Mastering the Art of Sleep!

Mastering the art of sleeping is not always easy. The first step is living within the natural 24-hour cycle from light to dark.

Why is that important? And what does that mean?

Our hormones are based on Mother Nature’s cycle and respond to the rhythm of the day accordingly.

We are meant to rise with the sun (or as close to sunrise as possible), as our cortisol is highest at that time. As the day goes on, our cortisol lowers and our body prepares for rest.

This is the sleep cycle nature intended. No one is “naturally” a night owl.

If a person feels that they function best at night, they are more than likely experiencing hormonal dysregulation, and changes should be made to shift back into the natural cycle for better health and better sleep.

Steps Towards Getting Better Sleep

• Wake naturally without an alarm clock. If this is tough at first, set your alarm for a quiet “easing” into wakefulness by using a chime, gong or even a sunlight clock until you naturally wake on your own.

• Make sure you are getting your most pressing tasks done in the morning ‒ the things that require more energy than others, like exercising, stressful projects, etc.

• Eat on a schedule and eat real, clean food. Eliminate all processed refined sugars, grains and anything that comes in a box. Breakfast should not taste like a sweet treat. If you’re like me, you might feel better doing intermittent fasting. I normally just have some water and coffee in the morning. I push through with my morning run and then might have a few bites of lunch to carry me over, and then slowly eat my lunch starting around 12:00 p.m. onward.

• Expose your eyes and skin to sunlight (vitamin D) for at least 15-20 minutes per day. Absorbing sunlight is best done with bare arms and legs. Walk barefoot outside; feel the earth beneath your feet. If it’s not the season to be bare, get a natural vitamin D light for your home and talk to your doctor about supplementing.

• Daily exercise is critical. This might mean a brisk walk, using weights at home, a jog, a swim ‒ anything to get the blood flowing and body feeling balanced.

• As the day winds down, shut your blinds and lower the lights. Light a few candles, turn on relaxing music and take a warm bath with lavender essential oil.

• Eat before 6:30 p.m. and make your meal lighter than your lunch or breakfast. Eat a small protein/fat/carb snack before bed to stop the surge of adrenaline and cortisol that often happens in the night when blood sugar is off if you still struggle with wakefulness. As enjoyable as it is to unwind with alcohol, try to avoid this altogether. If that is not an option for your lifestyle, cut back and try one glass at dinner before it gets too late. Too much alcohol can keep your body and mind going well past bedtime.

• Turn off ALL electronics by 8:00 p.m.

• Take ten minutes to handwrite your thoughts and “To Do’s” for the next day. Once it is down on paper, you release it from your energy and your mind and free yourself to rest.

• If you still struggle with stressful thoughts, work on calming your anxieties during the day with a stress-reducing app on your phone.

• Place lavender calming oil on your temples and breathe deeply from your chest. Do some relaxing stretching before bed and when in bed, read. Definitely no browsing your news feed on your phone or scrolling Instagram! The goal is to be in bed asleep by 10:30pm at the latest.

• Remove ALL sources of light from the bedroom (including televisions, phones, alarm clock lights and light that filters through windows, etc). If this is not possible, wear an eye mask for total darkness.

• Hopefully with these tips you will be well on your way to a fabulous nights sleep!

Sweet Dreams……XX Amy 

 

Love is not on lockdown….

                                                  

Dear Faithful readers,

First, our hearts go out to everyone who has been impacted by the CV climate. Like you, we are safely bunkered down in our homes and home offices. Although not making daily human contact in person (and gosh I miss that so much), we are extremely connected with our prospects and clients alike via brilliant technology created here in Silicon Valley.

I wanted to share with you some useful notes from a recent Goldman Sachs conference call with 1,500 companies dialed in. Given the tremendous amount of uncertainty swirling out there around the corona virus, the financial markets and our lives generally, I hope this can give at least one perspective.

THE KEY ECONOMIC TAKEAWAYS WERE:

-50% of Americans will contract the virus (150m people) as it’s very communicable. This is on a par with the common cold (Rhinovirus) of which there are about 200 strains and which the majority of Americans will get 2-4 per year.

