Boise Sleep Recommendations
Optimal sleep practices should be your #1 priority.
Below you'll find my favorite and most impactful suggestions to improve sleep quality. One of which literally has changed the course of my life in a very positive way. There are a variety of videos and suggestions, most of which are fairly simple but incredibly powerful.
Coming from a physics-up approach or a top-down model neurologically-speaking. The exercises and simplicity of some of these may seem difficult to believe they could move the needle, however, I invite you all to explore these suggestions to their fullest, one by one. Especially the mouth-taping and tongue exercises. If you resonate with these findings, feel free to contact me for more detailed consultation services ^_^.
Coming from a physics-up approach or a top-down model neurologically-speaking. The exercises and simplicity of some of these may seem difficult to believe they could move the needle, however, I invite you all to explore these suggestions to their fullest, one by one. Especially the mouth-taping and tongue exercises. If you resonate with these findings, feel free to contact me for more detailed consultation services ^_^.
Sleep Apena Myofunctional Therapy
(Obstructive Airway, Central Nervous System & Mixed Sleep Apnea)
Sleep apnea is one of the biggest causes for disruptive circadian rhythms which impact inflammatory conditions, energy balance and overall quality of life. The below video literally changed my life, and I only do about 5 minutes total a day of training just before bed. Sometimes a bit more during the day when I think of it.
Update 04/16/2018: I recently went to see Dr. Kristen Fiorentino in Boise to see what her thinking was on my complex case. After almost dying on March 15th 2014 from a sepsis issue due to a small intestinal lining breech, this led to a spiraling down of all the systems from digestive, cardiovascular, neurological, mitochondrial, etc. for years to come. As of July 25th 2016, after using cayenne as a prokinetic (gut motility agent) to help with the fermentation of foodstuffs which was causing a variety of issues including the build up of endotoxins (LPS) from bacterial overgrowth and their death.
While the cayenne was working on this front, I didn't take into account that I didn't have all the puzzle pieces to my complex health issue. I had small lesions throughout portions of my small intestine, in which I was not taking into account for. This mixed with cayenne during a longer period led to deep irritation of the tissue, and acute enteritis of the ileum along with small looping within the end of the small intestine that landed me in the ER.
The symptom that landed me in the ER that July morning, was waking to tachycardia of over 210BPM, that lasted for an hour or so, and slowly came down to 150BPM. This led to the next near 2 years of most mornings waking after 3-4 hours of sleep of tachycardia ranging from 150-220BPM, which needless to say screwed my hormonal system hard. I am making this post short, cause I simply want to get this information out to the public after testing it for a month. The only minor solution was sleeping at a angle propped up, even that didn't always work. This led the initial thinking to being a hiatal hernia due to the positioning. However, after many attempts to correct that, it didn't appear to get much in way of results.
This is where Dr. Fiorentino came in, she gave me the idea that it's likely sleep apnea. She did the most comprehensive exam of any physician I have encountered. I am unsure she is as aware of some of the functional medicine information. Having said that, she has an uncanny sense of looking at the entire picture. While I cannot contribute the therapeutic fix to her as it came about with my own investigative and experimental style of wellness. I can say she has sped up the process of one of my two significant health issues that have plagued me between 2-4 years. She wanted me to do a sleep study, but not having insurance ($1,500 out of pocket plus probably $250 consult) I didn't feel that was a wise choice, when I can first exhaust the simple solutions for sleep apnea to see if any of it moves the needle. Worst comes to worst, I end up having to do the sleep study and use a dreaded CPAP machine.
This is when I stumbled upon the video below that without even the slightest exaggeration, has entirely changed my life. What got me thinking in how the hell sleep apnea (of which I have likely had for several years prior to the gut issue) created this cascade of tachycardia? The thing that came to mind was limbic impairment. See the quote below for some insight by Annie Hopper, also visit this link for a more in-depth overview and watch this video.
"Under normal circumstances, the protective mechanism of the Limbic System would only become activated in times of appropriate danger or threat. However, once the Limbic System is impaired it can cause cross wiring of ‘normal’ neuronal circuits in the brain causing distorted unconscious reactions, sensory perceptions and protective responses. Over time this pattern of distorted reaction becomes habitual and can result in a range of neurological, immunological and endocrine system abnormalities.
