[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, hey, what's going on?

[SPEAKER_00]: You're listening to the Brown Girl Self Care podcast.

[SPEAKER_00]: My name is Bree.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am the host of the show as well as the founder of Brown Girl Self Care.

[SPEAKER_00]: Brown Girl Self Care is a platform and space of intentional healing, joy, rest, and abundance for black women.

[SPEAKER_00]: Listen, let's go ahead and get it right on into today's episode.

[SPEAKER_00]: I wanna ask you a question.

[SPEAKER_00]: When was the last time you woke up in the morning?

[SPEAKER_00]: and you actually felt refreshed, hashtag, blessed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, honestly, you felt rested.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, you were not dragging yourself out of bed.

[SPEAKER_00]: You didn't hit snooze, 50, 11 times.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you wouldn't run in all fumes.

[SPEAKER_00]: You truly felt like you got a great night of restoration.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll tell you a truth right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm on the sleep struggle bus and it's shocking to me because [SPEAKER_00]: I haven't been in this place in a long minute.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, before I moved to Arkansas, I feel like in California, one of the biggest things that I miss right now as I am now living in Arkansas is that I miss my bed.

[SPEAKER_00]: I told y'all in case you missed it, that now I don't have a bedroom.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have a bed.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am sleeping on a futon.

[SPEAKER_00]: It is uncomfortable.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have my bedding.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have my sheets.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have my pillows.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have any of those things that really [SPEAKER_00]: a place where I like a soft place to land.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have that right now and I feel like it has thrown kind of like thrown my world topsy turvy as as crazy as that may sound but that's my truth right now and on top of that I have been taking my daughter to work and unfortunately [SPEAKER_00]: She's going to work at like 4 a.m.

[SPEAKER_00]: 5 a.m.

[SPEAKER_00]: a lot of mornings and so I'm coming back home, I'm struggling to get back to sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, child is a mess.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I was thinking that, you know, because we are now transitioning or starting to transition from summer to fall and you know, those are two different energies.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, those are two different, two different seasons, different [SPEAKER_00]: transitioning into fall in case you also are struggling and I want to make sure that I say I'm not coming to you as someone who has all figured out not like I said before the sleep was popping in California okay I had everything dialed in but that is not the case so I'm having to kind of go back to the basics I got to get back in the trenches and and start doing some of the [SPEAKER_00]: Listen, in case you did not know this, but I know that you do, but I'm going to tell you anyway, your sleep is your shmoney, your sleep is your wellness, your sleep is like your sleep is dialed into so much, your health, your money, your wellness, your lifestyle, your, your family, like it's all, it all ties into the basic [SPEAKER_00]: this is the episode for you, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: So whether you're like me and you start over with less than ideal conditions or you're like I said, you're noticing that these this season is definitely shifting.

[SPEAKER_00]: The truth remains the same, all right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Like your summer routine is just not [SPEAKER_00]: going to carry you through the fall if you are treating your body like you're somewhere body the same or like you're the makeup of your body the same as it would be in fall or in winter okay you have to adjust if you don't you may end up staying up late wake up change your tire your exhausting everything it's going to throw everything off course so but if you do make some small [SPEAKER_00]: As we're dialing dialing, excuse me, back from summer into fall and trying to make this a gentle transition, not an abrupt transition, right, a gentle transition, you can start to rebuild the kind of rest your body actually needs and you can do it with me because like I said, you grow.

[SPEAKER_00]: struggling.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm struggling y'all.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've been a exhausted, I've been exhausted, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: So first of all, let's talk about why sleep feels different in the fall.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like I mentioned before, like the energy is just different, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: The energy is different.

[SPEAKER_00]: The sun is in a different position, the moon, like all this stuff.

[SPEAKER_00]: So sleep can feel harder this time of year.

[SPEAKER_00]: and keep in mind that you have to remember that it does boil down to things like your circadian rhythm.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's basically like your bodies internal like your natural rhythm, your natural clock, your internal clock that your body operates on and it runs on like a full day cycle, a 24 hour cycle.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it tells you when to wake up, when they go to sleep, when to wind down, when to high up, when to eat, when to rest, when to digest, when to, like, all these things, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: So the number one thing that sets this clock is light.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in the summertime, like I said, the summertime, the energy is different.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's popping, the sun is just out.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's chilling up in a sky for it.

