Do you struggle with sleep or feel like rest is always just out of reach? This episode dives into the essential role that quality sleep plays in our health, energy, and productivity. Join Dr. Wendy Bazilian to explore the science of sleep, how it impacts everything from our metabolism to mood, and why sleep is a powerful investment in ourselves. You’ll discover simple, practical tips for better sleep hygiene, such as creating a sleep-friendly environment and enjoying foods that support a healthy circadian rhythm, and take part in a mindful minute exercise to release stress from the day. Together, let’s embrace small, intentional changes that can make a significant impact on how we feel in our waking minutes because when we reclaim our rest, we thrive.

FROM THE EPISODE:

“Have there been times when you have had less sleep, less sleep than you need and actually started craving things and sort of curious later, like why am I gravitating toward that food? It has to do with sleep and our hormones.”

WE DISCUSS:

(6:15) Why sleep is the ‘golden chain’ that ties health and our bodies together’

(11:50) Science-backed ROI: How sleep impacts appetite hormones, weight management, blood sugar, metabolism, longevity, and more

(20:34) Foods that can help promote a healthy sleep cycle

(23:40) Storytime: The ‘worry tree’ and letting go of stress

(26:20) A mindful minute inspired by the 'worry tree' and creating space for rest and renewal

(29:28) Practical tips for better sleep hygiene with a three-step approach for better sleep 

(40:40) A question to ponder and reflect on

(41:20) Closing remarks and gratitude to my incredible team and you!

CONNECT WITH WENDY

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Visit my website: wendybazilian.com

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Thank you for tuning in to 1,000 Waking Minutes and being part of this journey–together. A huge thank you to our amazing collaborators including our production and marketing teams and Gabriela Escalante in particular. To the ultra-talented Beza for my theme music, my lifelong friend and artist Pearl Preis Photography and Design, to Danielle Ballantyne, Jen Nguyen, Joanna Powell, and of course, my family and everyone working tirelessly behind the scenes.

Health Disclaimer: The information shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and should not be considered individual medical or health advice. Always consult with your trusted healthcare provider before making any changes to your diet, exercise, or medical treatment.

Many a striving steel-willed soul, Thomas Edison among them, has tried to shun

sleep, considering it an indulgence for the weak or lazy. But science tells

another story. Sleeping hours are essential for maximizing our waking

hours and optimizing overall health. We experience 1,000 waking minutes on

average every day. How are you spending yours? I'm Dr. Wendy Bazilian and you're

listening to 1,000 Waking Minutes. I can't wait to connect with you here with

practical ways to eat well, move daily, and be healthy. To optimize every waking

minute you live for a happier, healthier life. Thank you for sharing some of your

waking minutes with me today. Let's get started.

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream. Do you remember that song? It rolls out of my

head, just those notes up the chord getting started. And if that's any

indication of what we're talking about today, then you are right. Welcome back to

1,000 Waking Minutes. I'm Dr. Wendy Bazilian, your host. And if you're new here, I'm so

glad you found us. And for those of you who've been with me for a while now, thank you for

sticking around because guess what? We're already on episode eight today! And I have

heard as I was planning and thinking about starting a podcast that many podcasters apparently

quit after episode seven. So guess what? We're just getting started. I'm so excited. Anyway,

today we're talking about something that doesn't always get the credit it deserves. And that

is sleep. This podcast is called 1,000 waking minutes. But in a 24 hour period, we have

1,440 minutes in a day. 440 of those minutes, or about seven to eight hours, are meant

for rest. And the rest of our 1,000 waking minutes will feel a whole lot better if you

make time for rest. So this topic is always important, given that we spend nearly a third

of our lives sleeping. But particularly now as daylight savings ends, it's a perfect time to

chat about sleep. Shifting the clocks, we call it 'falling back', as we might say, it might give us the

extra hour of day time because of the nature of what we do to the clock. But it also throws off

our rhythm. And I know I'm not the only one who feels a little off balance for a couple days

after that time change. This time of year is also busy for a lot of us as we start to feel the

strain of that fourth quarter. We're heading into the holidays, we're balancing our work deadlines,

we're juggling family life and family gatherings. And it can get overwhelming if we're not careful.

