The Role of Sleep in Mental & Physical Health" 😴💡

How you doing there, Kyle J. Welcome to Sunday Spark Sessions. This is your host, Alex, host of the Mindset podcast, helping you flex your mind, body and soul today. And tonight we're going to be talking about sleep, how vital it is for mental and physical health. And speaking of balance, June's theme is balance. We're nearing the end of June. Speak Wonder. Welcome to Live. Happy to have you here, Nikki. Happy to have you in the Live. Thanks for tuning in. Talking about balance. Sleep has been something that I've obsessed about since I was a little baby boy.

I have always been a good sleeper. Hey, Speak. Wonder, welcome. I've always, you know, been a pretty good sleeper. Yep. Talking about balance. Welcome, welcome. And you know, and I like to share, like, some things that have worked and yeah, Anmar, welcome to the Live. Thanks for tuning in. We're talking about sleep in today's Sunday Spark session and, and how that can help us recalibrate mentally, physically, spiritually. I love Sundays because my office for my work is not open on Sundays. And I love Sundays because it allows me and my wife to have a date night.

It allows us to work around the yard. Hello, Alex. Dancer. Hello, Alex. Yeah, welcome. Yeah, and I, I also have done actual sleep challenges on my YouTube channel and Instagram page. So if you follow me on YouTube or Instagram, if you haven't, follow me or if you do follow me, I do have a bunch of content on sleep challenges that I've done like 30 day sleep challenges to improve your sleep. I talk about, like, so I had LASIK surgery for my eyes. And basically when you get Lasik, your eyes are you basically.

I basically have to be like this, like, staring up at the ceiling. I was listening to audiobooks because I couldn't really open my eyes because my eyes were so, like, sensitive to light. So what I did was I listened to audio books and I kind of. And then that's when I started using an eye mask to help sleep. And I never used an eye mask before that. And again, like I said, I was always a good sleeper. But, you know, there's a lot of people that really struggle with sleep. So I just wanted to show them, hey, I know how to, I know how to sleep really well.

Here's some things that I do. Hopefully you find it helpful. So that's what this episode's about for the Sunday Spark session. Basically, I use an eye mask, like a total blackout eye mask. I'm talking like, like a black eye mask or I have like a really thin one. But I find the thin Ones don't work as well because the light still, you know, peaks in. And then I also use blackout drapes. So make sure that you have. So that's why it's really dark in here. Even though I have this ring light for this live.

But make sure you have blackout drapes. Eye mask. I use a fan. Me and my wife have a fan as well because it's like, it's about setting up your sleep environment. Right. June's about the month of. June's about balance. That's our theme for this month going into July. Right. July 4th is coming up. Right. Canada is coming up. So. Yep. So these are things that I do. Yeah, they are game changer. You know what? Animar. No, I don't use melatonin because the body produces melatonin. I like to stay away from any supplements that the body naturally produces because it does make.

It is. Melatonin is very helpful when you're. You have jet lag or you've got a really long haul flight, stuff like that. Yeah, exactly, yeah. Having a bedtime. Me and my wife honestly we've really like. We normally go to bed at 11. So my, my wife goes to. We go to bed at about 11pm and we wake up at my wife for week weekdays because she, she go. Has to be at work by 7:30am she's up by 6:30am I'm usually up. I've been up by 7 or 7:30 usually. So I like, I need my sleep and but lately we've been going to bed at 10:30pm and I've been sleeping until 7:37am so I don't get up at 5, I don't get over 4.

That's not me. That's just. I've tried and it doesn't work for me but you know, you can still get a lot done and the hours that you have is just a matter of what works for you. Right. Like my dad's part of the 5am Club and I've tried it, believe me, I've tried but it is tough. I'm actually having a tequila bubbly right now. Just my buddies got me some tequila from my birthday in February and I, I'm like, yeah, why not Sunday? So Sunday spark session. So I have a little bit. But again, fan blackout drapes, eye mask.

