Sleep has been top of mind lately. Not only because I recognize my own need for sound slumber, but because I understand your need to get it, reap the benefits from it, and also honor its importance in your healing recommendations and protocols for others.
A good night’s sleep includes:
I shared our Sleep Assessment with you and many of you wrote in to say:
Yeah, yeah, and then what?
Since sleep is part of our Non-Negotiable Trifecta (along with pooping regularly and blood sugar balance), I want to take time with how we hone this critical life skill. (Yes, getting proper sleep may take some skill, and the ‘then what’ that you asked for may require your clinical discernment.) I’m slowly working my way toward some of my favorite bedtime remedies, but not before underscoring 2 key aspects to optimize sleep quality — both for yourself and those you serve.
It frustrates me to no end to witness some clinicians’ propensity to ‘prescribe’ before they have enough information. The only way to work in a truly Functional manner is to Assess before you recommend.
That’s what the sleep assessment does. It helps you step back, ask the right questions, and see the case more clearly.
But as I know you’ve already determined, even this carefully crafted assessment is true, but partial. There’s obviously more work to do once you have the completed evaluation in hand.
While sleep IS a Non-Negotiable in our healing recommendations and protocols, it also has its own set of Non-Negotiables. These Sleep Non-Negotiables should be put into place before or simultaneous to taking any next steps (supplemental, pharmacological or otherwise.)
In other words, do not bypass the Sleep Non-Negotiables!
What are they?
Let me make a list of some my favorite for you to explore in practice…
While I do have a few other front-runners tucked away for fostering sleep, these Non-Negotiables should not be overlooked. In fact, they often do the trick without having to add another pill or protocol! You’d be surprised at how little time is spent developing these sleep skills, and how much improvement your clients can see when they take the time to slow down and pay attention to each of these key areas.
Your takeaways?
Pay heed to the Non-Negotiables of sleep—both the necessity of a restful slumber, and the foundational lifestyle changes to support it. Paying attention to these ever-important details makes your practice truly Functional, and can set you apart as a practitioner who gets results.
The truth about epigenetics (and root causes!)
Functional Nutrition Tool: Sleep Assessment
case study: insomnia through a Functional lens, part 1
case study: insomnia through a Functional Lens, part 2
Functional nutritionist and educator Andrea Nakayama (FNLP, MSN, CNC, CNE, CHHC) is leading patients and practitioners around the world in a revolution to reclaim ownership over our own health. Her passion for food as personalized medicine was born from the loss of her young husband to a brain tumor in 2002. She’s now regularly consulted as the nutrition expert for the toughest clinical cases in the practices of many world-renowned doctors, and trains a thousand practitioners online each year in her methodologies at Functional Nutrition Lab. Learn more about Andrea here.