That's why today's episode isn't about perfect sleep. It's about small real life changes to get

better sleep a little bit better, and things we can do right now to help us feel more rested,

more productive, more connected, and more energized during our 1,000 waking minutes we have

every day. So here's something funny: Thomas Edison, the man who gave us electric light

and literally changed how we spend our nights - enlightened - thought that sleep was a waste of time.

He thought it was a relic from our cave days. He bragged about getting only three to four hours

of sleep a night. But here's the thing. Edison napped all the time. His assistants and students

apparently outed him on this. He couldn't even out-invent biology, and neither can we. And that's

the truth about sleep. You can't outwork or outthink it. Believe me, I've tried. You've

probably tried at times. For years, we took the red eye on the West Coast at the end of a work day

overnight and tried to get off and running, fresh start [on the East Coast]. No one would miss us because everyone in

the United States was sleeping during that time, and get off and running, trying to juggle work

and life and everything in between. As a parent, and if you're a caregiver for younger or older

individuals, you can understand how hard it is to fit sleep in at times. And if you're ambitious

and you've got goals, you probably, you know, get excited and it can be hard to sleep for a variety

of reasons. It's certainly tough. But I also know how crucial it is to make time for it.

The good thing is I have always loved a good, productive nap. That and some other practices

have helped keep me energized and healthy over time. So this episode of 1,000 Waking Minutes

is about reclaiming some of those 440 minutes that we devote to sleep so we can feel sharper

and healthier and find our days more fulfilling and our choices easier to make. Frankly,

there's a beautiful quote by Thomas Dekker, the 17th century playwright, that sort of sums up

what we're talking about. And I'm going to come back to him and a poem that he wrote later in

the episode. But he said, "Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together."

So one thing I want to get fully entrenched in you by the end of this episode is just how critical

sleep is to our productive life, particularly our health. And sleep isn't a waste of time. In fact,

we've been talking about its connection for centuries. But modern science just in the last

few decades has really started to emerge to show us how and why it's so critical to our biological

health and how well we age. This is an investment that helps everything else run smoother during

our restful and our waking minutes of the day. So let's dive in to some of the science-backed reasons

why these 440 minutes of sleep are essential and how reclaiming them can make all the difference.

And this is what I call the ROI, the returns on investment or benefits of getting adequate sleep.

So I've got a little story about a good friend of mine and a mentor, a member of my doctoral

advisory committee, actually for my dissertation, a brilliant nutrition researcher who's published

hundreds of important papers about nutrition and health. One particularly notable: a landmark study

connecting nuts, particularly walnuts and cardiovascular health. Well, he would tell a

story, and this is my version of his story, that when he first moved from Spain, where he hails

from, to California many years ago, he was already in a pattern, a cultural pattern, of siestas.

And he felt an important part of his life, but he found pretty quickly that his siesta ritual,

his cherished midday rest, wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms here in the U.S.

And I'm adding a little bit of my own embellishments to this story, but I have a pretty good

recollection having heard him tell me it a couple different times over the years.

AND because I totally already valued the power of a power nap and how clear and productive I felt

after taking one, but not everyone understood and there wasn't sort of the science and the growing

support. And I would say that in some areas, there still isn't sort of the understanding and value

of how important sleep is, which I'm hoping to convince you of today. Well, as I recall,

his colleague's response ranged from funny looks to curiosity to quiet judgment on this idea of

a siesta. Being very clever as an individual and always sort of being able to read the room,

I would say, he would muse that he would call it something different. He started calling his

siestas his 'Zen yoga' or 'Zen meditation' and said sort of "just like that, no one hardly even batted

an eye" moving forward. I always got such a kick out of this idea of sort of reframing

something that you wanted to do. He was super highly productive, had a massive teaching schedule,

was publishing day over day and involved in leading primary investigations on diet and health.