[SPEAKER_00]: It seems like it endlessly, it wasn't getting dark until like what, like, [SPEAKER_00]: nine or 10 or 10 I think that's a little drastic but you know what I'm saying you know there's a difference From the summer sun it's like the fall or the winter sun okay summer time is like hey let's hang out till nine o'clock fall is like baby It's four 15 get you ass in a house It's time to get ready for pain I don't know if that's what is life for you, but I feel like that's what fall and winter is giving like it's like okay [SPEAKER_00]: It's time to go night night, it's five o'clock to wrap it up, all right, but in the summer, yeah, we get like these long days, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm, I don't know, the sun, it rises early, it sets later.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we just kind of get in sync with that.

[SPEAKER_00]: We get in sync with these rhythms.

[SPEAKER_00]: Don't forget that you are an animal that you are a part of nature.

[SPEAKER_00]: You, we are one with nature, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: And, [SPEAKER_00]: You know, as we're moving towards the fall, obviously these days, they, they don't be shrinking.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to be getting less natural light.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that means that your, your rhythms are going to take all that into account, like that's data for your body, whether we realize it or not.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like a lot of times we're so disconnected.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're so disconnected from our bodies and nature and rhythms and all that stuff, but it definitely, [SPEAKER_00]: it like changes your rhythm.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so you may notice like, obviously when it starts to get darker earlier, you may be feeling sleepy earlier.

[SPEAKER_00]: You might be groggy when you wake up and it's dark in the morning in the fall say it's dark at six, 15 or seven or whatever time, but in the summertime, it was earlier, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: So if you think that you're going crazy, you're not.

[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and so again, we're animals don't forget that we have we are heavily tied to nature as much as we think that we are so far removed.

[SPEAKER_00]: From, uh, animals and nature, we animals girl.

[SPEAKER_00]: We animals, okay, we are animals too.

[SPEAKER_00]: So look at what's happening right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: Birds already started to do their thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're starting to migrate.

[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, uh, [SPEAKER_00]: animals are they're just slowing down now.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think this is when the chipmunks are the not the raccoons where they call the squirrels whatever they start, store in their food, getting prepared for the winter.

[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, preparing to rest more bears.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think bears hibernate in the fall.

[SPEAKER_00]: Don't quote me on that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm pretty sure they vibranate.

[SPEAKER_00]: Fibranate.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh my gosh Hibernate in like uh winter.

[SPEAKER_00]: So the animals are starting to prepare for that.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like that's something that we need to be mindful of.

[SPEAKER_00]: We really should kind of like [SPEAKER_00]: try to do to match that energy as much as we can because it can only help us, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: But I don't know about you.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm telling myself, but because I am honest to God, I'm still trying to get adjusted.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am still trying to get adjusted to this life here in Arkansas these times, time change for me, just everything right now just feels different.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so as much as I would [SPEAKER_00]: if you have ever moved, which a lot of us have, you know, especially if you're crossing time zones, maybe moved to another state and at the country and at the city, whatever the case may be, it takes time to get to kind of get back to your base level.

[SPEAKER_00]: And pretty much every part of your life, it could be your finances, your sleep, your health, your wealth, your, your, your, your, your, your, this do that, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: It takes time to get back to kind of like your base that you can build up from there.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's where I'm struggling right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's where I'm struggling right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, um, you know, we're still trying to, like when winter hits, we're still, we're, I can even talk.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're still trying to act like it's summertime.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's not, it's not summertime.

[SPEAKER_00]: We have to, well, you don't have to, but I feel like it is best to acknowledge things are changing.

[SPEAKER_00]: We are still hustling like it's summer.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're still drinking all that caffeine and coffee like it's summer, we're still up late like it's summer, like we're on summer vacation, just that mindset and that energy of summer, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: But it's not.

[SPEAKER_00]: Kind of like tricking ourselves into thinking that we're still on that same rhythm, your body knows and your body knows it's very different, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because less light is going to signal different things within our bodies.