And if you're someone that gets cold at night, I tend to like. So there's people that when they go to sleep they're. They're either really hot. They, they like me. Like I get like really. I Tend to overheat. I can't have too much heat. I gotta have light sheets, light. Light comforter, light duvet. And then others are like, no, like I'm. It's like Antarctica in here. So it says people like it like Sahara Desert hot, or like they like it like the, like Africa hot or they like it like Antarctica. Me and my wife like it like Antarctica because when it's nice and cool, we got the fan on, got the eye mask on.

It just helps us go to sleep like, like lights out. So super, super helpful those things. Those are some little tools in your arsenal to help you sleep at night and then. Yeah, having a bedtime. Having a bedtime is really helpful. Nikki, what time, what time do you go to? Well, yeah, let me know in the chat for this live. When does everyone go to bed? 9pm, 10pm, 8pm Are you night. Anyone? A night owl in here? Anmar Unite Owl weighted blanket. Yeah, I've heard weighted blankets are really helpful too.

I haven't used one myself, but. And then again another trick that I do if you're someone that. So I'm a side sleeper. So, you know, when me and my wife are cuddling at night, my shoulder tends to get. Yeah, 11pm Yeah, I hear you. I'm like 10:30. Between 10:30 and 11. Yeah, usually. But it's been earlier lately because I get so tired between 10, 10 o' clock. Yeah, I, I tend because I'm a side sleeper. And when me and my wife cuddle, like my shoulder, my rotator cuff, right shoulder girdle, this tends to get really stiff in the morning.

So I wake up in the morning like, like my shoulder is like totally like tight. So what I try and do before bed. Another trick to help you sleep. Sleep like lights out. Like, poof. Meditation or stretching. And then lately me and my wife, lately we've been going to bed and I literally can hardly read five pages. I've been getting back into reading. Reading. I know reading is not always easy. I know there's. I bet you in the Cadre community there's a lot of, like voracious readers and I, and I appreciate that because I used to be a racist reader.

I'm trying to get back into it. So. And I'm a big fan of Joe Dispenza's Dr. Joe Dispenza's work Becoming Supernatural. You are the placebo breaking the habit of being yourself. These are all amazing books that I recommend that people read in the Cadre community for again, enhancing your psychology, building mental resilience looking at the glass half full, these are all things that are really helpful. And talking about the theme of balance, right, is it's, it's getting away from the whole hustle and bustle and like being 100 product productive all the time, which isn't always realistic.

It's going with the flow of your energy, how you're wired and like, like, like the flow of the river, right? Going with the flow of the river, like not fighting against the current, but going with the current of the river. So which I'm really trying to do. And you know, when you do meditation, when you do the. You use these tools. When we get to bed on time, we live a life of more balance. We, we live a life that's more optimized. And that's what I try and help everyone with on my YouTube channel, my Instagram Tick Tock Cadre community.

I love this community. This community is close to my heart. I love helping you guys. Dr. Charisse, again, I'm so grateful for our connection, me and Luke Wendland's connection. I've interviewed them both on my podcast and they're amazing people. And you guys are amazing people. All the Cadre contributors are people that are part of the community. I love this community. And, and I love making content and, you know, showing you guys what's kind of worked for me. Because I'll be honest with you, like, I went through a really tough time myself when I was in high school and stuff.

I got bullied and, and I felt like I couldn't get through it. And it was a tough time. So I had to, I had to find tools and I had to find ways of building my. Rebuilding my mental resilience because I wasn't mentally resilient at that point. I was like, really struggling mentally. So, you know, doing this kind of stuff, making this kind of content is like, therapeutic. It's empowering. It's empowering me. And I know it's empowering others because I'm. I'm okay with being vulnerable. I'm okay with that.

