I want to slow down on one idea today because so many of you wrote back saying the same thing:

“I take supplements. I try to eat well. I have a wind-down routine. I feel like I’m doing everything I’m supposed to — so why am I still not sleeping?”

Here’s the truth we don’t hear enough:

Sleep doesn’t happen because you’re disciplined enough.

It happens because your body feels safe enough.

When I talk about the nervous system, most women immediately say, “But I don’t feel that stressed.”

I believe you.

The nervous system is about far more than how calm you feel on the surface. It’s also about:

• what your body has been carrying for years

• patterns of pushing through

• whether or not your body can trust that it’s going to get the nutrients it needs for energy, to make hormones (besides stress hormones)

• and the actual biochemical reserves inside your cells, toxic load, mineral balance

Something I see on HTMAs every single day is women who truly believe they’re balancing life well — confident stress isn’t the issue — yet their mineral patterns tell a different story. They reflect burnout physiology: carrying too much for too long has quietly depleted the very minerals needed for the chemical processes that allow sleep, especially deep restorative sleep.

Remember the real purpose of sleep:

Sleep is meant to be a healing and restoration window —

a break from depleting resources and a time to rebuild them.

But if the body doesn’t have what it needs to run those nighttime repair programs, what happens?

• It stays on alert.
• It protects instead of restores.
• It chooses survival over sleep.

That’s where the nervous system enters the conversation.

Why midlife makes “off” harder to find

Your stress hormones and sex hormones are built from many of the same raw materials — including DHEA.

When life has kept you in go-mode for years:

• more resources get directed to cortisol

• fewer are available for calming, restorative rhythms

• the nervous system becomes quicker to react

• and slower to downshift

At the same time, one of the first hormones to shift in perimenopause is progesterone – our calming hormone. As it declines, so does our ability to naturally calm and ground ourselves.

Over time the body learns:

stay alert → stay alive.

That works beautifully for survival.

It’s terrible for sleep.

So you lie down exhausted, but your system is still standing guard.

This is why bedtime routines often fail

Most women try to fix sleep at 10 p.m.

But if your nervous system has been running hot since 7 a.m., one cup of tea and a diffuser can’t undo the whole day.

Calming your nervous system during the DAY is more powerful than any bedtime routine.

Sleep is the result of how safe your body felt from morning to evening. Start by getting early morning sun within 10 minutes of waking up if possible, but this one trips a lot of my clients up at first, especially if they are up and out before the sun. The goal isn’t perfection. We have to work within the boundaries of our real life. The goal is to do the best you can. So if you’re up and out before the sun is up…just get outside for 10 minutes as soon as it rises or as early as you can. Use it as one of your diurnal breaks (see below.)

Simple ways to teach your system “you’re safe”

You don’t need hours of meditation. Think in micro-signals.

1) Diurnal breaks (every 2-4 hours for 2-10 minutes) learn more here

Pause throughout the day to give your body a moment to hit reset:

• exhale longer than you inhale

• drop your shoulders

• soften your jaw

• close your eyes and listen to 432hz music

• take a walk, get out in nature – even for 5 minutes

• do some breath work, massage or somatic movement like this 

This tells the nervous system, we can stand down now.

2) Worry journal = mental parking lot

Before bed, write:

• what’s looping

• what you’ll handle tomorrow

• one line: “This is held.”

Your brain stops guarding what it knows you won’t forget.

3) Guided Yoga Nidra + Legs Up The Wall

Not exercise.

Not productivity.

Just teaching the body to experience rest while awake.

4) Reading > scrolling — and here’s why

Reading gently guides the brain toward rest. A story has a beginning, middle, and end — it lets your nervous system downshift naturally. Scrolling does the opposite:

• blue light suppresses melatonin

• notifications trigger tiny adrenaline hits

• your eyes and brain keep scanning for novelty

• the nervous system stays in “open tab” mode

Even calm content can be activating because your body doesn’t know the difference between a reel, an email, or a potential threat — it just knows you’re still “on duty.”

A few pages of a familiar book tells the brain:

the day is complete — we can power down now.

I just finished Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage. Highly recommend!

5) Timing your light = telling your brain what time it is

Your circadian rhythm doesn’t read clocks — it reads light.

After dinner, start speaking “night language” to your nervous system:

• switch overhead lights to battery candles or Hooga/red-tone bulbs

• keep lamps low and warm instead of bright white

• if you’re going to watch TV, wear blue light blockers

• any evening screen time = blue light blockers on, every time

Put your phone to bed well before you’re ready to put yourself to bed!

Even a few minutes of bright, cool light can pause melatonin like hitting the brakes on a moving train. Soft, warm light does the opposite — it tells the brain, we’re closing the day.

Think of light as the steering wheel of sleep.

Turn it gently, and the body follows.

Supports while you rebuild safety

Lifestyle first — always.

But tools can help you feel the difference sooner.

For nervous system calm at night

• SureSleep – magnesium glycinate + L-theanine + apigenin to soften the stress response

• Hugh & Grace PM – gentle resilience support (many women take this in the afternoon, not at bedtime. Remember, how we handle stress and guide our nervous system throughout the day matters for sleep. This supplement at 4 pm helps not just sleep but day to day stress tolerance.)

For daytime steadiness when sleep is still repairing:

• NMN + TMG – smoother cellular energy instead of stress-driven fuel

• Creatine – cognitive stamina and mental clarity on low-sleep days

These are bridges — not substitutes — while your body relearns how to exhale.

A gentle truth

You don’t need to force sleep.

You need to convince your nervous system it’s safe to rest.

And that’s built one small signal at a time. Watch the video linked in bullet 1 on diurnal rhythm above to understand the why.

In the next post, we’ll talk about two quiet sleep thieves:

👉 alcohol + caffeine

and how to adjust them without feeling punished.

I’d love to hear from you

Hit reply and tell me:

Which of these do you think you need to try tonight?

I’m reading every message 💛

— Calie