By Stephanie Ray, ND, BCN
73% of high school students not getting enough sleep [Link]
It is shown that a good sleep improves math skills and brain plasticity (flexibility and memory capacity) in students primary age to university level. Scientists have found that sleep impacts more than just students’ ability to perform well; it improves their ability to learn, memorize, retain, recall, and use their new knowledge to solve problems creatively. All of which contribute to better test scores.
Another interesting fact about a teen’s brain is that it's wired for a later bedtime, as compared to us snoozy adults. Indeed, studies have shown that the teen brain doesn't start releasing melatonin until around 11 p.m. and continues pumping it out until well past sunrise.
During the teen years, the body's internal sleep clock is reset to fall asleep later at night and wake up later in the morning. This change happens because teen brains make the sleep hormone melatonin later at night than kids’ and adults’ brains do. So, teens have a harder time falling asleep. Sometimes this delay in the sleep–wake cycle is so severe that it can affect a teen's daily activities. In those cases it's called delayed sleep phase syndrome or "night owl" syndrome. Add to that, late night studying or gaming with the blue light from electronic devices and these also delay the release of melatonin, making it even harder to sleep.
Helping Teens Get Better Sleep
If your teen is not getting enough sleep at night, take a look first at their sleep routine. Setting up positive and relaxing bedtime rituals with times set to transition into a different brain state, or flow, is needed to allow for new neural pathways in the brain.
First set regular bed and wake-up times. If you and your teen know what time they have to wake up in the morning, count back at least 8 hours from there. Allow an hour for some healthy sleep rituals. It’s important that once your teen begins this new ritual, they try to stick to it or as close as they can, even on weekends.
- Avoid caffeine (found in coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks, and chocolate) in the late afternoon and evening.
- Get regular exercise, but not too close to bedtime.
- If they are very tired during the day, taking a short nap, less than an hour, in the early afternoon can help. Longer or later naps make it harder to fall asleep at night.
Tips for Better Sleep | It’s a Process | Yo! Where’s my robe?
- Know the next day’s first period or commitment, plus getting ready time. Set the alarm for this and count backward 9-10 hours: This is your teen’s bedtime.
- Set up a “to go” area and arrange: Completed school work, signed permission slips (do they still have these?), water bottle, RAYZ formula Thinking Cap, clean gym clothes, sneakers. Next to this: set clothes and shoes, jewelry, watch, etc. for the next day.
- An hour before desired sleep time, turn off all screens; ie.TV, computers, and handheld devices. Tip: Put “focus” time on their phone or perhaps charge their phone outside of the bedroom.
- Take a warm shower or a bath with epsom salts – it's a perfect way to get magnesium to relax muscles and begin the process of entering hypnagogia, the process of “leading to sleep”. During hypnagogia, your teen might experience fleeting thoughts, images, or sensations as their brain starts to slow down and relax.
- Get cozy with your bedside set up: PJ’s, easy reading, music, or meditation for 20-30 minutes.
- 10-30 minutes before desired sleep time: Take Dream Machine with flower essences. Herbal and vegan sleep blend synergistically helps begin the defragmentation process of the brain going from a waking state to a sleeping state.
Example Sleep Time to Get 9 hours of Sleep:
8:00 pm - Put completed homework in your backpack and next day’s clothes out for the next day
8:30 pm - Epsom salt bath or shower
9:00 pm - In bed, with meditation app & eye pads
9:40 pm - Dream Machine - take 2-4 droppers full in water or straight in the mouth
10:00 pm - Asleep & snoozing
7:00 am - Wake up. Hygiene time, get dressed, take backpack to the front door
7:20 am - Eat breakfast. Amazing Microbiome Cereal, see recipe
7:45 am - Travel to school (assuming 30 min travel time)
8:15 am - Check into locker + walk to class
8:30 am - 1st period
Dream Machine® & RAYZ Flower Essences
If your teen has trouble winding down from noisy thoughts or just wants to ease into that sleepy twilight space before knocking off to dream world, Dream Machine can help. The herbs in Dream Machine create an effect of helping the brain relax and increase sleep time. The mind is similar to a computer, holding much information that can sometimes make it difficult to get to sleep; Dream Machine is like a defragger for the mind.*
Nightmares Happen
Teens have nightmares every once in a while. Nightmares can wake someone up during the night and make it hard to fall back to sleep. The most common triggers among them for frequent nightmares are stress or anxiousness. Flower essences are helpful in balancing the emotional and mental mind at these times.
RAYZ® formulas also utilize flower essences to address and stimulate the emotional potential for engaging in life with ease. RAYZ flower essences in Dream Machine include:
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Aspen: for night terrors; seized by sudden worries or fears for no specific reason.
Positive potential: provides a state of inner peace, security and fearlessness.
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Cherry Plum: for the fear that one is going to lose control of oneself or of acting irrationally and the fear and dread associated with such situations.
Positive potential: encourages the potential to find clarity in chaotic moments and to think rationally.
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Clematis: for a lack enthusiasm for life, often daydreaming and preoccupied with future hopes rather than current circumstances.
Positive potential: helps find concentration and to focus on what is at hand.
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Honeysuckle: for being overly attached to past memories, whether they are joyful or painful, and struggle to let go of them. Beneficial for those experiencing homesickness, nostalgia, or unresolved grief.
Positive potential: encourages embracing the present and moving forward, rather than clinging to a time of happiness or unfulfilled emotions or ambitions.
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Impatiens: we can become overly irritable, impatient or nervous at other peoples slower speed.
Positive potential: helps with the ease in dealing with life when people and situations slow you down.
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Rock Rose: where intense fear or terror is present, or there seems to be no hope.
Positive potential: for times in life when an individual needs to bring courage, calm, and presence of mind.
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Star of Bethlehem: for those experiencing significant distress, such as after receiving serious news.
Positive potential: provides comfort and emotional healing for those struggling to find inner strength.
Final Thoughts
Unfortunately, early school start times are at odds with the science, and can negatively affect a teen's ability to learn and function at their best. Barring changes on that front, the thing parents can really do is try to create the conditions for earlier sleep by putting screen-time rules in place. Namely because blue light stimulation suppresses the release of melatonin (and can be useful at times when circadian rhythm needs resetting) even more than other types of light exposure, which is the last thing your teenage night owl needs. Using the tips above will give your teen a good chance of getting the sleep they need to reset their mind and body for the new day ahead.