Limbic System impairment is involved in a number of different
illnesses such as:
Essentially the takeaway is that I had a trauma with the cayenne that coincided with sleep apnea. Since that day, each time I had sleep apnea occur, it reactivated this neurological cross-wiring (which caused my body to release adrenaline as it was reliving events of July 25th 2016 nearly every night). The trigger was the simple sleep apnea. I don't normally fit the profile for sleep apnea, thus I never considered it as the issue at hand. Thus the importance of seeking further perspective from other health professionals when taking on complex issues. I gotta tell you, I honestly didn't believe this simple series of exercises would do much. It has been about one full month now, and only two nights of tachycardia in that period of time. Mind you, I have tried throughout the near two years to try to lay flat many, many times, and could at most get two nights in a row without tachycardia. This is HUGE.
Also, I realized the two nights I did have some tachycardia, I had tried introducing two new foods into my diet that my gut didn't agree with. So, this limbic impairment appears to be impacting sleep apnea and the neurological-flow from the hypoglossal nerve to the tongue, causing it to fall back, thus cause sleep apnea. This makes me wonder how many of us are consuming ingredients that don't agree with us, and how that might impact the degree of sleep apnea as well? Additionally, one's emotional and mental state all would impact nerve-flow and thereby this condition.
Just doing the exercises below, I only did the tongue ones, minus the ones requiring props for five minute each night, and within the very first night it worked. This has completely reversed the need to sleep inclined provided I keep doing these. I will also be adding in vagal-nerve toning exercises as the two listed below in conjunction with these. Just for the record though, the only change I made was the exercises in the one video below to reverse this disease process that has wrecked my hormonal and circadian rhythms making it difficult to heal from the gut condition. Also, I think the mouth-taping information at the end of this page is critical to increasing overall quality of sleep due to the nitric-oxide enrichment.
Update 04/16/2018: I recently went to see Dr. Kristen Fiorentino in Boise to see what her thinking was on my complex case. After almost dying on March 15th 2014 from a sepsis issue due to a small intestinal lining breech, this led to a spiraling down of all the systems from digestive, cardiovascular, neurological, mitochondrial, etc. for years to come. As of July 25th 2016, after using cayenne as a prokinetic (gut motility agent) to help with the fermentation of foodstuffs which was causing a variety of issues including the build up of endotoxins (LPS) from bacterial overgrowth and their death.
While the cayenne was working on this front, I didn't take into account that I didn't have all the puzzle pieces to my complex health issue. I had small lesions throughout portions of my small intestine, in which I was not taking into account for. This mixed with cayenne during a longer period led to deep irritation of the tissue, and acute enteritis of the ileum along with small looping within the end of the small intestine that landed me in the ER.
The symptom that landed me in the ER that July morning, was waking to tachycardia of over 210BPM, that lasted for an hour or so, and slowly came down to 150BPM. This led to the next near 2 years of most mornings waking after 3-4 hours of sleep of tachycardia ranging from 150-220BPM, which needless to say screwed my hormonal system hard. I am making this post short, cause I simply want to get this information out to the public after testing it for a month. The only minor solution was sleeping at a angle propped up, even that didn't always work. This led the initial thinking to being a hiatal hernia due to the positioning. However, after many attempts to correct that, it didn't appear to get much in way of results.
This is where Dr. Fiorentino came in, she gave me the idea that it's likely sleep apnea. She did the most comprehensive exam of any physician I have encountered. I am unsure she is as aware of some of the functional medicine information. Having said that, she has an uncanny sense of looking at the entire picture. While I cannot contribute the therapeutic fix to her as it came about with my own investigative and experimental style of wellness. I can say she has sped up the process of one of my two significant health issues that have plagued me between 2-4 years. She wanted me to do a sleep study, but not having insurance ($1,500 out of pocket plus probably $250 consult) I didn't feel that was a wise choice, when I can first exhaust the simple solutions for sleep apnea to see if any of it moves the needle. Worst comes to worst, I end up having to do the sleep study and use a dreaded CPAP machine.
This is when I stumbled upon the video below that without even the slightest exaggeration, has entirely changed my life. What got me thinking in how the hell sleep apnea (of which I have likely had for several years prior to the gut issue) created this cascade of tachycardia? The thing that came to mind was limbic impairment. See the quote below for some insight by Annie Hopper, also visit this link for a more in-depth overview and watch this video.