[SPEAKER_00]: So if you are yawning at like seven o'clock eight o'clock nine o'clock now even though in the summertime or like whenever you could stay up until eleven o'clock with no problem, that's a cue.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a sign.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a signal.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, and we need to pick up on that more acute.

[SPEAKER_00]: The cues are there and our bodies have that memory, that history is just that.

[SPEAKER_00]: For one reason or another, we just end up ignoring it.

[SPEAKER_00]: We end up ignoring it, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And like I said before, I really want to get back.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I have been ignoring too.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like I have been ignoring too, but the fall is coming and I really want to get my sleep back.

[SPEAKER_00]: I really want to get my sleep back, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, I feel like for black women, it's even, [SPEAKER_00]: It goes to a different level because we know that for us, rest is like a, it's treated like a luxury and it's not a luxury.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not a luxury.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's it's something that we feel like we got to earn, you know, we feel like we have to earn that rest.

[SPEAKER_00]: We have to earn being able to go to bed at a reasonable hour when there's so much to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: We got to like we have to earn it once everything else is done.

[SPEAKER_00]: Once everything else is done, then, oh, then we can rest, then we can slow down, then we can go to sleep, then we can, you know what I'm saying?

[SPEAKER_00]: But I don't know if you know this, this is gonna come as a shocker to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: So are you prepared for what I'm about to say?

[SPEAKER_00]: Everything is never done, sweetie.

[SPEAKER_00]: Everything is never done.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's never done.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is always something to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: But historically we have just been conditioned to override what we need.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like we just put it to the side because we have so much on our plate.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like if we don't do it, who will?

[SPEAKER_00]: If we don't get this done, who going to do it?

[SPEAKER_00]: If we don't take care of this, who going to take care of it?

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we don't get stuff done, who's going to do it?

[SPEAKER_00]: But rest is not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not a treat.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a priority for us, because like I said, it's rest is one of the basics, like water, sun, moving your body, rest, oxygen, like these are basics.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're basics, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: And so we deserve to prioritize ourselves in that way.

[SPEAKER_00]: We deserve to rest, we deserve to prioritize ourselves [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, when fall comes, and it's literally here already.

[SPEAKER_00]: So when fall comes, your body's going to be telling you or showing you in its own special way is time to slow down, it's time to pull back a little bit.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's time to pay attention to these cues, tune in, tune in, tune in, but it feels impossible a lot of times.

[SPEAKER_00]: It really, really does because life is just, it can pull us all over the place.

[SPEAKER_00]: It can pull us all over the case and all over the place, excuse me, and as I've mentioned before, like this superwoman contract that we never agreed to, never signed up for, never [SPEAKER_00]: Um, we have these obligations pulling up, you know, um, like I said, life is just, it, it, it pulls or even life right now can feel low chaotic for you or in my case, it just, it's just different.

[SPEAKER_00]: it's just different.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I want to remind you that life is never going to be perfect.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's always going to be something that's different.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's always going to be something that's pulling you.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's always going to be quote unquote obligations.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, but we deserve to rest.

[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, for me, it just it life is just.

[SPEAKER_00]: It just, it feels challenging because again, I don't have a bed, I don't have a bedroom, I sleep in the living room on a futon, a thin futon that I got from, I don't even know where I got it from, I think way fair.

[SPEAKER_00]: are the mattresses from away if you're actually, and it's a nice mattress, but it's not the same as sleeping in a clean-sized bed that you had many pillows and the nicest crispest sheet, crispest sheets, and the bed was just perfection.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was nice and tall.

[SPEAKER_00]: I had the the the the mattress cover that was soft and fluffy and two weighted blankets plus a duvet cover and a and a blanket in the duvet and you know all that stuff like I don't have that right now and that's definitely something that I miss so maybe for you it's not necessarily that you [SPEAKER_00]: are singing on a flute song, but you're what may feel different for you or what might be pulling for you is family obligations work, obligation, stress, something that's having you, maybe it's the hormone, you know, menopause, paraminopause, maybe you're pregnant, so I just want us to not ignore the cues, because all that's going to do is just drain as even faster.

[SPEAKER_00]: ignoring our bodies, ignoring the cues, that's not how we get to where the healing resides.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm choosing to go back to the basics because I know I cannot, I cannot, I cannot afford to keep running on empty.

