Sleepmaxxing: a social media trend characterized by experimenting with gadgets, supplements and other hacks to achieve the perfect night’s sleep.
Sleepmaxxing is having its day in the sun with influencers on every platform sipping tart cherry juice and spouting the benefits red light. As a yoga therapist who specializes in sleep, I find this trend both inspiring and concerning.
Gen Z has done their part to break many longstanding societal norms and they are doing a fantastic job of destroying the, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” mentality that I was raised with. Shaving off a couple of hours sleep seems like a victimless crime until you get a good night’s rest and look back at the collateral damage you caused.
If you think you can get by just fine on 5 or 6 hours a night, ask the people around you what they think.
The more sleep deprived we are, the worse we are at judging how poorly we are functioning. Just like drinking and driving, we are more clear headed when we make decisions before we distort our judgement via a night of poor sleep.
So who is sleepmaxxing good for?
The perfect candidate for sleepmaxxing is someone who has historically neglected their sleep for a different priority. This person has been voluntarily sleep deprived because they chose to binge Netflix, go clubbing or burn the midnight oil to get ahead at work. This person often has a lightning bolt moment where their priorities shift and they suddenly see the light – or in this case they see nothing because their bedroom is dark. This person chooses to shift their priorities and gets excited about making sleep their new favourite hobby. They become a connoisseur of sleep hygiene and all things sleep.
So what’s the big deal? That sounds like a healthy choice.
Sleepmaxxing is not the best fit for those of us who are involuntarily sleep deprived. I’m talking about sleep disorders, new parents, hot flashes, panic attacks, chronic pain, noisy neighbours, OMG WHY CAN’T I JUST FALL ASLEEP @#$%!!!!! sleep deprivation. These are my clients who dream of sleep all day, only to find it elusive each night despite their best efforts. For my crowd of chronically underslept yogis, sleepmaxxing is just one more thing to add to their list of frustrations as they stare blankly at the ceiling again tonight.
I love my clients and they are so incredibly dedicated to their health regardless of whatever challenges life throws at them. Instead of night time routines, we get the best results by weaving coping skills and yoga tools throughout their day to regulate energy and manage stress. Yoga therapy for sleep is a 24 hour lifestyle, personalized to each individual.
Who should avoid sleepmaxxing?
I would caution against sleepmaxxing if you identify with orthosomnia, or an obsession with getting the “perfect” sleep. If you find yourself getting in a tizzy about your sleep hygiene or panicking when you forget your pre-bed chamomile, then sleepmaxxing may actually make your sleep worse due to the stress it causes you.
Following all these trends can also be time consuming and expensive! I worry that it encourages other patterns (or in yoga, what we call samskaras) that practitioners may already have like overspending and hoarding.
Long story short, if you are excited about improving your sleep, try sleepmaxxing, but if the thought of trying one more thing feels like a lot of pressure or like it will trigger your neurotic tendencies, skip it.
So what are my best tips for sleep? That’s another story for another night 😉
If you can’t wait until then, I invite you to register for my “Yoga for Sleep” workshop, found here: https://catalog.yogafit.com/product/yogafit-for-sleep-live-online/
This article was inspired by the Sleep Unplugged podcast with Dr. Chris Winter, episode 120, which can be found on your favorite podcast app, or here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2K2dUNfBII
I’m a big fan of Dr. Winter and I love how he ties sleep to music and popculture. He works a lot with athletes which is a great perspective because their performance results are the proof that sleep works! #fangirl
ZenwithGwen 