BROKEN sleep begone! Our expert advisors and sleep solutions can help you off to the Land of Nod
THE GOOD SLEEP MANTRAS
TOP TIPS FROM THE SLEEP GEEK - READ THESE AND START YOUR NEW SLEEP REGIME TONIGHT!
JAMES WILSON is a sleep practitioner who has developed techniques to help people sleep better. James suffered from insomnia and as a result, was driven to solve sleep issues for those who need it.
“SLEEP IS THE foundation that your health is built upon. You want to eat healthier? Sleeping poorly makes you crave junk food - it makes you feel hungrier, faster and it takes longer for you to feel full when eating. Want to improve your mental health? REM sleep is where our body undergoes an “overnight counselling” session; not getting the sleep we need means our emotional health is impacted the next day. Want to train at your best? Sleep is fundamental to physical recovery; during deep sleep, our body repairs and prepares us physically for the next day.
THE QUESTION IS, WHAT CAN YOU DO TO IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP?
FIRSTLY, UNDERSTAND YOURSELF AS A SLEEPER. Are you an owl, in bed after 11pm, waking after 8am? Or are you a lark, going to bed between 8pm and 10pm and waking between 4am and 6am? Or maybe a typical sleeper - somewhere in the middle.
NEXT, THINK ABOUT YOUR SLEEP NEED, how much sleep do you need to feel alert and active at 11am in the morning? Do not judge it on what other people do.
ADDITIONALLY, THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ACCEPTANCE. An acceptance that we cannot force sleep, that it is not something we can magically turn on and off. We need to ensure in the hour before bed we are doing things that relax us and make us cooler. Watch your favourite comedy series, have a warm bath or shower, these things help. Have a consistent sleep time, with a lie-in of no more than an hour and a half, to help drive sleepiness at bedtime.
RATHER THAN LABELLING YOURSELF AS A POOR SLEEPER, FOCUS ON THE FACT THAT YOU ARE WORLD CLASS, AMAZING, BRILLIANT AT BEING TIRED. You will always get through tomorrow because you always do. Tell yourself the story of the time you had no, or extraordinarily little sleep and performed amazingly. Change your mindset, understand your sleep better and make small changes to your behaviours and environment.
STRESS AND ANXIETY CAN, FOR SOME PEOPLE, HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THEIR ABILITY TO FALL ASLEEP AND STAY ASLEEP. If we are dealing with a particularly anxious or stressful time, we need to ensure that we are winding down properly in the hour before bed. Firstly we should ensure that we are ready for bed; we are in cosy clothes - maybe PJs, slippers and fluffy dressing gown, and we have fed the pets, locked the doors and brushed our teeth. If you are watching, reading, or listening to something steer clear of box sets, the news and true crime and stick to comedies, something repetitive or li