[SPEAKER_00]: So.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna be rebuilding my sleep routine and it's gonna be a little different and I have to be okay with that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have to be okay with change and things not necessarily being exactly the same, you know, because that again, that's life.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's life, but I deserved to have and updated even routine, especially now this summer's pretty much over.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm gonna go back to doing things that I know.

[SPEAKER_00]: work for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing fancy, necessary, especially not right now because I'm not in a place to really do anything fancy with where I live at the moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: But just basics that help me to reset even while I'm figuring out this new season of life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I have the hiccups, excuse me, so let's see.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is what I'm doing to read, kind of like, especially for the fall, and I guess I should say one or two, this self-care, or this sleep hygiene, if you will, this routine that I'm rebuilding is, first of all, I'm going back to some boundaries for the evening or for the nighttime.

[SPEAKER_00]: As much as I hate it, I'm gonna have to go back to some evening boundaries in my bedroom back in California.

[SPEAKER_00]: One of the boundaries I had is I did not have a TV in my bedroom for the last few years.

[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't have a TV in my bedroom.

[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, I had an iPad.

[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, I had a laptop.

[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, we all have iPhones.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not even talking to you, you draw at users right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm just kidding, those are jokes.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I didn't have a TV, we'll talk in my bedroom the last few years that I live there.

[SPEAKER_00]: I took it out, I took it out and I gave it to my daughter and that was one of the ways I really was able to settle into a routine and get some good sleep, okay, that was definitely one of the things.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not telling you to move you TV out, but I'm telling you to move you TV out.

[SPEAKER_00]: Try for a week, you know, try for a week and see what you think.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can tell you that right now I am sure that the TV is affecting my sleep because I'm in the living room.

[SPEAKER_00]: My TV is in the living room and I have been leaving the TV on all night.

[SPEAKER_00]: long.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am not even ashamed to admit that as my truth.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have been leaving the TV on all night long and that is a drastic difference from how I was sleeping just less than a year before.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that's definitely one of the things like, [SPEAKER_00]: I have to start putting boundaries back in the place, which is turn off the TV at a certain time, or if I must fall asleep the TV on, set the timer so it goes off, you know, because I'm falling asleep fast, you know, but the TV's on and it wakes me up, or actually I do end up waking up if I have to go to the bathroom and then, oh, uh, something's on, and oh, let me watch an episode, like, [SPEAKER_00]: I'm telling myself, sis, you can't do this, okay, you're 50 now.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, you're not 25.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to have to set these boundaries because your body is not very happy about that.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm going to have to set a cutoff time.

[SPEAKER_00]: no more staying up late watching TV, turn in the phone off, it's always on do not disturb, disturb, excuse me, but in other words, like when the sun goes down, it's time to start shutting stuff down.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's time to start shutting stuff down, like dimming the lights, turn off the TV, set the timers, slowing down, being intentional about that.

[SPEAKER_00]: even going back to like drinking tea at night.

[SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't really drinking tea actually I haven't been drinking a lot of tea now since I've been here just because everything is just different and I feel like it's I'm out of whack but you know if you can sip some tea before bed especially now in the fall and in the winter too of course and doing things like that to slow down it really does make a difference so figure out what things in the evening [SPEAKER_00]: can help you to tap into that fall energy, that soft fall energy that you deserve.

[SPEAKER_00]: Second thing I would say is make a ritual out of it, make yourself a sleep ritual or a wind down ritual or whatever you want to call it.

[SPEAKER_00]: because that really, really, really helps.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now again, right now I don't have my bed, but I can still create just a place of good sleep and calm here just in this living room.

