You’ve followed all the sleep advice… limiting screen time, sticking to a bedtime routine, avoiding caffeine late in the day. Yet, night after night, you find yourself lying awake, unable to relax, your mind racing with thoughts you can’t turn off.

This isn’t just a bad habit. It’s your nervous system working against you.

For years, Lisa felt trapped in a cycle of sleepless nights and exhausted days. She would spend hours trying to fall asleep, only to wake up in the middle of the night, unable to drift back into rest. Nothing worked no matter what she tried—herbal teas, supplements, blue light blockers.

Lisa didn’t realize that her subconscious mind kept her alert, even when she wanted to sleep. Like many people who struggle with sleep, her mind had associated bedtime with stress, worry, and frustration, making it nearly impossible to relax.

Then, she discovered hypnosis for sleep.

After just a few guided sessions, Lisa noticed a shift. She was falling asleep naturally and easily, staying asleep through the night, and waking up feeling refreshed for the first time in years.

How did hypnosis work when nothing else did? Let’s explore the science behind hypnosis and why it’s a powerful tool for overcoming sleep struggles.

If you’re waking up feeling tired even after a full night’s rest, struggling to fall asleep, or dealing with midnight wake-ups, you’re not alone. Sleep issues are on the rise, and poor sleep doesn’t just leave you groggy; it accelerates aging, weakens your immune system, and shortens your lifespan.

Science has confirmed what many of us intuitively know: sleep is a cornerstone of health and longevity. Yet, despite all the advice about getting "7-9 hours of sleep," many people still struggle. The truth? Not all sleep problems are the same, and genetics could significantly affect your sleep patterns.

In this article, we’ll break down:

• Why sleep is critical for longevity

• How your genes influence sleep quality

• Common reasons you might be struggling

• Proven strategies to optimize your sleep and age better

By the end, you’ll have actionable steps to improve your sleep, wake up refreshed, and even slow the aging process.

Last week, I embarked on the 5-Day Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD), and I wanted to share my experience with you. This wasn’t my first time trying this diet, and I was eager to see how it would affect me this time around. If you’re curious about the fasting-mimicking diet and its benefits, keep reading!

Are you looking to enhance your health and wellness journey? If so, you might want to consider the Five-Day Fast Mimicking Diet. This innovative approach to fasting not only helps in reducing inflammation but also optimizes fat metabolism and improves detox pathways. In this blog post, we’ll explore what the Five-Day Fast Mimicking Diet is, its benefits, and how you can get started.

In a world where health trends come and go, it can be challenging to determine what truly works for our individual bodies. As someone passionate about optimizing my lifestyle for longevity and vitality, I recently made a significant change based on insights from my DNA. This journey led me to reevaluate my use of MCT oil, a popular health supplement, and discover a more personalized approach to my dietary fats. In this blog post, I’ll share my experience and how understanding my genetic predispositions has empowered me to make healthier choices.

Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is one of the most powerful things you can do for your health. It helps regulate your internal clock, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up at the same time every day. Consistent sleep improves your mood, cognitive function, and overall well-being. It also strengthens your immune system and lowers your risk of chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes.

Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is one of the most powerful things you can do for your health. It helps regulate your internal clock, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up at the same time every day. Consistent sleep improves your mood, cognitive function, and overall well-being. It also strengthens your immune system and lowers your risk of chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes.

As you know, I've dedicated my practice to helping you achieve your optimal health and well-being. For years, I focused specifically on Nutrition, Sleep, and Stress Management. While this was incredibly rewarding, I recently discovered a powerful tool that has completely transformed the way I approach personalized wellness – DNA testing.

Here's why I'm so excited about this addition:

From Memory to the Blueprint of Health: In my work as a Memory & Cognition Coach over the last two years, I watched how we incorporated DNA testing to optimize cognitive function based on our client’s genetic status. What I realized is that there is a treasure trove of personalized health information DNA testing offers!

Unlocking Your Unique Wellness Code: Your DNA holds the key to unlocking valuable insights about your body's strengths and weaknesses. This allows me to tailor your wellness plan like never before, taking your unique genetic makeup into account.