And still he had to sort of find a way to communicate his desire, his need for that time,

that midday siesta. Us being Southern California, we were, you know, a little bit more open already...

It's already part of the language, yoga and meditation. And so, you know, it's become a part

of our terminology. And so it worked. But I want to underscore here and ahead, sleep and rest

is never a sign of weakness or being unproductive. Sleep is a universal need. It's a basic need.

It's not only about turning down our temperature, putting our bodies to rest, it's about restoration.

It's about health, as you will see. The idea that we should somehow be proud about lost sleep,

maybe you've run into individuals who said, you know, sort of proudly stated, almost like

competitively, how little sleep they've gotten. Well, I think it's a bit of nonsense. And it's

sort of gotten us buried in this cultural language of success and competition being measured by,

you know, how much we can suffer to live. And when we sleep well, we actually live better.

That's the reality. So perhaps we can think of it as powering down to power back up to getting

those recharges, whether it's through a nap, or working toward getting more efficient, effective,

and restful sleep at night. All right, so let's get into the science because sleep isn't just

the downtime. It's essential maintenance and restoration for everything from your metabolism

to your memory. First, one benefit: weight management and appetite, hormone control and

regulation. In a study out of the University of Chicago, researchers found that people who missed

out on sleep, crave snacks with twice the fat content as those who got eight hours of rest.

So think about it. Have there been times when you have had less sleep, less sleep than you need,

and actually started craving things and sort of curious later, like, why am I gravitating toward

that food? It has to do with sleep and our hormones. It's not just that we're looking for

energy. We have two important hormones that are playing tug of war, commonly in our body.

And when we're low on sleep, these two hormones are called ghrelin and leptin.

They sort of get sluggish. They get crisscrossed. They don't operate properly. Ghrelin is which

tells you to eat. It goes up when you're low on sleep. It says eat more. Why? Probably because

our ancestors probably had to keep going and stay awake to move to find more food or

to get where they need to go or outrun. They probably needed it for that reason.

But now the result is that when we're low on sleep, our ghrelin still goes up,

but it commands us during our waking hours to eat more. Leptin is another hormone which tells

your body that you're full, you're satisfied. And it just doesn't show up for the job the same

when you're low on sleep. It goes down when you're awake and are low on sleep.

So those late night munchies you get or wondering why you crave cookies at midnight or

after a rough day or rough night or midday even the next day is likely associated at least in part

with the quality of your sleep. It's not just in your head. It's literally your body trying to fuel

up, trying to make sense of this little bit of deprivation that's incremental over time. Poor

sleep also makes it easier to store the food that you eat as fat, unfortunately, and research has

supported that. So it's sort of like a double whammy. Not only are you getting all signals to

eat more, you're not getting the signal to stop and your body set up to go store those extra

calories easier than it would otherwise as fat. Benefit number two: better blood sugar regulation

and impact on diabetes risk. In fact, better sleep lower diabetes risk, poorer sleep increases

diabetes risk. So sleep plays a big role in blood sugar control. In fact, they're sort of besties,

this idea of blood sugar and sleep for our body. One affects the other. When one is off,

the other literally struggles. A 2020 study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology

and Metabolism found that even a few nights of poor sleep raises your hemoglobin A1c levels.

That's a marker of your blood sugar and how it is running over the course of a three-month or

approximately 90-day span. Without quality sleep, your insulin regulation goes haywire

for the next day and ongoing, and it makes you also feel tired and cranky. You're not putting

the sugar where it needs to go to make the energy. Plus, your blood sugar goes up, your [blood and insulin] regulation

goes down, and it sets us up for a lot of problems, not to mention increased risk if you're at risk

for diabetes, more increased risk of prediabetes and diabetes. So think of it like this. If you're

not getting enough sleep, your body struggles to process the sugar efficiently during the day for

energy, leading then to a dreaded sugar crash. So again, it becomes this big, messy cycle.

