How I got more deep sleep

I measured it with Oura so you can see actual results based on my case. And I will tell you how you can get it also.

How I got more deep sleep?

In late August, we moved to Bali. "Let's skip winter for a least one year," I said. As I worked as a Sleep Specialist primarily online, and my wife's business is also linked to the web, we have an excellent opportunity to do it.

We are from Slovenia, Central Europe — and the time difference, +6 hours, didn't get us too much since we followed the well-prepared protocol from the app called Timeshifter (if you travel a lot, this app is a must). Of course, the app can't make jet lag disappear, so the first few nights in Bali, we were all falling asleep quite early, around 9 pm. Back in Slovenia, I went to sleep around midnight.

But even before moving, I was satisfied with my sleep pattern. I got seven and a half hours of sleep, with just the right proportions of light and REM sleep. I was missing just a couple more minutes of deep sleep. My goal — Having 2 to a half hours of deep sleep per night is ideal. Back in August, I was getting around 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Deep Sleep time from August to late October.

As you can see, I got much better in a deep sleep in the last two months. But more importantly, I immediately started noticing the benefits of enhanced deep sleep.

• I go to the gym regularly, 3–5 times per week, and in my 40s, muscle gain is a struggle. But now it's like I am rewinding time 20 years. I can lift much more, almost without soreness the next day.
• I got a lot of energy during the day. My productivity has been thriving the last few days.
• My mind is sharper, and I think more clearly.
• My body is looking better; I could get rid of some very stubborn belly fat. On the other side, I gained some pounds of muscle.
• My libido is on, like in my 20s.
• The overall feeling is better. I feel much calmer.

Ok, I also thought this was just because of moving to Bali. Partly this is true (I will get back to this later). But then I saw that my ARHR (Average Resting Heart Rate) dropped significantly in the last two months.

Longer deep sleep, lower heart rate

This is what Oura is saying when your RHR is low;

A moment of relaxing, meditating or just being still can take your heart rate down, helping your body to recover and re-energize.

So, my body is recovering and re-energizing quicker because of deep sleep. As said before, it also has something to do with our move to Bali, to a tropical place where daily temperatures don't drop below 28 degrees. Why is this important to this article?

When your body is constantly dealing with high temperatures, which it is not used to, it takes a lot of energy to cool the body temperature down. And that is why you are more and sooner tired in the evening.

When the clock is around 10:30 pm, I'm usually so tired that I can read only a couple of pages, and I'm already sleeping. So my bedtime has advanced significantly from midnight in August to 11 pm in October.

Sooner bedtime is correlated to deeper sleep.

So I can say with all the evidence that sooner bedtime is linked very closely with going to bed sooner.

I know; it's easier said than done. It's not so easy to move bedtime one hour in advance. But following these steps, you can do it also;

• When you wake up in the morning, see as much sunlight as possible. Even if it is cloudy, go out, and it's still better than staying in the house.
• Be as much active as you can throughout the day. Add 15 minutes to your gym session. And take a walk after dinner.
• Dim the lights around 6 pm. Avoid blue light (phone, tablet, computer, TV) in the last two hours before bedtime.
• Read a boring book and do breathing exercises to relax your body and mind.
• Move bedtime for 15 minutes per week, not more.
• Go to bed tired.

What is also remarkable is that I don't spend more time in bed thane I used to. I still sleep seven and half hours per night; only my wake-up time has moved — from 8 am to 7 am, which gave me a lot of me time in the morning.

If you want to get more deep sleep, follow these steps, and pretty soon, you will get all the benefits of deep sleep.

Why Is Deep Sleep Important?

While all stages of sleep are necessary for good health, deep sleep offers specific physical and mental benefits. During deep sleep, your body releases growth hormone and works to build and repair muscles, bones, and tissue, and immune system functioning.