Michelle is always on the go. She runs a successful bakery and has recently added catering to supplement her income. She enjoys cycling with her husband, Jim, when they can find time. Her 3-year-old daughter, Sam, provides yet another opportunity to stay active.

Michelle is very detailed oriented. This has complimented her duties running a successful bakery quite well, but is also the reason she is able to effortlessly juggle so much. Her daily schedule for the following week is created ahead of time over the weekend. She learned early the importance of this when trying to balance work duties with her personal life. Every day starts precisely the same; a 3 mile jog around their neighborhood. By the time she gets home, Jim has Sam up and they are able to eat breakfast as a family most days. Then off to work to open the bakery. Throughout the day she personally delivers catered goods. After work, typically picks Sam up from the sitter, unless catering duties require Jim’s help.

Each evening, she and Jim share cooking duties and often walk as a family to the park on the corner of their street to let Sam play in the sand box. At some point each evening, Michelle slips away to a nearby gym for about 30 minutes of strength training. Besides the fact she loves keeping busy, fitness has been an outlet for her since she was a child. She has perfected her current schedule over time, particularly since the addition of Sam to the household.

Lately, Michelle has felt the desire to nap. Her schedule rarely, if ever, permits this luxury. She finds it unusual since, according to her mother, she has always been a “dynamo”. Towards the days end, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make it to the gym, although she refuses to miss a session. Also, she finds herself occasionally losing her concentration at work. This can prove to be problematic as baking is a fairly precise science. Over the last couple of weeks, Michelle has noticed she has been having difficulty falling asleep. She realizes this must be the source of daytime tiredness.

She normally sleeps well, falling asleep almost immediately. As of late, she doesn’t feel tired upon her return from the gym. In fact, she feels more energized than she does during the day. She mentions her issue to her neighbor, Nancy, one evening at the park while their daughters play. Nancy listened, and having known Michelle for some years now, asks if she thinks her evening workouts may be the reason she has had such a hard time falling asleep. This seems counterintuitive to Michelle, but when she gets home she decides to read about “Better Sleep Tips” online. She was shocked to find exercising later in the day was a common cause of sleep difficulty.

She wondered how she could optimally alter her schedule. She has tried strength training at home with a set of 10lb dumbbells, but finds she would skip out more often than not. She has also tried working out at the gym before her run, but finds that this requires her to get up much earlier to accomplish and also serves as a source of daytime sleepiness. At the gym that evening, she sees Nancy leaving a class. As they chat, Nancy asks if maybe she would sleep better if she came to yoga with her rather than strength training every evening. Michelle had not tried yoga in the past, but as promised attended the following evening. She was surprised that although not fast-paced, it was just as challenging as her strength training routine. She was instantly hooked. By the following week, Jim could hardly keep up with her on a bike ride.

This is a great example of rather than foregoing exercise in the evening, replacing fast-paced activity with a more relaxing session.