How to get some good sleep tonight
Yesterday I was hiking Mt. Vitosha here and I came across this really cool rock formation that I thought would be perfect for recording a video about habituating better breathing habits. We all know that our default shallow breathing is not optimal and there’s numerous short term and long term health benefits of proper diaphragmatic breathing. The problem is that it’s difficult to remember to practice profound breathing throughout your day.
So I recorded this video there in that very cool destination but as you can hear the audio is quiet bad in a few parts (being a lifestyle videoblogger looks easy, but one of the unseen challenges of it is that about half the time your AV quality is corrupted by something totally outside your control).
To summarize the lifehacks in the video
- Spend approximately 50% of your mindfulness session practicing deep diaphragmatic breathing. This will improve your breathing in general.
- Be aware of your own anxiety and irritation. If something bothers you (it could be slow customer service, bad traffic or whatever) that’s a reminder to take a few deep breaths. It really will make you feel better.
- Practice your deep breathing anytime you’re doing something that doesn’t demand 100% of your attention. While you’re showering, commuting, waiting at a red light or watching TV.
- The Loading Reminder lifehack: Anytime you have to wait for something to load (could be an app, a webpage or software) that’s your reminder to take a few deep breaths; If you work with computers or technology this will remind you probably a couple hundred times a day to practice deep breathing.
I don’t recommend JUST deep breathing, I recommend learning 4 stage breath control with locks, which is a bit more complicated breathing technique, it will take some practice, but if you’ve ever done martial arts or learned to dance I’m confident that you can easily master it.
And the 4 stage breath control will actually make you a better lover. Yes, really. I explain how and why in my detailed guide: How to Breath like a Jedi which you can also listen to as a podcast
Sleep Cocktail
In my review of Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris, I mentioned this sleep hack
My go-to tranquilizer beverage is simple: 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg brand) and 1 tablespoon honey, (p. 140)
I’ve been using this and it’s really replacing melatonin tablets as my go-to sleep hack. Last night according to the Sleep Cycle app I got a solid 8 hours of sleep with a 98% score. If you use medication or supplements (or booze, like I used to!) to help you get to sleep try Tim’s sleep cocktail instead. It’s a lot of vinegar so the taste is a bit harsh but not bad compared to some Nootropics I’ve consumed.
For the past couple of years as a Biohacker I would often use an anxiolytic like Phenibut or Kratom before bed to relax and wind down from the day, Phenibut and Kratom are both powerful anti-anxiety drugs that really do relax you but they have some downsides and I would not recommend them to those with addictive personalities, they are also difficult to get in some countries. Recently I’ve been using Chamomile tea, which has a similar relaxing effect. I try to read for 30–60 minutes daily, often before bed, I found that if I combined the Chamomile tea with the Apple cider cocktail, I would start to get really tired after about 20 minutes and stop reading. So now what I usually do is drink the Chamomile tea about 90–60 minutes before bed, when I stop working on the computer and then right before bed I’ll down the Apple cider cocktail.
About half way through writing this email, I took an unfortunate glance at social media and realized what a crazy past 24 hours it’s been around the world. There’s a siren song that makes it difficult to look away from breaking news livestreams and commentary about violence and chaos hundreds or thousands of miles away.
So perhaps today is really the time to implement some of these stress management Biohacks
- The breathing techniques I describe above
- Take some Adaptogenic Nootropics that modulate your nervous system out of flight or fight mode
- 10 minutes of Dual N-Back training
- 20 minutes of meditation
- Listen to some relaxing Halosync-style music tracks or Brain.FM (which I prefer)
- 30–50 push ups for body weight exercises
- A cold shower
New Video in the Series…
From the Archives
Frame control is a topic that gets discussed Ad nauseam in hypothetical terms, in this article I’ll break out of that by providing a mix of examples in pop culture, movies and television along with personal anecdotes. Frame control really is relevant to every human interaction but the most colorful examples of it come from the domains of business and seduction, I could deconstruct boundless case studies of it that are whole lot more PG rated, I’ve chosen examples that are a bit more edgy so that you actually remember and can apply them.
Best regards,
Jonathan Roseland