Another very recently published study of more than 84,000 participants conducted

by the Brigham and Women's Hospital found that even minor inconsistencies in your sleep pattern,

like shifting your bedtime by an hour, can contribute to health risks. Now, this is something that a lot

of us are likely to do at times. It found that individuals with the most irregular sleep durations

faced a 34% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This is another reason why you may

have heard before, but having consistent sleep routines, including the weekends, may be more

beneficial to health. This research highlights the metabolic consequences of inconsistent sleep

durations and schedules. This was published in Diabetes Care just recently, several months ago.

So this study reinforces the ROIs and the importance of maintaining consistent sleep

for all the other benefits I'm going to say. Even small shifts in your bedtime can have longer-term

effects, making regular and quality sleep super important for how you will live your 1,000 waking

minutes day after day. The third benefit is improvements on cognitive performance and

decision-making. Have you ever felt like you're absolutely running on empty after a bad night of

sleep? I have. That's not just your imagination, for sure. Here's the kicker. Harvard Medical School

researchers found that being sleep-deprived slows down your reaction time as much, if not more,

than being legally intoxicated. Let me say that again. Being sleep-deprived slows down your

reaction time as much, if not more, than being legally intoxicated. So this isn't just about

feeling groggy. It's about how you show up in life, really. Fatigue itself has been shown to impair

motor function, affects our sense of timing, whether you're an athlete looking for a performance

edge or someone trying to excel at a project at work or maybe just getting through the day without

another cup of coffee to try to stimulate you, and I've been there too. Good sleep sharpens your

decision-making, your focus, and your performance, and it's measurable. A fourth benefit is mental

health and mood. Mental health, something we all know is tied to how we sleep already, plays a huge

role in our mood. Studies show that even mild sleep deprivation can lead to irritability,

depression, or just being edgy, you know, that place where you just can't shake it, you feel like

you're just 'on edge'. That's because sleep is essential to our well-being and to regulating,

helping us regulate our emotions and our mood. In one review in the journal Sleep Health, researchers

noted that people who improved their sleep habits saw measurable improvements in anxiety and

depressive symptoms. Another benefit is immune function and longevity. Sleep plays a huge role

in supporting a healthy immune system. If you've ever had that like rundown feeling after too many

sleepless nights where you're just not getting, you know, enough sleep on a many-day basis,

or if you've actually pulled an all-nighter and then suddenly you get a terrible cold,

it's like adding insult to injury and you're like, "why now?!" You just made it through, you thought.

Well, this isn't a coincidence. There's actually research from the journal Nature Communications

that showed that people who sleep less than six hours a night are four times more likely to catch

a cold than those getting a full night's rest, those 440 minutes on average. And why is that?

Well, because sleep is more than rest. It's more than catching a few Zs. It really is what allows

our body to build immunity. I love the word restorative because of all the things that

that can connote, all those things that it can do. During sleep, we repair ourselves,

we build tissue, we fight off infection, we fight off the stuff of the day before,

we set ourselves up for a bright start for tomorrow. And that's why people who get consistent

sleep not only tend to feel better, they tend to live longer, healthier lives as well.

And finally, I want to just mention a few foods that can healthfully impact our metabolism and

our sleep, a little bit of synergy here. I've written a number of articles, done some television

segments... you know that I love nutrition because that's my primary degree in public health

nutrition, but there are actually some foods that can help promote a healthy sleep cycle,

the circadian rhythm, the rhythm of our day of being awake when we're awake, winding down when

it's time to rest, to rest well instead of being awake when we're supposed to sleep. Bananas,

pineapples, and oranges can help your body create melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate sleep.

So melatonin does not put you to sleep, but having adequate melatonin and melatonin produced

in the body can help us maintain a healthy sleep cycle. Another two foods, tart cherries that I've

talked about before, and walnuts contain melatonin. They're natural sources of melatonin.

