Lets talk about sleep
How many out there get a good night sleep? Every night? That means settling to sleep within 30 minutes, and if you do wake returning to sleep quickly – the biggest indicator is how do you feel when you wake in the morning? The majority of my clients when they first come to see me feel tired when they wake each morning – how do you feel?
There are many different sleep disorders, insufficient sleep is quite common – that is inadequate time spent in bed to gain enough sleep.
· Do you sleep longer when you don’t need to get up for work?
· Does your bedtime vary over the week?
· Is your bedroom quiet, dark, cool, comfortable?
· Do you get woke by other members of the household, including pets?
· Do you have a need to sleep during the day?
· How long has your sleep been inadequate?
Many parents of young children get used to inadequate sleep so they don’t recognise the need for more. However insufficient sleep is associated with anxiety, depression, panic, inflammation, reduced memory, reduced reaction time, impaired decision making.
What do we need to get a good night sleep?
· To set circadian rhythm sleep times and wake times should not significantly vary between days of the week/weekend (less than 1 hour).
· Light in the morning – stimulate with sunlight/full spectrum light in first 1-2 hours of wake to increase melatonin at night, breakfast on the deck, walk in daylight before getting to work.
o Get 10 minute bursts of light every couple hours – research shows people sitting near a window in the office sleep better than those further inside the building.
o Caffeine – could be responsible for anxiety
§ Effective in about 20 mins, active for 8 hours
§ Sleep effects of caffeine: delayed sleep onset, decreased sleep time, decreased sleep efficiency
· Dark in the evening – reduce blue light exposure, consider that the end of the day with sun going down shows a yellow/red spectrum.
o If you fully extend your arm and can still see your fingers – this is enough light to affect melatonin and stimulate wakefulness.
· Create a wind down time
o Put your thoughts to rest – spend 10 minutes 1-2 hours before bed writing down the thoughts that tend to arise at night (even on the train travelling home from work, or in the car using a voice recorder)
§ Then in the night if your mind starts circling tell yourself “I already thought about that and will have time tomorrow, now’s the time for sleep”. This limit setting with yourself establishes that you are off duty during sleep time and begins to insulate your sleep from intrusive thoughts. It’s a skill that gets better with practice!
o Take a few minutes to wind down, relaxing activities in low light, avoiding tasks, you can’t expect to sleep immediately if not winding down from a busy day, the goal is to be in the parasympathetic state (not fight/flight) to allow sleepiness to emerge
o Its normal to take 30 minutes to fall asleep
o Create strategy for sleeping – create a story, retell a favourite story from childhood, reimagine a favourite event/holiday.
· Make your bedroom ideal for sleep
o A device in the bedroom is associated with worse sleep – could be woken by phone, EMF’s
o The ideal room is quiet, cool (<18 degrees), dark, comfortable, clean, consider no pets (research on sleeping with pets indicates that those who sleep alone are better sleeping with a pet, while those sharing a bed do worse when adding in a pet).
§ Cool – even a difference in 1-2 degrees can make a difference to a good sleep, alcohol can drop the body temperature so that it is easy to drop into a sleep, but the body can quickly resettle to a normal body temp and wake again. Do you see that relationship between waking soon after going to sleep and drinking at night?
· If waking during the night – use cognitive sleep practice to resettle, soothing thoughts, gratitude, story-telling strategy
Getting enough sleep is critical for the healing effects on the body/mind. Regular lack of sleep increases the risk for diseases like obesity and dementia as the body/mind remains in an inflamed stressed state.
If you need help with sleep or with other health issues contact Gina at gina@bodyofwork.co.nz
As a disclaimer since I’m not providing this information following a full consultation, please note that this information provided is for informational or educational purposes only, and does not substitute professional medical advice or consultations with healthcare professionals
