Sleep Tips Shared at Balance Your Fitness Presentation
(Crystal A. Proxmire, May 27, 2025)
Clawson, MI – Aaron Wallace of Balance Your Fitness in Troy wants people to sleep better. That’s why he gives free community presentations on that and other health topics, including the one held May 8 at Blair Memorial Library in Clawson.
Visitors shared the sleep challenges the face – pain that keeps them awake, waking up and not being able to fall back asleep, and racing thoughts that keep them from relaxing.
For Wallace the answer lies mostly in relaxation and understanding the biology behind natural sleep cycles.
“When we’re under tons of stress, cortisol rises and estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone decrease because your body is focused on the stress you’re under,” Wallace said.
When we are not stressed, cortisol peaks around 10am, launching us into our days.
Stress can impact cortisol, but so can other things like driving in traffic, caffeine, arguments, or even exciting things like sports or having fun.
One common piece of advice people get is to exercise more, he said. “But I recommend doing meditative work. “Exercise itself is a form of stress.” And while exercise is of course an important part of life and good health, it may not be the first thing people should be looking at when trying to improve sleep.
“Working in, is working out,” he said.
Deep breathing is a technique many people find helpful, and there are many ways to do it. One way Wallace recommends to his clients is to have them put their finger over one nostril and breathe in through the other. Then he has them switch nostrils for the exhale. Then inhale through that same open nostril before switching again for the exhale. That way it alternates the nostrils for the breaths both in and out. The breaths should be deep and led from the diaphragm, so that the abdominal area rises and falls more than the chest.
Other calming practices include meditation, yoga, and gentle walks. Personally he prefers Thai Chi. “Some people just can’t meditate. With Thai Chi you can still keep moving while de-stressing,” he said.
Wallace taught participants about the different stages of sleep, including REM sleep which is the time when people have dreams. It takes up about only 20-25% sleep time, and it tends to happen about every 90 minutes.
He also shared that our bodies prefer a circadian rhythm, which is being wakened by the sunrise and going to sleep when it becomes dark.
Light is another big factor in sleep regulation. “Even a small amount of light can wake us up,” Wallace said.
Nutrition and fitness also play a part of course. One suggestion was to do strength training because muscles help to store sugar that the body uses through the night. Without strong muscles, people may wake up feeling hungry.
Eating balanced meals helps to regulate blood sugar and gives the body the nutrients it needs to function well. Magnesium plays a big role in rest, and it easily gets depleted in times of stress. People can eat magnesium-rich foods like spinach, black beans, avocados, nuts and seeds, and oily fish. Or they can take supplements. Or magnesium can also be absorbed in a nice relaxing Epsom salt bath.
Wallace has a BS in Exercise and Health Science from Alma College, and is also certified as a CHEK practitioner, holistic lifestyle coach and golf biomechanic. Balance Your Fitness helps people with weight loss, physical therapy, corrective exercise and strengthening, meditation, massage therapy, improving one’s golf game, and more.
Learn more at https://www.balanceyourfitness.com/