[SPEAKER_00]: So one of the things I'm gonna do very soon is I'm gonna get some pillows.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can't really do sheets or anything like that on this, but I can definitely do my best to make this look more [SPEAKER_00]: And then in the daytime, I already put my cover in the closet, but I'll put my pillows in the closet.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like make it be a futon in the daytime.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then at night time, I have to take the, because I do have one way to blanket.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have to take the way to blanket out of the closet.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll take my pillows out and things of that nature, because I really do want to make this feel like a, [SPEAKER_00]: sleep haven't for me so that's gonna be a part of my night my wine down Hygiene or or night time ritual making my the place that I sleep feel more comfortable and more like a bed, all right, and then I would suggest [SPEAKER_00]: taking a shower or a bath at night that really helps drop your body temperature and that's like a sign of sleep in case you didn't know which you know it makes sense because if when it's summer and let's say your AC goes out okay and it's hot what are you doing you're fanning yourself you're tossing you're turning you're going into the kids you're getting popsicles like you're refilling your water bottle you're sweating you know what I'm saying [SPEAKER_00]: When it's high, so take a warm shower, take a bath, or something, and that will help you to drop your body temperature, which is a signal that, hey, it's time to go to sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what else?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, just figuring out what your wine down rich will be will go a very long way.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm definitely going to be like I said, making my futon as comfortable as possible with the right blanket, the right pillow, et cetera, and you know drinking my tea, taking my shower, turning off the TV at a certain time, et cetera, et cetera.

[SPEAKER_00]: trying out an earlier bedtime, trying up an earlier bedtime, that's something that I'm going to have to do and I really don't like it, but because some days I am getting up at like 350 to take someone to work at 5 or getting up at 345, take someone to work at 4 o'clock, it is exhausting.

[SPEAKER_00]: So an earlier bedtime, unfortunately, or fortunately, is going to have to be [SPEAKER_00]: nights where I know the next day I'm going to have to get up at four or five o'clock in the morning because your girl has been going to bed at like 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock and that's just not going to cut it.

[SPEAKER_00]: So if you expect yourself to be able to function, [SPEAKER_00]: Depending on when you have to be up the next day and what your responsibilities are, you probably have to be very alert.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to have to give up some of that time in the evening for your better good and go to bed a little earlier than what you may have been accustomed to in the summertime when your energy was higher.

[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like sometimes we think of it as like a punishment, [SPEAKER_00]: We need around seven, eight hours of sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: Your mileage, of course, may vary.

[SPEAKER_00]: But that's the general consensus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Seven, eight hours is what our bodies need to have time to repair itself so that we can, in fact, wake up, refresh and restore.

[SPEAKER_00]: We were able to get the proper levels of sleep, the deep sleep and the rim and the this and the that.

[SPEAKER_00]: we need that sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: So if an earlier bedtime makes sense, I would highly encourage you to try to do that at least a few nights a week.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm going to be doing that.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then, um, [SPEAKER_00]: You know, also I'll mention this because it is a part of my self-care like night time routine.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying this is something that you have to do or run out and buy, but it's something that definitely helps me to keep track.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I can see it in real time because sometimes we'll be lying to ourselves and saying, now I want to bet at this time or you know what I'm saying or I got the best sleep, I don't know why I'm so tired, but you know, that's not necessarily the case.

[SPEAKER_00]: what helps me to track things and just be more mindful is I have an aura ring, OURA.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is not a plug even though I would love if they sponsored the podcast because I love my ring.

[SPEAKER_00]: And, um, you know, it helps to keep me honest.

[SPEAKER_00]: It helps to keep me honest because I can see exactly historically, [SPEAKER_00]: Like, what's trending?

[SPEAKER_00]: What times I am going to sleep on a regular basis?

[SPEAKER_00]: So I can't say, I didn't know, or a lot of myself and say, I wouldn't just sleep at a certain time when I didn't.

[SPEAKER_00]: Plus, the ordering has so many different uses from tracking your sleep to your mental health and how prepared you are to face the day with a readiness score.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you can tag when you've taken things, like if you smoke to cigarette, you can tag what time you smoke to cigarette and you can see how effect may be like your overall energy for the day, your sleep, I want to say blood pressure, but that's not correct, your blood, like your blood oxygen and things of that nature.

[SPEAKER_00]: things that I tag are like when I take my CBD, when I take magnesium at night sometimes also I can see you know how it affected me.

[SPEAKER_00]: the next day when I see my sleep score, or how long I slept, or how long I was in a deep sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: I tag, when I take a limb in ball, my tag, if I take a walk, I tag, there's just different things that I tag, and it really does help to keep me on track with my sleep, because it shows me exactly [SPEAKER_00]: What is happening?