-70% of Germany will contract it (58M people). This is the next most relevant industrial economy to be effected.

-Peak-virus is expected over the next eight weeks, declining thereafter.

-The virus appears to be concentrated in a band between 30-50 degrees north latitude, meaning that like the common cold and flu, it prefers cold weather. The coming summer in the northern hemisphere should help. This is to say that the virus is likely seasonal.

-Of those impacted 80% will be early-stage, 15% mid-stage and 5% critical-stage. Early-stage symptoms are like the common cold and mid-stage symptoms are like the flu; these are stay at home for two weeks and rest. 5% will be critical and highly weighted towards the elderly.

-Mortality rate on average of up to 2%, heavily weighted towards the elderly and immunocompromised; meaning up to 3m people (150m*.02). In the US about 3m/yr die mostly due to old age and disease, those two being highly correlated (as a percent very few from accidents). There will be significant overlap, so this does not mean 3m new deaths from the virus, it means elderly people dying sooner due to respiratory issues. This may however stress the healthcare system.

-There is a debate as to how to address the virus pre-vaccine. The US is tending towards quarantine. The UK is tending towards allowing it to spread so that the population can develop a natural immunity. Quarantine is likely to be ineffective and result in significant economic damage but will slow the rate of transmission giving the healthcare system more time to deal with the case load.

-China’s economy has been largely impacted which has affected raw materials and the global supply chain. It may take up to six months for it to recover.

-Global GDP growth rate will be the lowest in 30 years at around 2%.

-S&P 500 will see a negative growth rate of -15% to -20% for 2020 overall.

-There will be economic damage from the virus itself, but the real damage is driven mostly by market psychology. Viruses have been with us forever. Stock markets should fully recover in the 2nd half of the year.

-In the past week there has been a conflating of the impact of the virus with the developing oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. While reduced energy prices are generally good for industrial economies, the US is now a large energy exporter, so there has been a negative impact on the valuation of the domestic energy sector.

-This will continue for some time as the Russians are attempting to economically squeeze the American shale producers and the Saudis are caught in the middle and do not want to further cede market share to Russia or the US.

-Technically the market generally has been looking for a reason to reset after the longest bull market in history.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

-There is really NO systemic risk. No one is even talking about that. Governments are intervening in the markets to stabilize them, and the private banking sector is very well capitalized. 

-In particular, for the U.S., even though quarantines and shut downs can certainly do recessionary damage stateside, thank God we live where we do – the US Govt is extraordinarily well-equipped / well-capitalized to respond with monetary and fiscal policy to bridge us through this… 

-In sum, this feels more like a 9/11 shock than it does like a 2008 parting of the earth.

 

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR LINX AND YOU?

-I am offering prospect meet and greets, as well as new client meetings for the next few weeks via Zoom!

– Zoom is super easy to download, free, and user friendly (trust me – I am a total dinosaur with technology). We can easily discuss working together and how the Linx ladies can get started on your search to “build your dating pipeline” now. 

-In my opinion, this is THE time to allow us to get started with our recruitment, exploration of prospects and clients in our database, and research on your behalf.  

–I am finding that people are even more eager to want to find LOVE NOW and meet their dream partner – especially once this current “shock” is past us.

-Linx contracts are 24 months, which is standard with any membership. 24 months allows you sufficient time to slowly date each candidate, not to rush, and to see if there is long-term merit.

-Once you’re on-boarded, no matter what climate we are in, it takes time for my staff to begin to develop your pipeline of introductions. This is not about rushing the process, but rather about carefully curated matchmaking that adheres to the philosophy of quality over quantity.  

-Once we start lining up candidates for you to meet, you can get the ball rolling and meet matches via tech like Zoom or FaceTime. This is what making dating a PRIORITY means.

– This is seizing the moment, not letting your fears swallow you up, and not hitting pause on finding your match.

– You’re being smart and executing a dating strategy, even during a pandemic, that will pay dividends in the future.

– I wish everyone good health and comfort during these challenging times.  Remember to laugh and love.  We will get through this together. Stay connected and remember love is not on lockdown! 

Warmly,

Amy Andersen

Founder & CEO
Linx Dating LLC

Are you linked?