And along with magnesium that walnuts contains, magnesium can help relax our muscles and our

and help make our sleep time more restful. Some people with restless leg syndrome or that get

muscle cramps at night benefit from having magnesium either as a supplement, but certainly

getting it in their foods. So thinking about simple snacks like whole grain crackers with

cheese offers tryptophan, an amino acid that helps serotonin and melatonin. So what you eat

during the day can actually set you up for better rest at night. They won't make you sleepy,

but they'll help your circadian rhythm, that sleep cycle. So the takeaway from all of these benefits

is now, you know, sleep is not just about rest. It's about our essential maintenance of the body.

It's for our mind and our mood and everything in between. It provides our body with what it

needs to perform, to think, and to even stave off illness. And we know it can help our mood.

We just know that inherently. There's words like 'moody' for a reason and 'crabby' when we haven't

slept well. The perks of sleep extend into our decisions during the day too, so it affects

everything, you know, our blood sugar regulation and even how our hunger and satiety hormones

work during our 1,000 waking minutes. And I can't emphasize enough that sleep, those 440 minutes,

is really about what you get during the sleep, but it importantly impacts our waking minutes

so that we can do all the heavy lifting that we need to do during our day to perform and feel well.

So the good news is even small changes can make a big impact and that can start tonight.

You know how some stories just stick with you because they say something really meaningful

in a simple way? Well, this is one of those for me. It's called The Worry Tree by an unknown author,

and it's one that always comes to mind when I think about letting go of stress

and how important it is to set things down at the end of the day so they don't follow you

into the night and through the night. I've shared this with classes and workshops over the years,

and I think it's such a beautiful reminder that while we all carry worries, we also have the

ability to choose where we put them. In other words, how we carry and handle them in our lives.

Here's the story. It goes like this. A carpenter was working to restore an old farmhouse.

He'd had a terrible, defeating day. A flat tire cost him an hour of work already,

his electric saw quit, and then his old pickup truck wouldn't start. By the end of the day,

he was frustrated and exhausted. The farmhouse owner offered to drive him home.

As he did, something interesting happened. Before the carpenter walked through his door,

the farmhouse owner noticed that he paused beside a small tree. The carpenter reached out

and touched the tips of its branches. As if by magic, he underwent an amazing transformation,

and his whole demeanor changed. He smiled, stood a little taller, and went inside to

greet his wife and children with happy hugs and kisses. Later, when the farmhouse owner

asked him about the tree, the carpenter explained, Oh, that's my worry tree. I know I can't help

having worries on the job, but my worries don't belong in the house with my family.

So I hang them on the tree every night when I come home. He pauses and then adds, The funny

thing is, when I come out in the morning, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up

the night before. Obviously, that strikes a chord with me, and I find it so powerful,

and almost every time I get so choked up about that story. I love it because it reminds us that

even though we can't avoid stress or control everything, we can decide not to carry it all

with us everywhere. And sleep, just like life, gets a little easier when we leave some things

behind. Sometimes just setting it down, even symbolically, can help us sleep better and live

better. And I'm going to encourage you to do this as you cross the threshold into your bedroom

to rest each night as well. Now, let's take a moment to pause with a Mindful Minute,

because small pauses like this are where good habits begin. This is one inspired by The

Worry Tree story, and I invite you to imagine your own version of a worry tree. This exercise

will help us gently set things down so we can later drift into a more restful night,

or just enjoy a moment of calm during our busy days. I'll prepare and guide you for a moment,

and then I'll leave space for you to breathe, reflect, and release. Now, before we begin,

close your eyes, if it's safe to do so, and take a slow, deep breath in. Picture a tree

in front of you. Maybe it's a tree you know, or one from your imagination. Notice its branches

swaying lightly, and the way the leaves move with the breeze. This is your worry tree.

