I Can’t Fall Back Asleep! Arrrrgh!!!
One consistent question we hear when teaching Human Performance classes to emergency responders is “When I am at work I have a really hard time falling back asleep after a call. How Can I fix this?!” There are a lot of different tips and strategies that could be applied but for this post we’ll focus on one and it’s founded on mental calm and a simple breath protocol that can be customized to you and meet you where you are at. This will apply whether you’re at home, on vacation, or at work!
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We know sleep is a superpower
There has been a tremendous amount fo research work put in over the last few years specifically regarding sleep and how it truly is a superpower. Research has also shown that in our current era most Americans are severely sleep deprived. Phones, Netflix, video games and the highly addictive social media apps all play a part in this new reality. All is not lost however and you get to control if you are sleep deprived or not! If you work shift work like firefighters there are absolutely things that are way outside of your control when it comes to sleep. Calls, emergency response, and long on-scene times for certain runs are examples of this.
We go to work to work and this is what makes the job so fun! But are you controlling the things that you actually can control when it comes to sleep? Things like temperature of the room, blue light exposure before bedtime, aka not staring at your phone when you get back from that 0300 call and wondering why you are obsessed with cat videos, and the darkness of your sleep environment? If you haven’t read the book “Why We Sleep” by Dr. Mathew Walker we’d HIGHLY recommend it! It truly is a game changer.
Try this instead
While voiceovers featuring cats and cucumbers are absolutely hilarious, make it a point to keep your phone off when you return from that late night call. Settle in for your rest time and know that sleep is what makes you an ultimate performer. As you attempt to drift off and your mind is less than cooperative focus on your breath. We’ve written before about how to build you mental toughness by chilling out here and it featured a quick blurb about a specific breath protocol that you can use for sleep. Here’s the excerpt from that post if you don’t want to read the whole thing!
Extend the Exhales
Extending the exhalation 2:1 vs the inhalation is proven to have parasympathetic effects. This works because once again this breathing technique triggers the vagus nerve which is responsible for many things in your body including heart rate, respiration rate, and serves as the hub for all things rest & digest!
This technique is simple and we use it quite often when responding to a call, while working on the fireground and capitalizing on times of rest, or when trying to down regulate before we walk into the house after a long set with little to no sleep. We prefer to breathe through our noses whenever possible as this also triggers the vagus nerve.
Extension Protocol: 4:0:8:0 Repeat 8-12 times
Breathe in through the nose for 4 seconds
Breathe out through the nose for 8 seconds
No breath holds on the inhalation or on the exhalation for this one!
This technique is also widely used for PTS and PTSD treatment and is completely scalable for whatever time amount you can tolerate. For some the 8 second exhalation is too long initially so start with a 3:0:6:0 protocol or less and work your way up as your system allows you to.
We also really like to use this protocol to help fall back asleep quickly when on shift/at home or to help quiet the mind and focus on the next task at hand.
I’d do an audio protocol for you but have a sneaking suspicion not a single person wants to listen to my voice as they fall fast asleep! Give the 2:1 ratio protocol a shot and see if this helps down regulate your brain and capitalize on quality sleep. Yep, even at the firehouse.