"Under normal circumstances, the protective mechanism of the Limbic System would only become activated in times of appropriate danger or threat. However, once the Limbic System is impaired it can cause cross wiring of ‘normal’ neuronal circuits in the brain causing distorted unconscious reactions, sensory perceptions and protective responses. Over time this pattern of distorted reaction becomes habitual and can result in a range of neurological, immunological and endocrine system abnormalities.
Limbic System impairment is involved in a number of different
illnesses such as:
- Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
- Gulf War Syndrome
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
- Food Sensitivity
- Chronic Pain
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Electric Hypersensitivity Syndrome"
Essentially the takeaway is that I had a trauma with the cayenne that coincided with sleep apnea. Since that day, each time I had sleep apnea occur, it reactivated this neurological cross-wiring (which caused my body to release adrenaline as it was reliving events of July 25th 2016 nearly every night). The trigger was the simple sleep apnea. I don't normally fit the profile for sleep apnea, thus I never considered it as the issue at hand. Thus the importance of seeking further perspective from other health professionals when taking on complex issues. I gotta tell you, I honestly didn't believe this simple series of exercises would do much. It has been about one full month now, and only two nights of tachycardia in that period of time. Mind you, I have tried throughout the near two years to try to lay flat many, many times, and could at most get two nights in a row without tachycardia. This is HUGE.
Also, I realized the two nights I did have some tachycardia, I had tried introducing two new foods into my diet that my gut didn't agree with. So, this limbic impairment appears to be impacting sleep apnea and the neurological-flow from the hypoglossal nerve to the tongue, causing it to fall back, thus cause sleep apnea. This makes me wonder how many of us are consuming ingredients that don't agree with us, and how that might impact the degree of sleep apnea as well? Additionally, one's emotional and mental state all would impact nerve-flow and thereby this condition.
Just doing the exercises below, I only did the tongue ones, minus the ones requiring props for five minute each night, and within the very first night it worked. This has completely reversed the need to sleep inclined provided I keep doing these. I will also be adding in vagal-nerve toning exercises as the two listed below in conjunction with these. Just for the record though, the only change I made was the exercises in the one video below to reverse this disease process that has wrecked my hormonal and circadian rhythms making it difficult to heal from the gut condition. Also, I think the mouth-taping information at the end of this page is critical to increasing overall quality of sleep due to the nitric-oxide enrichment.
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Let's Continue With Dental Hygiene
Optimal oral hygiene habits. Here are 7 tips that can help keep your pearly whites healthy and the microbiome in your mouth balanced so you can sleep better and prevent greater systemic infections and heart disease.
Update 07/14/2017: Listen to this podcast by The Healthy Moms Podcast Episode 86: The Science of the Oral Microbiome & Remineralization with Will of OralWellness. There is a product out there that uses bacterial technology to remineralize teeth.
Update 07/14/2017: Listen to this podcast by The Healthy Moms Podcast Episode 86: The Science of the Oral Microbiome & Remineralization with Will of OralWellness. There is a product out there that uses bacterial technology to remineralize teeth.
- Electric Tooth Brush (massage your gums twice a day)
- Floss twice a day (your gums should not bleed with flossing, this is critical for you meat eaters out there -_^.)
- Clove Oil (it has antiseptic properties and healing properties for the gum, dilute with coconut oil to swish or massage into your gums)
- Oil Pulling (once or twice a day for 15-20 min each time, this will significantly impact pathogenic bacterial load on teeth and whiten teeth. Be sure to spit this out into the trash not down the drain, do NOT swallow)
- Colloidal Silver (get about 1tsp down and keep in your mouth for two minutes both under your tongue and around the mouth)
- Coq10 (here's our go-to in conjunction with PPQ, this can really turn your brain on all the while protecting your oral health)
- Oral Probiotics (click each number > to see each probiotic, these all have proven strains to lower the incidence of dental caries 1, 2, 3)
- Significantly decreased salivary levels of Streptococcus mutans (P<0.05), which should result in decreased risk of caries [Caglar et al, 2008a] ~ Found in Standard Process ProSynbiotic
- Children were given a probiotic ice cream containing Bb-12 and La-5 (1 × 10^6 CFU/day per strain, n=30) or placebo ice cream (n=30) for 7 days. The probiotic arm, when compared to the placebo arm, had significant reductions in salivary Streptococcus mutans counts after the 7-day intervention and 30-day washout period (p<0.001), but not after the 6-month washout period (p=0.584). [Ashwin et al, 2015] ~ Found in Standard Process ProSynbiotic
- Ingestion of probiotic lozenge significantly decreased oral carriage of Streptococcus mutans (P<0.05), which should result in decreased risk of caries [Caglar et al, 2008b] ~ Found in BioGaia Probiotic Chewable Tablets
- 49% reduced risk of dental caries in children (P=0.004) [Nase et al, 2001] ~ Found in Culturelle
Quality Sleep Best Practices
Sleep Tools: These tools are great for creating a better quality sleep in order to feel more alive each day!