Benefits Beyond Memory: I realized that DNA testing doesn't just impact brain health! It can reveal information about your:

• Nutritional Needs: Discover how your body best utilizes nutrients, allowing for a personalized diet plan that maximizes your energy and vitality.

• Fitness Optimization: Gain insights into your genetic response to exercise, enabling you to create an exercise program that delivers optimal results.

• Sleep Efficiency: Understand your sleep patterns and identify genetic factors that might impact your sleep quality, paving the way for a good night's rest.

Personalized Wellness Takes Center Stage: By incorporating DNA testing into my practice, I can now offer a truly comprehensive and personalized approach to your health and well-being. Imagine a wellness plan designed specifically for YOU, based on the blueprint encoded in your DNA!

Sprouting is the simple process of soaking and germinating seeds until they develop tiny tails and leaves. These little sprouts pack a powerful nutritional punch, making them a trendy and delicious addition to a healthy diet.

Daylight Saving Time is the practice of setting the clocks forward one hour from standard time during the summer months and back again in the fall to make better use of natural daylight.

Moving the clock forward one hour in the spring and back one hour in the fall doesn’t just affect your schedule — it can throw off your body’s internal clock, too.

That hour of sleep that’s lost or gained can leave you feeling groggy and irritable. It can also be dangerous. Studies have found that heart attacks and fatal car accidents increase after the spring shift to Daylight Saving Time.

Why is the change of one hour so hard?

Moving our clocks in either direction affects how daylight resets our 24-hour sleep-wake cycle. Our internal clock, or circadian rhythm, becomes out of sync with our current day-night cycle.

In the fall, when you’ve gained an hour of sleep, you might not feel tired, but you may notice to change when you’re waiting an extra hour to eat or to leave work at the end of the day. When the clocks move forward in the spring, you’ll “lose” an hour of sleep and may have trouble falling asleep an hour earlier. In turn, you won’t get as much quality sleep as you need.

How long will it take you to adapt to time changes?

The rule of thumb is that it takes about one day to adjust for each hour of a time change. However, there are a few things you can do to prepare for the shift.

Tips for Adjusting to Daylight Savings Time

Make Gradual Shifts

About a week before falling back, go to bed and wake up approximately 15 minutes later each day.

Reverse for the spring and go to bed and wake up approximately 15 minutes earlier each day.

If you need more time to adjust, start earlier and gradually increase/decrease 15-minute increments every few days.

Keep your schedule

Stick to your schedule. Be consistent with eating, social activities, and exercise times during the transition. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even on the weekends.

No long naps

Avoiding naps is critical for adjusting to the time change. Long naps will make it harder for you to get a quality night’s sleep. If you can’t get through the day without a nap, make it short and earlier in the day to avoid disrupting your nighttime routine.

If you feel sleepy the Sunday after the time change, take a short 15- to 20- minute nap in the early afternoon but not too close to bedtime.

Use light to regulate your internal clock.

Light suppresses the production of melatonin, our sleep hormone. It’s important to expose yourself to light as soon as you wake up and as much as possible during waking hours. Conversely, do not expose yourself to bright light when it is dark outside.

In the pursuit of better sleep, we often explore various remedies and lifestyle changes. From adjusting our sleep environment to practicing relaxation techniques, the quest for quality rest is ongoing. However, one often overlooked factor that can significantly impact our sleep is the mineral magnesium.

Did you know that adults who sleep fewer than 6 hours a night are at higher risk for dementia and cognitive decline?

Good morning and happy Monday! Since it’s been as hot as hades lately across many areas, it would be a great time to talk about water and staying hydrated. Staying hydrated will help you regulate your body temperature, prevent infections, and keep your organs functioning properly. Staying hydrated can also improve your sleep quality, cognition and mood.

How Much Water Should You Drink?

