By consciously changing my behavior, I’ve been able to increase my deep sleep.
The Oura ring has been the catalyst for this behavior change. It’s brought drastically more awareness, and is the piece of technology that’s had the most impact on improving my sleep quality.
The Oura ring isn’t perfect. Its reading might not even be entirely accurate. After all, it’s a consumer grade product, and is just a ring with a few sensors. But it produces data points I didn’t have before.
The speedometer on my old truck was off by about 5 miles per hour. Was it perfect? No, clearly not. But, it still told me directionally the information I needed to know.
The Oura ring has done the same.
It Starts with More Awareness
My whole life, I’ve never had significant troubles sleeping. I was a prolific sleepwalker, sure, but that wasn’t something I was consciously aware, unless it was my parents asking why I was showering at 2 in the morning, or why I was wandering around the house in the middle of the night.
Sleepwalking aside, I’ve always been able to fall asleep in just about any environment. In the car, on planes, trains, in airports, parks, on the beach, you name it, and I would have no trouble dozing off in short order.
Little did I know, despite all this sleep, I wasn’t actually getting much deep sleep. The restorative, delta brain wave sleep that rejuvenates and allows the body to rebuild and repair. In fact, after a few weeks of checking the data, it seemed my deep sleep was chronically low.
When I saw the data, I was shocked.
I had up until that point assumed since I could fall asleep easily, and stay asleep, that my nocturnal rest was optimally restoring my body. That was not the case. Itt was unsettling to see at first, but at least I started to became aware. That was the first step.
Once I had the data in front of me, I was able to start playing with different variables to see what might change the sleep score.
Variables I Changed to Increase Deep Sleep
Limiting Alcohol Consumption
I drank quite a bit in my early and mid 20s. Not problematically so, but between the after work happy hours, weekend parties, and the lively social life that comes with living with friends in a big city, alcohol was always nearby. I’ve tapered off significantly the past few years, but do enjoy a glass or bottle of wine now and then. Unfortunately, even one unit of alcohol has a detrimental effect on my deep sleep. More than a glass, and my deep sleep might drop by as much as 50% or more from my normal baseline.
I still enjoy a glass of wine, a whiskey, and the occasional cocktail, but is it worth sacrificing the quality of my sleep? Now I know and can see in the data it will have downstream effects, not just the next day, but sometimes the next several. Well, yes, sometimes it is worth it to have that glass, or that night. Totally. But sometimes it’s not. In fact, most of the time it’s not, for me. Now with this added level of awareness, consuming alcohol is a decision I consciously make.
Minimizing Stimulant Consumption
I’ve been a coffee drinker since I was 10 years old. Now and then I’ll take a week or month off just to see how difficult (easy) it is, but it’s safe to say caffeine has been a staple for the majority of my life. I rarely have difficulty getting to or staying asleep, even with heavy caffeine consumption.
When I spent a year in Italy, I would frequently drink espressos after a midnight dinner, and still get to sleep no problem. What was that doing to the quality? I’m not certain, but my guess is probably not any favors. Nowadays, I rarely drink caffeine or other stimulants (like taurine, or theobromine) after noon, or even earlier. Do I love them? Yes. Are they worth sacrificing the quality of my sleep? Sometimes. But now it’s a decision I consider, with consequences in mind, rather than blindly consuming on autopilot.
Exercise and Increasing Cardio
Weightlifting has long been my way to decompress, to get out of my head and into my body. I’ve been training with varying degrees of rigor and discipline since I was 14 years old. It’s my go-to, and a must, for me. The time that works best for me is early afternoon. If I go in the morning, I sacrifice the hours I’m most mentally productive for focused, deep, undistracted output. I’v learned that If I go in the evening, I tend to have difficulty falling asleep, and the quality of my sleep declines. Not to mention the after-business-hours crowd can easily add 60% more time to the exact same workout done before lunch.
Despite weightlifting being my sanctuary, my sacred meditative place, that alone doesn’t necessarily equate to better quality deep sleep. Adding a daily cardio session has had a measurable impact on my deep sleep, and my resting heart rate. For years, most of my life really, I’ve avoided cardio. I just haven’t really enjoyed it much. The past few months, I’ve been running immediately upon waking. As soon as I get out of bed, I put on my athletic clothes and running shoes, and get out the door. The distance doesn’t matter, it’s a binary measurement. Did I, or did I not go run first thing in the morning. I’ve started enjoy the discipline I’ve cultivated, and it seems to have helped increase my deep sleep.
Closely Monitoring Nutrition
When I was young, I was a picky eater. At some point, my eyes were opened to all the wonderful experiences food can create. Now, I enjoy just about anything that’s made with care from high quality ingredients. I also really enjoy paying attention to how food makes me feel, rather than just how it tastes. I’ve experimented with the ketogenic diet since 2014. Bulletproof coffee was the catalyst, but I’ve followed various authorities on the subject fairly closely for years. Fasting has been another practice I’ve come to enjoy, both intermittently, and for several days at a time.
