Sleep
Very Brief History
Where to start…..probably at the beginning of mankind. We’re pre-historic creatures living in the 21st Century, with our body clocks no different to hunter-gatherer tribes 200,000 years ago. Ideally we should be sleeping from around 9pm to 7am, getting around 7-8 hours restful sleep.
Wakey Wakey
One massive caveat before I go any further is, don’t let preparing for sleep become stressful, or all the good will turn to bad. Set up your routine, use if as a normal part of your day and don’t dwell on it.
Getting a good night’s sleep begins as soon as we wake, with a blast of daylight to ensure of day and night hormones are working well. Bit like adjust a time-piece and aligning the seconds, as our bodies can get out of sync.
You can take a tea or coffee outside into the garden or nearest outdoors for a few minutes. Otherwise if that really won’t work for you, pull back the curtains, put the lights on, especially if you have a SAD lamp or a daylight bulb and enjoy the light.
Caffeinated Drinks
Personally I enjoy caffeinated green teas and coffee until 12:00 noon, as a morning drink, then switch to decaffeinated beverages, as the latter has around a 6 hour half-life to get out of your system, so again without making it an issue it’s part of my usual routine without getting it much thought.
Camp Fire Lights
During that lead time of around an hour-and-½, white / blue light can disturb your sleep hormones, so if at all possible switch to amber or red (camp fire) coloured lighting, or invest in a blue light blocking pair of glasses. May be stop using your phone and laptop. Even switch of the telly and read. All good practice to get the best possible nourishing night’s sleep.
No Wind Ups
The last thing you need before bed is to feel stressed, anxious or any other flight or fight emotions. Therefore make it a rule that you don’t talk about emotive subjects in the hour-and-½ before bed. That also means, if at all possible, no checking work emails, avoid high tension TV programmes, cardio exercise, passing comments on the in-laws or even going through your finances. All of it can wait until the morning, when hopefully you’re refreshed and much better placed to tackle these sorts of things.
The Bedroom
Should be your haven for sleeping and you know what, and that’s about it! No electric devices, like TV’s, game consoles, laptops and mobile phones. All of which will have a negative effect on the length and quality of your sleep.
Try and make your bedroom a relaxing haven to unwind and sleep. Clear out as much clutter as possible, as being surrounded by mess in bed can subconsciously interfere with your sleep.
Ideally all light should be blocked out in your bedroom, so blackout blinds and curtains does the job, or an eye mask. Make sure that internal artificial lighting doesn’t filter into your bedroom too, like under your door.
Final Tips
Try not to eat a good couple of hours before bed. you want your body to repair whilst sleeping, not digesting food.
Limit your alcohol, as it may send you off quickly to sleep, but won’t keep you asleep. Also your sleep will be the light, rapid eye movement type, not deeper sleep.