Now, imagine yourself reaching out and placing today's worries, like setting down pieces,

or maybe it's one heavy bag on the tree. Now, let's begin our mindful minute. Just continue

to lighten your load onto the sturdy tree branches as you breathe. Feel your body soften as you exhale.

Feel lighter. The load is lifting. Breathe in slowly, and as you exhale, feel the relief of

knowing you don't have to pick those worries back up, at least not tonight, or maybe not at all.

On our last breath here, allow yourself to feel the space you've created

as if your mind is clearing, making room for rest. Okay? Small moments like this,

where we give ourselves permission to set things down, are where good sleep begins.

Just like the carpenter's tree, this is a practice you can use anytime, before bed,

after a stressful day, or whenever you need a moment to reset. Sleep comes easier when we

leave a little bit of the day behind. Whether it's tonight or another day,

know that you can always come back to your own version of a worry tree. Thank you for sharing

that Mindful Minute with me. Now, let's get practical. You don't have to overhaul your

entire life to sleep better. Small tweaks can make a huge difference. If you have very poor sleep,

it might take a few steps in the process, but small steps, I promise, you can make enhancements

right away. Pick one or two things to try and build from there. Here's where you can start.

I have three main areas that I'm going to talk about, a three-step approach, let's say. The

environment, the wind-down routine, and easing into sleep. First, the environment. Make your

bedroom a sleep sanctuary. I call this 'going to the dark side'. Using blackout curtains or covering

small digital lights, I can't emphasize enough. Take inventory of how many little lights you can

see in your room when the lights are out. If you wear glasses or are nearsighted - I wear

contact lenses and glasses - and tiny little lights become huge lights in the night, if there are

lights in the room. Even the light from a phone charger can disrupt melatonin production. Block

it out like a sleep ninja that you are. There are all kinds of tricks that you can do to still keep

them functioning if you have anything with a remote control. Next, within the environment,

keep the room cool. You're better to have some blankets on you, but keeping the atmosphere,

according to research, between 60 and 68 degrees can help trigger melatonin production in your body

and help you sleep longer. So you might want to cuddle down, or if you're like me, I get colder

when I'm tired, so I want to really bundle, bundle up. But try to keep the overall ambience

a little bit cooler in the room and use blankets, and then you can peel some of those off as the

night goes on for better sleep. Also try, within your environment, to ditch your phone. Use a

non-smartphone digital or analog clock to avoid falling into what I call, not the rabbit hole,

but the 'scroll hole' at night. Trust me, Instagram will still be there in the morning, as we all know,

but really trying to keep that phone out of the room, unless it's there for emergencies,

and then still keep it at a distance and use something else for an alarm.

So the second tip is creating a wind-down routine. So it's about the routine. First and foremost,

I say 'close the kitchen' at the right time. Finish eating two to three hours, preferably before bed,

so your body can focus on restoration, not digestion, when it's sleeping. Sometimes we

forget that there are actual things going on when you're sleeping, and digestion is one of them,

especially if you've got a heavy load in your system. It's got to keep working. In fact,

I always picture it like construction workers pulling up the bright lights if you've had a late

night dinner that's heavy. It's working all night on your digestion instead of all the other great

things that I mentioned before that it wants to do, like your immune system and building new cells

and all the good stuff. So if you need to have a little snack within that two to three-hour window,

keep it light and maybe focus on some of those foods that I mentioned before.

A couple crackers with a little bit of cheese, a few tart cherries, or yes, some warm milk might

do the trick. I have a little recipe I call chamomilk, which is a chamomile flower tisane,

or 'tea' with some milk, which can help you ease into sleep, but part of your wind-down routine.

Try establishing a practice of unplugging at a certain time before you go to bed,

maybe an hour before your bed, and give your brain a break from the screens.

If you can't resist a little bedtime screening [time], at least switch the screen image to be black screen

with white letters instead. It's easier and it reduces the blue light that's coming in

and kind of affects our sleep hormones and can interfere with sleep.