I think self experimentation is absolutely essential. Nobody has as much of a vested interest in my health as I do, so I try to behave accordingly. How is my sleep when I’m in a state of ketosis? I seem to sleep slightly less, and sometimes, the quality of the sleep goes down. I haven’t completely isolated the variables, and I don’t even necessarily want to, but I notice when I am a few days or a week into keto, my sleep quality can decline, and adding in a carb day has a tangible effect on my deep sleep.
Eating meals late at night also has an adverse effect on sleep quality. Nowadays, I try to cut caloric consumption at least a couple hours before sleep.
Prioritizing Sleep Timing
When I was a child, I was an early riser. From my teen years, through college, and most of my twenties, I stayed up late and slept late. The past couple years, I’ve realized I just operate more effectively when I’m up early. Not only does it feel more natural to me, the Oura ring has helped reinforce my belief that sleeping early is in fact what’s best for my own body. Generally speaking, the earlier I get to sleep, the more deep sleep I tend to get, and the earlier I wake up.
There are a few others variables I pay attention to.
Temperature
I prefer a cold room. My body usually runs warm. The task is always cooling off, not warming up.
Light pollution
Blackout curtains, or an eye mask. I wear them at home, and on the road. It’s an easy one to add into the routine and helps.
Noise pollution
Trams, ambulances, cars, people, wildlife. It doesn’t really matter what it is, it’s easier for me to sleep when it’s consistently quiet. So, I wear earplugs. I’ve also used white or brown noise machines, I recommend either one.
Mattress Firmness
I like a firm mattress. In fact, I’m even comfortable sleeping on a carpeted floor, or a camping mattress pad. Soft mattresses can be tempting, but more often than not I’ll wake up with a stiff back, and low deep sleep. I suspect that since a soft mattress doesn’t fully support my spine, my body isn’t able to completely relax into delta brain waves. I’m no expert, but it’s a working hypothesis.
Supplementation
I was, to be frank, very concerned about why I was chronically getting low deep sleep scores. I think it’s important to subtract things from my regimen before adding things. But, there is a place for adding things.
Magnesium
Magnesium is the first supplement I added. It’s a mineral that’s essential for a healthy functioning body, and one that many people are deficient. It’s part of my nightly routine as I wind down. I even bring it on the road with me when traveling, for business or otherwise. The unmarked jars of white powders I carry have brought surprisingly little scrutiny, and a peace of mind that I’ll have a more restful sleep, even if I’m next to the ice machine in a hotel, or a lively bunch of travelers in a backpacker hostel.
Melatonin
I always avoided it out of perceived fear it could disrupt my sleep. Getting or staying asleep was never a problem, so I thought why would I use melatonin, that’s playing with fire. The Oura ring served as the catalyst for adding it into my routine. I always use a large dose of it when I cross more than a couple time zones. When I’m not traveling, and am in a good rhythm at home, I might take a milligram or two a few nights a week, depending on how my trend the previous days has been.
Valerian Root
This one is interesting. It significantly increases how vivid my dreams are. It also seems to increase my deep sleep. I’m careful and cognizant about this one, and am no doctor, but I’ve experienced benefits, and it’s something I take fairly regularly with my sleep schedule. Passionflower. Another one to be careful with, and to me has shown benefits.
Cannabis and CBD
I’ve enjoyed it from time to time. The Oura ring made me aware it has a tendency to decrease my REM sleep. That wasn’t surprising to me, because when consuming cannabis, I rarely remember my dreams, which frequently occur during REM sleep. When seceding from periods of consistent usage, dreams return with a vibrancy and vigor that never ceases to amaze me.
Lately I’ve reduced my cannabis consumption to almost zero, and it’s certainly a factor I’ve attributed to increasing my deep sleep. There are discussions worth having about particular strains. Indicas can be conducive to sleep onset, and sativas retain mental acuity and can even provide stimulant-like energy.
CBD is a non-psychoactive compound derived from the cannabis plant, it has shown a slew of positive benefits, including helping me increase my deep sleep. I haven’t experienced any negative effects of CBD, which doesn’t mean there’s no long term risk, but it’s been a welcome addition. The challenge is, for me, large doses seem to be preferred to have the desired effect, and it’s expensive to consume regularly.
Accountability for Health
As I’ve been intentional about my exercise, diet, supplementation, and routines, over time, I’ve been able to consistently improve my deep sleep. It’s empowering to see holistic interventions have produced the desired outcome. It’s not perfect, but it’s much better than it was.
Above all, the Oura ring helps me be accountable for my own health. My health is already something I take a proactive interest in, and have for many years, but now I have an extra level of awareness.
Just because I was blind to the data before, doesn’t mean I wasn’t making sacrifices on my health with some of my decisions.
It feels great knowing that I’m helping my body get the rest and recovery time it needs, so I can focus my time, and my increased energy on other priorities.
