The Sleep Alchemist: Transforming Nights through Traditional and Modern Wisdom

I get it. You’re busy, frazzled, have too many commitments and too much to do and of course, you can’t sleep. You’ve heard that sleep is essential, crucial, and your health will suffer if you don’t get enough. You know there are health risks to not sleeping and that little bit of wisdom is not being used for good. In fact, it’s probably stressing you out more.

Great. Now there’s that to worry about.

“Well, let me tell you about the newest herb/supplement/sleep pillow. Hey! How about a CBD pillow?!”

Just kidding.

The stress and health risks of insomnia are real. Did you know that…

• Between 50 to 70 million U.S. adults suffer from sleep disorders, contributing to daily task difficulties and traffic accidents
• Over 1,550 deaths and 40,000 injuries occur annually in the U.S. due to sleepy drivers
• Poor sleep reduces labor productivity and increases workplace mistakes, contributing to major accidents and costing tens of billions annually in medical care
• A study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety estimated that approximately 328,000 drowsy driving crashes occur annually, more than three times the police-reported number, with about 6,400 being fatal
• Accidents involving teens aged 16-18 decreased 70% when schools pushed their start time by one hour.

Not to freak you out, but here are a few more facts to think about:

• Ongoing sleep deficiency raises the risk of chronic health problems and impacts cognitive and social functioning.
• Insufficient sleep affects heart and blood vessel repair, hormonal balance, insulin reaction, growth and development, immune response, and risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and stroke.
• Sleep problems contribute to the onset and worsening of mental health problems like depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. They exacerbate psychiatric symptoms and increase the risk of suicide in those with mental health disorders
• Insufficient sleep increases mortality.

The short story? Our modern life has created a situation where we are not able to follow one of our major biological drives.

One that we frequently try to manage with alcohol, caffeine, and sleep aid drugs. 65 billion dollars per year is spent on pharmaceutical sleep aids alone. 90% of all Americans consume caffeine, a stimulant and sleep disrupter, every day at an average of 200 mgs per day. Alcohol, a strong sedative and the number one disrupter of REM sleep, is mistakenly consumed to “help me sleep”.

No wonder people are confused. Who has time to do the deep dive research and sift through all the books, the studies, the suggestions from sleep experts? It's particularly exasperating that specialists frequently recommend the "sleep hygiene" protocol. While it is a great starting place, it often leaves desperate sleep-deprived folks wishing for something a little more tailored to their unique needs.

Who has time for all this research? Me. I’ve taken my physiology-loving, evidence-based scientific lens combined with my herbal medicine background and common sense, earth-based wisdom to create one place to get the background physiology needed to understand what sleep is and why our bodies, minds, emotions & spirit need it.

No cookie cutter formulas here. We need tailored protocols unique to each of our needs.

That Sleep Hygiene Protocol? It’s based on over 50,000 scientific studies (that’s a lot of sleep hours, folks). We’re going to start there. We'll lay out the framework of the sleep hygiene protocol unpacking each suggestion so you can begin to create your own unique sleep success formula.

I don’t want to sell you the latest fashionable herb or supplement. I do want to help you learn about sleep and interventions so you can create your own protocol. Here’s what we will cover for you to create your tailored sleep protocol:

• 14 herbs known to help with sleep at different levels of the sleep cycle. For example, the inability to fall asleep requires a different herbal formula than waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep.
• Best practices for working with the herbs; infusion (tea), tincture, salve, bath salts, dream pillows.
• Setting up your sleep den (bedroom) in a way that mimics the natural environment your animal self has slept in successfully for over 6 million years.
• How & why it is important to work with your nervous system to create the rest & digest sleep your system so desperately needs. We’ll call this the wind down.

Did I mention science? I LOVE physiology. I love taking the deep dive into HOW things work. If we understand how something works, we can use this wisdom to make informed decisions when we do need to intervene. We can ask the right questions when we are about to invest our time and money in a product that may or may not help.

If you understand the circadian rhythm that has been hardwired into your system for over 500 million years, you’ll be able to create sleep solutions that work within the system rather than against it. You’ll understand even though you really want it to be true you only need 4 hours of sleep a night, it is a myth. And there’s nothing wrong with you.

Plus physiology is fun.

I love learning, I love teaching. The whole process is fun & engaging for me and it’s been my experience over these 38 years of teaching that people learn more easily when they are having fun and feel safe enough to engage their curiosity. That’s what we will be doing as we explore the fantastic realms of sleep.