by Erich Sachs and Kim Brown

We all know that we need to rest. We need to take days off, sleep, and recover physically and emotionally from the demands that we put on ourselves. And yet so many people (climbers definitely included here) won’t do it. The fear of missing out is so strong that they compromise health and well-being for just one more day at the gym. Even if that day at the gym is likely to be the one that sets their rehab back another three months.

So we want you to consider the idea of rest. Over the course of this week we are going to talk about a few different types of rest that are worth considering.

Sleep!

We’re all more or less grown-ups here. We know that we need to sleep between seven and nine hours every night for our bodies and brains to be at their best. So why do so many of us choose to get not-enough sleep most nights of the week?

The fear of missing out is a huge factor for a lot of people. What’s going on at the bar? Who’s hanging out without me? What amazing experience am I missing?

I get it. We are social creatures and want to be with our people. But your body and brain pay for it. While insufficient rest can lead to poor judgement and thereby stop you from achieving what you might want in your professional or creative life, we’re here to talk about climbing, so let’s talk about it.

How can you recruit your muscles if they are exhausted? When they haven’t had the sleep they need to recover from the normal wear of a normal day, or from a gym session earlier in the week, your muscles can’t do what you want them to do.

Additionally, your decision-making ability is compromised when you don’t have enough sleep. Studies have shown that driving tired and driving drunk are equally dangerous. Now extrapolate that information into your climbing. Climbing drunk is clearly foolish. Climbing tired isn’t a lot better.

Just consider, after a long day or a hard week, skipping the bar or the party or the all-night video games and letting your body rest. Give it a chance to perform at its best, rather than trying to run your high-performance self on crappy fuel.

The morning after will feel so, so good.

__________________________

Some people sleep well anytime, anywhere. Some people can’t seem to fall asleep even when they are exhausted. Erich is the former, I am the latter. Here are seven things that have helped me sleep better.

1. Supplements

I generally take melatonin* about an hour before I want to go to sleep. Because melatonin is not appropriate for pregnant ladies, I am currently taking a tincture of skullcap in my evening tea, and it seems to be working just as well as the melatonin.

2. Tea

Sleepytime Tea, Sleepytime Extra Tea*, Nighty Night Tea, a homemade blend of catnip, skullcap, and oat tops. Any one of these will help me relax enough to fall asleep. I like to have a cup of tea about a half an hour before I go to bed. It prepares my brain and body for the transition to rest.

3. Eat Early

Eating too close to bedtime seems to make me wakeful. I have found that the sweet spot is to finish dinner at least two hours before bed so that my body has time to digest before I lie down.

4. Turn off the Screens

The light from the screen on the computer, the TV, and your phone throw off the circadian rhythm and make it harder to rest your brain. Give yourself as much time as you can before bed without the devices so that your brain can begin to unwind from all of the stimulation. An hour is great, but even half an hour can help you rest more effectively.

5. Low Lighting

This is a step beyond turning off the screens. I use the lowest lighting practical as I get ready for bed. No glaring vanity lights in the bathroom, the bedroom light on a dimmer, and the overhead lights in the rest of the house turned off after dinner. Keeping the lights low helps to signal the transition to bedtime.

6. Humidifier

This winter it has been so dry that we decided to have a cool-air humidifier in our bedroom. At first I wanted it for my skin and uncomfortably dry nose, but we quickly learned that one of the delightful side effects of well-hydrated noses was much better sleep. All of us who sleep in our bedroom–the humans, the two dogs, and the cat–are clearly sleeping much better than usual. We all know that cool rooms are better for sleep, but this takes those benefits to the next level.

Also, the quiet hum of the humidifier is an excellent source of white noise, which probably helps us all sleep more soundly.

7. Eliminate Psychic Entropy

This is a big one and takes a lot of thought, but if you can figure out what you are spending your mental energy on when you need to be resting, you can start to deal with it. A tiny example: The humidifier I talked about above needs to be filled every two days if we are going to run it during the night. However, I quickly found out that if I don’t fill it every day I will be wakeful, worrying about what will happen if it runs out of water. It’s much easier for me to just fill it every night than to waste precious sleep on wondering if I should have filled it.

There are a lot more dramatic examples of psychic entropy and you can experiment with making lists, writing in a journal, keeping a notepad by the bed to write down ideas or errands that come to you in the middle of the night, etc. What I want to encourage you to do is to take a look at what is keeping you up and try to address it. Sleeplessness sucks, and it is always going to be worth you time to address it

Best of luck, my sleepless friends!

* There are a few supplements and herbs listed here that are not appropriate for pregnant and nursing ladies. Check with your midwife or doctor if you have any questions or are currently using any sleep aids.