[SPEAKER_00]: I also have an apple watch.

[SPEAKER_00]: It pretty much does the same I'm not saying again that you need an or a ring or you need an apple watch But if you're a health geek like me and it doesn't freak you out and make you obsessed to the point where you just start feeling like you're going Gaga, you know what I mean I would say that you know, it's a very helpful tool It's a very helpful tool because the numbers they they they they don't lie [SPEAKER_00]: The numbers don't lie, they really, really don't, but yeah, another gadget that I have used, but I don't use anymore, is the sunrise alarm clock.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it gives you like that slow brightening feel instead of just that you know how the alarm clock just kind of like it'll just like jolt your wake like it It's just really loud and and It just feels like violence sometimes just to have that loud jarring noise waking you up out of a deep sleep right [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, if you get like a sunrise alarm clock, it's a gentler way to wake up.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then, what was that other tool I was gonna mention?

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, if you are, I'm sure they have this for joy to, or I'm assuming, I used to use a tool that connected to my apple phone, and maybe my apple watch as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it will tell you like the best times to go to sleep for your body.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was a little app, probably cost like $5 a month or something like that.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't recall the name, but I'm sure if you Google it, you can find it and it'll just kind of like sync up with your body rhythms and tell you like what win is the best time for you to go sleep or win is the best time.

[SPEAKER_00]: It'll know when the best time is to wake you up because depending on where you are in your level of sleep, if you have that alarm clock going off, like I said, it can be [SPEAKER_00]: jarring or violent it just it doesn't feel good right but this little app which again I don't recall the name but you can google it it monitors your sleep and it knows when you're entering a lighter phase of sleep around the time that you want to wake up and so it'll give you that nudge to wake up then so when you wake up it doesn't feel so so harsh and so hard.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that's something for you to look into, too, since we're talking about like sleep hygiene and all that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, definitely if you helpful things in case you're open to it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then the last thing I guess that I would say is that I know this routine works because I've done it before.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know this type of sleep hygiene things help me to get [SPEAKER_00]: Amazing sleep because it has worked for me before and so that's why I wanted to share a few like tips with you Before I moved here like I was getting I was I was going to bed on on time I was [SPEAKER_00]: Taking my shower was drinking my tea when I feel like it felt like it was necessary.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was Just doing those things and I was very Very, I don't say strict, but I did my best like follow it to the tea because I knew that it was helpful for my body, but [SPEAKER_00]: Um, yeah, that was before I moved here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Before I moved here, I was getting like the best sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I forgot to mention.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know I talked about the showers and how it helps to bring your body temperature down.

[SPEAKER_00]: What other thing that I would say to you is, uh, if you're open to it, open your windows, let some of that cold air in or turn on your AC to, you know, I don't know what's too cold for you, but [SPEAKER_00]: I, I didn't mind when my room got into like the, the, the low sixties because again, I had a lot of blankets for warmth, but there's something about that cold air that does something to the body that I feel like it's very, very helpful, very important to get that cold coldness into the room to help keep that body temperature low so that you can, you know, help your body sleep, help your body sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, when I follow those things, [SPEAKER_00]: Usually I felt calmer.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was ready to face the day.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was more patient with myself and with others.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just felt lighter.

[SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't dragging through my mornings.

[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't have to rely so much on coffee or caffeine.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, but I can't say any of those things now.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can't say any of those things right now, but I promise you that those are some of the things that have definitely helped me from taking the TV out to the bedding, to just creating the safe hay wind in my room, to the temperature in the room and all those things.

[SPEAKER_00]: like I said before, sleep is not a luxury and it's everything.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sleep is everything.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's everything and when you get that dialed in, it just goes a very, very long way.

[SPEAKER_00]: It really, really does.

[SPEAKER_00]: So now that life looks different, like I said, I'm rebuilding these basics back into my life, especially now that fall is basically here.

[SPEAKER_00]: I realize that it's not perfect.

[SPEAKER_00]: but every small change makes a difference.

[SPEAKER_00]: Every small change makes a difference.

