sleep in a cold place, rather than a hot place.

6. Sleep in a Dark Room

Your body needs to release melatonin to help you fall and stay asleep.

So, for 2-3 hours before bed, it's best to stay away from screens because they act as an artificial sun, telling you it's still day time.

To all who have been grinding all year

It's holiday season.

You haven’t missed a week.

You showed up even then you didn’t feel like it.

You considered quitting more than once but yet you still pushed through it.

You went through several burnout moments.

You dropped so many limiting beliefs.

You entered rooms you never thought you would. You landed clients. You delivered excellent service. You built your first product. You did it all, you did your best.

While sitting in past achievements won’t get you to new heights, this is your invitation to rest. Like really rest.

Recharge your batteries. Slow down. Get outside more. Read more. Meditate more. Stay still and notice things around you more. Love more. Show up for yourself and others more. Drink more water. Eat more nutritious meals.

Give your mind and body the healing they need for it's been a hell of a year of grinding non-stop.

You've planted the seeds.

But this season calls for deep rest and restoration of your mind, body, and soul so that you have energy for when it's time to start collecting the fruits.

Chat next week,

Jess

Inspire, Empower, Transform.

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