At a minimum, you should drink half your body weight in ounces. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should drink at least 75 ounces of water a day. You also need to consider the following factors and adjust accordingly:

• Your level of activity (how much you sweat) – if you exercise and sweat, you will need more water

• How much alcohol or caffeine you drink per day – both are dehydrating, so for every cup of caffeine/alcohol, drink an extra cup of water

• The temperature where you live – if you live in a very hot climate, you will require more water

• How Can You Tell if You’re Drinking Enough Water?

Here are a few ways you can tell if you’re drinking enough water:

• If your urine is light in colour, you’re doing well. If it’s darker, you need to drink more water

• Urine is abundant

• You empty your bladder every two or three hours – when you first start to increase water intake, you will need to go to the bathroom more often than you’re used to, but that will only last a few days, and your body will adjust

What if You Don’t Like the Taste of Water?

If you don’t like the taste of plain water, try the following:

• Add slices of lemon, lime, cucumber, or orange

• Add mint leaves

• Try sparkling water (make sure there are no added ingredients)

• Heat water and drink with lemon

• Try drinking out of a fancy goblet or wine glass

How to Increase Water Intake

Here are a few ways you can increase your water intake if you’re not drinking enough:

• Drink 20 ounces of water first thing in the morning. You’ve been asleep for 6 to 10 hours, so it’s time to hydrate! Rehydrating the body and brain will lead to clearer thinking and better energy

• Keep a pitcher of filtered water containing the amount of water you want to drink each day. Doing so will make it easy to remember to drink water and track your intake

• Drink 8 ounces of water before exercise

• Sip water slowly and at intervals during exercise

• Drink 8 ounces of water before each meal

• Keep bottles of water in your car, at the office, or around your work areas

If you’re feeling the heat wave, stay cool and hydrated! If you have any questions, feel free to reply to this message or better yet, let’s chat!

When you think of hypnosis, do you immediately think of a Vegas act where someone is called on stage, put into a trance, and then asked to cluck like a chicken?

Well, I’m here to assure you that hypnotherapy is quite different! According to the Cleveland Clinic, “hypnotherapy is a heightened state of concentration and focused attention. Guided by a trained, certified hypnotist or hypnotherapist, hypnosis allows you to be more open to suggestions to making healthful changes in your perceptions, sensations, emotions, memories, thoughts, or behaviours.”

A few vital points about hypnotherapy:

• You remember everything during the session

• You are not asleep

• You are in total control

There is growing evidence that hypnotherapy can be effective for a wide variety of disorders, including:

• It can help you sleep better

• It can help ease hot flashes

• It can help you lose weight

• It can help relieve symptoms of IBS

• It can help alleviate anxiety and calm nerves

• It can help with addiction

• It can help ease chronic pain

Are you wondering if you can benefit from hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy isn’t for everyone, but it might be helpful for you. It can be a powerful and successful add-on tool to other more traditional forms of therapy. You will benefit from hypnotherapy if you are highly motivated to overcome a specific issue.

If you want to learn more, reply to this message or schedule a 30-minute Zoom call for more information about my hypnotherapy services.

How Cortisol and Melatonin Levels Affect Your Sleep Quality

Did you know the body secretes over 50 different hormones? Specific hormones, like cortisol and melatonin, affect your body in specific ways that affect your ability to sleep.

The primary role of melatonin is to regulate your sleep cycle. Cortisol (your stress hormone) curbs functions deemed non-essential in a "flight-or-fight" situation. Cortisol and melatonin are in an inverse relationship. If cortisol is high, melatonin is low and visa-versa.

Our ancestors would wake up with the sun and go to bed at sunset. They had nothing to interrupt their daily sleep cycle like we do today. Advancements like the light bulb and electronics simulate the sun, suppress your melatonin levels and tell your body to stay awake.

Any stressor can raise your cortisol levels. Cortisol levels can rise based on your diet, environmental and chemical toxins, chronic infections and allergies, and emotional and psychological stress.

There are so many options for balancing out your melatonin and cortisol levels. If you are having trouble sleeping and suspect it may be related to your hormones, check out my 5-Day Sleep Better NOW challenge, where I will help you naturally fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up refreshed.

https://renay.ca/sleep-challenge