As I mentioned before, you can sip something before bed. You can have a little bit of chamomilk

or an herbal tea, something cozy and calming, something warm and soothing, and then take that

final trip to the bathroom so that you don't wake up needing to go to the bathroom in the middle of

the night. You want to minimize that. The third of the three steps is easing into sleep and relax

your way into your sleep routine. This is about finding your own sweet spot, making sure that you

find your right position. Preferably and optimally, it's sort of like laying on your left side can help

with digestion. Maybe a small pillow between your knees to help with alignment. Investing in a good

pillow which you may need to try out, not the one that looks good on the bed, that's what the

throw pillows are for, but the one that actually helps you rest. And then establishing what is your

easing into sleep routine is going to look like. We've 'wound down' and now we're actually going to

sleep. If you've heard of white noise, I encourage you to think about a newer term, if you haven't

heard it, called pink noise. You can download apps that have pink noise and these have been

found to be better at sort of blocking out distractions like snoring and even sirens and

things outside. Pink noise is a certain sort of frequency and wavelength, but think of it like

waves of an ocean or the gentle rainfall that keeps you really in that really meditative

sleep state and it's called pink noise. And there are some apps that are available,

there are some machines that can produce some of these pink noise sounds.

Try some aromatherapy either for a period of time as you're easing into your sleep state.

There are some diffusers that you can get that can, you can be on timers that may bring in a

little bit of a lavender scent or something that's very soothing for you, sort of like you would at a

spa. You can also put a few drops of lavender oil on your pillow, put some at your temples

or right outside your nostrils if you're not sensitive to that on your skin, that sort of

can help ease you into sleep and bring those nice aromas into your head and your mind and to be

soothing as you go to sleep. So those are the three main steps,

establishing an environment for healthy sleep, the wind down routine, and things you do to ease

into sleep. I just wanted to add a couple more tips briefly. One is the snacks that you eat,

'the sleep foods', so to speak, during your day, which can help you have more restful nights.

So remembering the bananas, pineapples, and oranges that I mentioned before that have

compounds that can help produce melatonin and help with a healthy sleep cycle.

Tart cherries and walnuts are sources of melatonin and other nutrients that can fit in your day,

either tart cherry juice, there's been some research on having tart cherry juice or concentrate

before bed, not immediately before bed, helping with healthy sleep, actual research,

and there's lots of research on walnuts that you can incorporate in a variety of ways.

One of them may help promote healthy sleep. I haven't yet mentioned pumpkin seeds and almonds,

which are sources of magnesium. Magnesium helps relax our muscles and may help us with sleep

at night, especially if you have muscle cramping or restless legs, and those are easy to combine

in your day in different kinds of trail mixes, in baked goods, on salads, and other places.

And then finally, a tip about 3Ms: movement, mood, and mindset,

simple actions. One is power naps. I mentioned napping very briefly before in my story about

the 'Zen yoga meditation', and if it feels indulgent to you to nap, I've met people who are like, nap?

I've never napped. Well, maybe you'll call it one of these things, your little 'Zen yoga' session.

But a 20-minute nap has shown to be enough to recharge your energy without disrupting

your nighttime sleep. So it's like powering down to power back up, getting a recharge.

Use the worry tree: hang up your worries. Use a symbolic worry tree in your life,

whether it's a little hook that you hang at your bedroom door, maybe a little sticker,

maybe a little picture of a tree. Touch it at night, and remember that the worries get left

there, and as you cross the threshold into the area that you sleep and rest, leave your stress

behind. You might actually find fewer worries the next day after a good night's sleep, as I'm sure

has been the case in your life. It certainly has been in mine. And then a little bit of movement,

not fast movement, we're not talking exercise here, but healthy breathing and unwinding practices

like self-massage. In other episodes, I've talked about abdominal massage that can help with

digestion that you can do at sleep, but there are ways that you can rub or massage your body

as well to release tension and help you ease into sleep. One area is your temples,

gently rub on your temples in a circular pattern. Also, my husband who practices Traditional Chinese

