Ridding Toxicity For A Better Sleep

It's almost Midnight, I know. I'm just shredding the bad habits that has rolled over into 2022. Metaphorically, I have awoken. Literally, I need to hit the hay. Not before sloughing off the toxins that have kept me awake long nights.

First and foremost, the number one culprit: Alcohol.

I don't drink much but when I do, I do. Though as I age the amount of intake has decreased it has a greater impact on the body. It takes the entire following day for my poor liver and body to flush these toxins out. So that night is already a dud as you wake up to pee, hydrate yourself more not only because of its diuretic effect but also because you may fall into deep sleep (albeit, temporarily) succumbing your mouth to moisture depravity. You're definitely not gonna get you're healthy dose of REM cycles there.

Most of the time this carries on to the following days. Like the second night after drinking your body oversleeps to compensate for the first night of inadequate sleep. Then the third night you can't fall asleep early because you over slept the 2nd night. But that's the norm if you drink on a Friday or Saturday. Drinking during the week with work on top, forget it. It's a recipe for cognitive impairment and experts even say early death.

Second: Coffee.

I'm not gonna discuss my love for coffee because everyone has already done a fine job doing so. If it's summer I like me an ice cold Frappe with whip cream on top. If it's Cold, a nice warm latte between my palms is just comforting and delicious. But it's not the seasons it's the times, man. Being a night owl and living in the heart of the city where everyone works different hours, night becomes the choice of time for someone who's trying to sharpen his craft. Almost instantly, however, you open your laptop and the craving for a warm coffee pops up. I'm not sure if it's a bad or good conditioning but damn work; maybe it's the damn work that also has a negative effect on sleep.

Who doesn't want to drink coffee and write all night and then sleep in the following day. No, unfortunately I have to be up at 730am to be at work at 9am. It's hard enough falling asleep at night but add caffeine and good bye the recommended 6-8 hrs of a good night sleep. More like 4-5hrs.

I apologize I am not blaming coffee. It's a factor against a good night sleep but not a serious factor as there is decaff coffee. It's work and alcohol! And these...

And Third: Stress, anxiety, and the ever-present existential crisis that just won't go away at night.

We've all had this classic brain-self dialogue before you fall asleep. Maybe throughout the day we're so busy that we don't pay attention to the inner reflections necessary for growth, development, learning, and consolidation. Once it's quiet you begin to listen to your subconscious.

But not all have this issue. My significant other, for example, falls asleep within 10 minutes of announcing and intending to fall asleep. She's not alone, there are others in this opposite spectrum of falling asleep.

And guess what? She is more emotionally balanced than me. She doesn't have any weird issues, repressed psychological traumas, or any out of the ordinary behavior that would classify her as having a mental disorder. So could this be it? Do people with issues who live a harried lifestyle, which is often accompanied by substance abuse, have these often negative self-reflection routines at night that inhibits quick sleep?

Well, I have these toxic friends (men and women) who live a life filled with work drama, romance drama, friendship drama, and they medicate themselves with certain substances to balance out their stress or to try and forget it. And yes, they totally have a rough time sleeping. One of them even had a stroke, paralyzing one side of his body. He's not really a friend but we all know him.

So one reason I started writing this is because I really would like to stop depending on cannabis to relax after work, alcohol to calm down and socialize, and coffee for uplift. But worse of all, these toxic friends that imbue these characteristics.

All I wanna do is read, write, work, exercise, eat well, and, of course sleep well. But then what would I have to write about I sometimes think? It's January 10, 2022. It's 11:25pm. Maybe the answer lies within my dreams. Actually, I don't know what I'm talking about right now. I only slept four hours last night, but that was the 9th of January; today is January 10th and the start of something great I like to hope. Am i complicating myself too much again? Help me melatonin, you're my only hope.