Yeah, it's not easy. It's not easy. Right? Life will throw you curveballs or challenge you, and you have to find ways to overcome the challenges. And sometimes they might take you a little bit while a little bit longer to get through, but once you get through onto the other side, it's like, oh, it's beautiful. It's peaceful. It's, you know, there will be more challenges, there will be more setbacks, There will be times when you're like, holy, how do I get through this? But you know what? I've been through enough setbacks, I've been through enough.

I've had my resilience tested in my mental, you know, fortitude. I've just had to build it. My dad almost passed away from a cardiac arrest in 2020. And that kind of totally after going through that. And then my wife's. My wife. So my father in law, my wife's dad has cancer. He got diagnosed literally right before our wedding in 2023. So, yeah, there's been, there's been some things that have been like, whoa, like, I wasn't expecting that. But we don't have control. All we have control over, ladies and gentlemen, is what's in here, how we react, how we treat people.

I'd rather treat people with like the utmost, utmost respect and, and give people the benefit of the doubt. And even, even if I get chat on or things don't work out, I'd rather, I'd rather you come up to me and be like, hey, you know what? I loved that conversation with Alex. He's a great guy. We had a great conversation. And I feel like I connect. I can connect with him because he's, he's himself all the time, you know, and that's what this platform is all about. Being you, being your true, authentic self.

Letting it out if you need to, you know, because we all go through struggles and it's. And it's okay to, to talk about them, you know, because it's not. Life's not easy. Life's, you know, the, the currents are, you know, they keep going. The, the currents of the river, they're. They're going in different directions and, And I just wanted to tell you guys, like, hey, like, I know I come up with like, boom, like 20 tons of enthusiasm and energy and. But it's not easy. I have my days still, right? I have my days too.

When things are tough and I'm like, man, whoa. I was, I was. I don't know how to handle this, right? I have my days like that, but the days that I'm having a harder time or the days that I'm feeling, I can't handle something, I'm like, show up anyway because it's relatable. Because people, you know, appreciate it when you're not scripted, when you're raw, when you're real, when you're you. And that's what Cadre is all about. That's what it's all about. It's about connection. It's about authenticity.

It's about vulnerability. It's about like being part of a community that appreciates you, that loves you, that just gets you. And that's what I'm here for. I get you. I see you and I, I hope you that you enjoy this journey with me as, as being a, you know, part of the Cadre community. And I know I'm helping a lot of people and this is just the beginning. So thank you for tuning into all my lives, even when, even when I miss them. I know, but I'm still, I'm still curating content behind the scenes and posting it.

And yeah, I've. I've been looking for this kind of opportunity and community to be part of for a really long time. And it's like, it's like, you know, like Steve Jobs always said, he's like, you can't always connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect the dots looking backwards. And every. And now when I, when I look back, everything that's happened, connecting the dots backward till now, it all jives. It all makes sense. And my energy is in the right place. So that's all I know. So I'm still figuring out, we're still figuring it out in the Cadre community.

And this is a great place to be. I'm your host, Alex the Mindset podcast host, helping you flex your mind, body and soul. YouTube. I got my at mind dash set YouTube channel. I'm on there posting content daily. I'm on Tick Tock, I'm on Instagram. I just repost all the same content on all three platforms occasionally. I am slowly getting back into my podcast. I really try and interview people with a mental health background. Psychologists, therapists, mindfulness practitioners, meditation practitioners, people with both with the mental and the physical.

So like personal trainers or people of that background, because that's what I love to, to learn from those type of people. So. And thank you for tuning into this live. Have a fabulous Sunday and utilize all the tools that you can. Weighted blankets, face masks, blackout drapes. Some people like to sleep with socks. I can't sleep with socks. I'll overheat. But fans, what else? We talk about stretching before bed. Yeah. Utilize all your tools, do your research, tune into the Cadre community because it's a great place to be.

Thank you all for being amazing and, and listen and listening to my lives. I appreciate it. I love you all. Ciao. Having a fabulous Sunday. And I gotta go finish watching the NBA Finals. OKC versus Indiana. Let's see how it goes.