Medicine talks about areas at the base of the skull where the neck attaches the skull and it

gets tight and tense that you can massage that area. Not only does it feel really good, but it

can help with the circulation of the brain and the calming and soothing as well. If your feet feel

tight from a whole day on your feet or just walking around, maybe rolling your feet on a golf ball,

or if you have other kinds of tools to do some foot massage, those are ways that you can use

movement to your benefit. There's lots of tips. I don't expect you to use them all, but maybe

try one of them. These tips aren't about perfection. Life's too unpredictable for that,

and you will have nights of poor sleep, but even one or two small changes can make a big difference.

Sleep isn't just a break from the day. It's the fuel that powers your 1,000 waking minutes every

day. The choices we make about food, rest, movement, and mindset are all what set us up

to thrive tomorrow. So, which of these tips are you going to try tonight? Take one and give it a

try. If you've listened before, you know I always pose a question as we near the end of each episode.

Here's today's question, something for you to reflect upon: What's one small change you could

make tonight to reclaim a little more sleep and feel better during your 1,000 waking minutes

tomorrow? Take a moment with this question. The smallest shifts can make a big difference.

Again, here's the question. What's one small change you could make tonight

to reclaim a little more sleep and feel a little bit better during your 1,000 waking minutes

tomorrow? So, we've come a long way today talking about sleep. A quick look back on what we've

covered today. We talked about why these 440 minutes of sleep are so important to our 1,000

waking minutes, not just for rest, but our ROI, your metabolism, your mental clarity,

your performance, and your long-term health. We also explored how small practical tips can make

a big difference, like setting up your bedroom as a sanctuary, 'closing the kitchen' a few hours

before bed, and adding maybe a little lavender to your pillow, or some pink noise, or trying the 'zen

meditation power nap' during your day to your routine. Most importantly, we reminded ourselves

that sleep doesn't have to be perfect, just intentional. Even if life feels busy and

overwhelming, one or two small changes can make all the difference. And while modern science has

been showing us just recently, in the last several decades, why sleep is so critically

important to our biology and our longevity, this is not a new topic. This is a poem written by

playwright Thomas Dekker, of the quote that I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast today,

and also the inspiration of the song Golden Slumbers that the Beatles recorded on Abbey Road.

It's called Cradle Song by Thomas Dekker.

Golden slumbers kiss your eyes. Smiles awake you when you rise. Sleep, pretty wantons,

do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby. Rock them, rock them, lullaby. Care is heavy,

therefore sleep you. You are care, and care must keep you. Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,

and I will sing a lullaby. Rock them, rock them, lullaby.

And on that note, I hope that you have a wonderful, restful, and restorative night.

Thank you so much for spending some of your 1,000 waking minutes with me today. If you found

today's episode helpful, I'd love it if you'd subscribe and share it with a friend who could

use a little more sleep as well in their life. Remember, how we live today shapes how we thrive

tomorrow. So let's reclaim a few minutes of rest and wake up feeling better. Not perfect,

but better. I'm Wendy Bazilian, and until next time, be well.

Thank you for tuning in to 1,000 Waking Minutes. A huge thank you to our amazing collaborators,

including our production and marketing teams, and Gabriela Escalante in particular. To the

ultra talented Beza for my theme music, my lifelong friend and artist, Pearl Preis Photography and

Design. To Daniel Ballantyne, Jen Nguyen, Joanna Powell, and of course my family, and everyone

working tirelessly behind the scenes. And to you, our valued listeners, I so appreciate your support.

If you enjoyed today's episode, please consider leaving a comment, writing a review, and giving

1,000 Waking Minutes, that's us, a five-star rating. And please hit subscribe on Apple Podcasts,

Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts. Please follow and stay connected at wendybazilian.com.

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great content. Until next time, find some simple opportunities to optimize those 1,000 Waking

Minutes each day.