Start Getting The Rest You Deserve

Do you rest? I asked this in my last email, but I bet you didn't take my question seriously. I bet you blew past it in a rush to clean out your inbox, if you even read it at all. (Hey, 19% of you read it!)

What does rest mean to you? A break? A full night's sleep?

But I'm too busy, too stressed, and don't have time, Heather! I can hear you saying it already...

A Small Change That Gave Me Better Sleep

I'm at a stage in life where I can either have the best sleep of my life, likely through utter exhaustion at the end of the day because I "left it all on the mat." (We used to say that in MMA training).

Or, I can toss and turn because of anything, really.

Night sweats? Check. Remembering that thing I wasn't worried about during the day that suddenly hits me at 2:00 am for NO reason? Also check. Ate the wrong thing and need to get up for antacid? Yup.

Sleep hygiene?

Seriously, and kindly, GFY and never say that phrase to me again. I hate this with a passion to the point that it automatically discredits any and every "professional" who uses it. Booksmart much? F off, Judy!

I'm not trying to sell anything. Like Judy, the influencers can F off. But after much Googling, oddly enough during sleepless nights, I just got lucky. I got a small box of Super Calm supplement on deep discount at Marshall's a couple weeks ago.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Works even better when you add a few tablespoons of grass-fed beef collagen to it.

Screw the $200 alarm clocks and turning my phone red at sunset and all the other trash ideas I tried. I already keep my phone out of the bedroom. I stay away from screens before bed. I get up and walk with the sunrise. GOOD LORD, what does science tell me? Or do I even care?

Nope. Just. Give. Me. Something. To. Really. Help. Me. SLEEP.

Fine, I'll just say it. I'm in perimenopause and I need some help here. I have already taken melatonin for as long as I can remember. (I like the Aldi brand. It's $8, 10 mg, and I've tried others that taste bad and don't work as well).

I added to my melatonin gummies with Super Calm + collagen and I ain't lookin' back. Obviously, this is not medical advice. Consult someone with letters after their name, like M.D., to diagnose/treat. Someone told me to use "the Calm supplement" years ago and I did, and it didn't help me. In fact, if you use too much, that magnesium will give you a cleanse. (Ahem).

BTW, the person who told me to do that most certainly had some letters after their name. Like anything else, your mileage may vary. That was shit advice (for me) back then and didn't help.

Of course, a good workout helps me sleep. As does a good meditation, reading a book, or taking a hot bath. Yes, that bath before bed will have Dr. Teal's Melatonin bubble bath in it. It's also true I can do ALL of these things and still be wide awake for NO good reason.

This little nighttime supplement routine works for me. I tried it the other night without the collagen and slept terribly. Wanted to give up all day until the fog of poor sleep finally cleared in the late afternoon.

I pulled that Super Calm sample pack of the shelf at Marshall's merely because it had every ingredient I'd already researched but hadn't bought. I feared the magnesium glycinate because of my past (ahem) cleanse with Calm. I've already done the ashwaganda thing and stacking supplements gets expensive. I already take the proper, doctor-prescribed amount of Vitamin D. I've already tried L-Theanine...

But for whatever reason, Super Calm works for me. Maybe it's the combo of all the supplements together, the timing, who knows? It's working. So I'm just sharing this. For free. I don't benefit from sharing this. I'm just being a citizen here. If you try it and it works, great. If you don't, or you try it and it doesn't work, or if you've found something else, PLEASE COMMENT! It may help someone else.

That's kind what I'm here for.

I've survived a mountain (or five) of shit in my life. How do you think I became a sober AF yoga teacher? Why do you think I focused on my own healing and fitness for all these years? (Which I admit, is going on 19-22 or even 25 years strong now, the past 13 of which I've been sober from alcohol).

Now, I can help others.

One thing I know? Truly good sleep that's natural and not drug-induced is priceless. No one wants to toss and turn or wake up groggy. So many won't take sleep meds based on the morning-after grogginess alone.

This is an easy thing to do. Every night, I mix my Super Calm with 3 tbsp of grass-fed collagen (which I buy at Aldi, because FFS it doesn't need to be expensive). I take my melatonin gummies and read a book until I drift off to sleep.

The next level? Yoga nidra. It requires more than just mixing a healthy, sober drink. Yoga nidra is a practice. An opportunity to use one of many tools yoga gives us in order to live more fulfilling, productive lives.

Yoga nidra, or yogic sleep, is an opportunity for real rest. It's also so much more. It helps soothe an anxious nervous system. It helps you lay your heart's desire as an affirmation into your subconscious mind. You work with the nature of your body, heart, mind, and spirit to effect change while gifting yourself a nourishing practice of deep rest.

Yoga nidra requires surrender, the willingness to try something new, and the willingness to be still. That last part is what keeps many away. But facing that is also the game changer.

I love it so much I've been studying and practicing it for years. I've doubled down on this and trauma-informed yoga for months. It works. The evidence doesn't lie. Yoga nidra is the real deal.

Read more about it my last newsletter.

Better yet, be here tomorrow when I begin dropping FREE yoga nidra practices right here at Destiny Architecture.