Pain can ruin your day pretty quick so when you’re in pain you’re usually thinking of ways to feel better. Popping a pill is easy and is the go to solution for many people but pain meds, whether over the counter or prescription, never get to the root of the problem, they only mask it, and can cause major health problems when used long term. So in this video I’m going to tell you some things you probably don’t know about a natural pain kill that you literally can’t live without.

Did you know that the Guinness book of world records will allow a man to jump from a hot air balloon, at the edge of the atmosphere nearly in outer space, breaking the sound barrier with his body, falling over 127,000 feet reaching a speed of 843 miles per hour? But they will not allow anyone to attempt to set a record for sleep deprivation because it is considered too dangerous. In other words, it is far more dangerous to try to live on too little sleep than it is to jump and freefall from a balloon 127,000 feet in air.

I spent a bunch of time reading articles and reading and rereading books, well mainly just one. It’s called Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. It’s amazing but also terrifying. It scared me to know how much of a negative impact a lack of sleep was having on my health. What’s also disturbing is that when you are sleep deprived, it’s kind of like being drunk. You don’t actually know how impaired you are. You think you’re doing fine but really you’ve just become accustomed to a lower level of function. Lower cognition, lower alertness, lower everything. It messes with your hormones. A lack of sleep will affect every cell in your body, every organ system, every aspect of your health even down to your DNA. It also makes you age faster.

The reason I’m talking about this is because of how sleep relates to pain, especially chronic pain. It could even be one of the reasons why you have pain in the first place. Your body does most of it’s healing and repair work while you sleep and if you’re not getting enough your body doesn’t heal as well, you're more stiff and susceptible to injury. You’re also in a constant state of fight or flight which basically means you are stressed. You may feel quote unquote normal but your body is in a state of chronic stress which is not good.

Just one night of deprived sleep can make you 42% more sensitive to pain. That means even just one bad night of sleep and you are going to feel that pain even more, no matter what kind of pain it is. If you keep depriving yourself of sleep night after night, the affects are just going to add up.

Good sleep is like a pain killer. Research has shown that people who are well rested are much less likely to need pain medications of any type.

If you sleep 8 hours every night and wake up every morning refreshed, you’re doing awesome but unfortunately most of us aren’t getting enough sleep. Take moment, and do a self assessment. How much sleep are you getting? Do you wake up refreshed? Do you stick to a consistent sleep schedule? Sleep absolutely affects how your body heals and how much pain you experience.

Pain can make sleep difficult, so here are 3 things you can do to help improve your sleep:

#1 Stick to a sleep schedule. Your internal clock works much better when you sleep and wake up at regular times, you will develop a sleep wake rhythm that allows for much higher quality of sleep and if you plan for 8 hours each night it will make it much more likely that you will get it. Something like a 10:00 to 6:00 or 11:00 to 7:00 schedule works great.

#2 Avoid or at least limit your caffeine intake. The effects can take up to 8 hours to wear off, so if it’s still in your system it makes it harder to sleep and even when you do fall asleep it is likely to be lower quality sleep. I prefer to avoid it all together but if you do consume it, just don’t do it after about 2:00 pm.

#3 It can be hard to fall asleep when your in pain so I recommend a breathing technique called 478 breathing. In some cases it can help you fall asleep in as little as 1 minute. It’s easy to do. While lying in bed, breathe in through your nose for a count of 4. Hold it for a count of 7. Then breath out slowly for a count of 8. Repeat this cycle for as long as you need to to fall asleep. This helps you focus on your breath instead of your pain and breathing out longer than you breathe in helps calm your nervous system and puts you into more of a rested state. It’s actually great to do a minute or two of these cycles of breathing anytime you are stressed or in pain, it’s a quick way to calm your body and mind and shift your focus to your breath and away from your pain.

Those are my 3 tips! I hope you find a way to get more sleep so you can feel better because sleep helps not only pain, but pretty much every aspect of our health and we literally can’t live without it!

Book link: "Why We Sleep" by Mathew Walker: https://amzn.to/33EAn2p