[SPEAKER_00]: We have to become comfortable with not necessarily trying to do this extreme overhaul all at one time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, I know that on social media there's just like this microwave mentality that we have to go big or go home and we have to have all these Like just these big amazing things and doing them all at once, but I promise you when you just do the micro shifts little habit upon little habit You kind of like build like Legos that is what is going to help sure up your foundation.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so maybe the first thing you start to do in the fall is maybe you just [SPEAKER_00]: Take a shower at night.

[SPEAKER_00]: Take a shower at night.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can promise you or I don't want to say promise, but even if you start to keep the other things the same, if you take your shower in the evening, it's going to help you feel sleepy a lot of times to where you want to just kind of like turn in early because you're feeling Lucy Goosey, your body's relaxed, helps drop that temperature, you know?

[SPEAKER_00]: So maybe you start with that or maybe you start with turning your TV off or cutting your [SPEAKER_00]: if you typically watch TV in bed like I'm watching on this futon and you are watching until 11 o'clock at night.

[SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps, perhaps, do 1030.

[SPEAKER_00]: Do 1030 and just see how that feels for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then push back a little bit more.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe even do it in 15 minute increments instead of 30.

[SPEAKER_00]: But you have to find something that you can start with now.

[SPEAKER_00]: Small little micro habits.

[SPEAKER_00]: Again, don't be distracted by feeling like you have to everything, big picture-wise.

[SPEAKER_00]: Start with small little habits and just build on them, build on them, build on them.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I promise you that you will start to notice some change, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: And actually, I would say those are rituals you can try tonight.

[SPEAKER_00]: though like I know a lot of times we'll say I don't know where to start or you want to have like this perfect solution or whatever the case may be you don't need that just take one of these things off the list and just try it so again take that warm shower before bed buy buy some new pillow sis some that actually support your neck the proper way so that you're not waking up with a quick and your neck all right um maybe you do like 10 minutes of stretching before bed maybe you [SPEAKER_00]: and make that a part of your routine.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you journal before bed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you get that little clock that I told you about and you set in the alarm and you allow it to gently wake you up.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, instead of just being jarred into being in a wake.

[SPEAKER_00]: Again, you don't need to do it all at once, but you do need to get started and you know, just know that you're doing it with me because I'm literally going through it right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you can start start with me and just start with one.

[SPEAKER_00]: So let me ask you, are you fighting your body's rhythms right now?

[SPEAKER_00]: Be honest, are you fighting your body's rhythm that internal rhythm right now?

[SPEAKER_00]: Are you just pushing through, pushing past it, ignoring the boundaries your body is telling [SPEAKER_00]: If so, which I feel like a lot of us can say, yes, at least one of those things, your homework this week is to pick just one thing, just one.

[SPEAKER_00]: One thing that I mentioned, okay, and just do it for the week, and notice how you feel, notice how your body responds, that's it, that's it, okay, just do one thing this week, start small.

[SPEAKER_00]: and see how that helps, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so that's the fall sleep routine that I'm rebuilding right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: Again, it's not about perfection.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not about having the perfect bed set up or the perfect whatever, because I ain't got that right now and I don't feel like it's necessary but I do believe it's time to start going back to the basics and honoring what our bodies are going to need in this season.

[SPEAKER_00]: we deserve the best, the rest is not a luxury.

[SPEAKER_00]: We don't deserve just the leftovers of our energy, or the leftovers of our time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Or what's left after everyone else has had their say or had their share, we deserve real, [SPEAKER_00]: rest.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I'm wishing that for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[SPEAKER_00]: So if this episode resonated, I want you to take it further.

[SPEAKER_00]: Book of being session with me.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's where you and I will figure out together.

[SPEAKER_00]: What's training you and how you can rebuild or build your routines in a way that actually work for your life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: So try one thing tonight.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if you're ready for more support, the link will be in the show notes.

[SPEAKER_00]: and we can start to rebuild these habits, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because your body deserves this you deserve this, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: Your body, your spirit, you, your mental health, like all of it, you deserve this.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this season is calling both of us, me included.

[SPEAKER_00]: Back to rest.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that is it for this week's episode of the Brown Girl Self Care Podcast.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening and I will see you next week on another episode.

[SPEAKER_00]: Take care.