- 3m Micropore Surgical Tape 1/2" x 10 Yards with Dispenser (Pack of 3) (this is for mouth taping which could change your life, I highly encourage you to scroll down to listen to the why behind this science)
- Deconovo Black Thermal Insulated Blackout Panel Curtain 52 By 63 Inch (a must for any biohacker seeking to optimize their sleep)
- 3M E-A-Rsoft FX Corded Earplugs, Hearing Conservation 312-1274 in Poly Bag (a must for muting sound from interrupting sleep/wake cycle as Tim Ferris recommends and NO there are no strings even though there looks like there is)
- Yogi Bedtime Herbal Tea Caffeine Free Soothing Caramel, 16 Count (an incredible tea especially for those who have worked their dose of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar at about 1-2 tbsp in 12-16oz of this tea, you'll sleep like a rock)
- Aroma Essential Oil Diffuser / FOJNY 300ml Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier / Wood Grain Air Humidifiers with 7 Color Changing LED Light and Waterless Auto Shut-off Yoga-Light (Brown) (great if you turn the light off and run oils like the ones below overnight)
- Good Night Synergy Blend Essential Oil by Edens Garden (Comparable to DoTerra’s Serenity & Young Living’s Peace & Calming Blend)- 10 ml (a great oil to use in your diffuser by your bed)
- Squatty Potty (pooping ergonomics make all the difference in the world, so don't judge ^o^.)
- Epsoak Epsom Salt (take a bath even if just a foot bath each day you feel run-down, it'll initiate a relaxation-response and replenish some magnesium and sulfur reserves via transdermal delivery)
- IRIS Software (10% OFF blue-light blocking software for free but I'd recommend paying the $10 for the awesome eye, neck and back exercises that auto-populate every 30 min or you can customize when using the computer to whatever length of time so you get cued to move, it's the best software for blocking out the melatonin-suppressing effects of blue light which negatively impact your circadian rhythms. Flux is also a good software but this is the best of the two. This is CRITICAL to mitigate your blue-light exposure to return to a healthier natural rhythm of melatonin production as blue-light interferes with melatonin production.)
Books: These are all great resources to learn more about how to deepen your connection, expression and expansiveness with your sleep habits.
- The Power of When: Discover Your Chronotype--and the Best Time to Eat Lunch, Ask for a Raise, Have Sex, Write a Novel, Take Your Meds, and More (a very interesting book into Chronotypes which may better help individualize your sleep practice)
- The 8-Hour Sleep Paradox: How We Are Sleeping Our Way to Fatigue, Disease and Unhappiness (a great resource for scientific reasoning behind why you should have a daily sleep practice to hedge your health towards a more optimal state)
- Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success (a good collection of sleep hacks for those interested in creating a sleep practice)
- Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston Price (the basis of nutritional intervention and its impact on dental health which thereby affects ones sleep and overall quality of life)
- The Fibro Fix: Get to the Root of Your Fibromyalgia and Start Reversing Your Chronic Pain and Fatigue in 21 Days (how fibromyalgia conditions are strongly correlated with disturbed sleep and how to address this condition)
Sleep Science & Practice Introduction
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AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE
This webpage contains affiliate links, which means Brandon may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the suggestions above. You will pay the same price for all products and services, and your purchase helps support Brandon's ongoing research and work to help create meaningful content for the those in the Treasure Valley. This also helps keep the e-mail consult costs down. Thanks for your support!
This webpage contains affiliate links, which means Brandon may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the suggestions above. You will pay the same price for all products and services, and your purchase helps support Brandon's ongoing research and work to help create meaningful content for the those in the Treasure Valley. This also helps keep the e-mail consult costs down. Thanks for your support!
"Sleep is the best meditation."
14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai Lama