You’ve heard the saying ‘if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail’, well it can apply to sleep, too! Our expert tips will help you prepare well for top-quality kip.
SLEEP IS ON EVERYONE’S minds. Since the pandemic, Internet searches for “sleep” have shot up, with anxiety and stress being two culprits hampering our ability to shut off at night. Menopause collective and campaigner GenM (gen-m.com), who partners with more than 70 brands from Marks & Spencer to Co-op, recognised in its groundbreaking research report of 2020 (updated in 2022) that there are 48 symptoms of menopause, with disturbed sleep being the one experienced most commonly. It’s especially prevalent in women entering perimenopause, as oestrogen levels drop to new lows. That’s because oestrogen helps you sleep well, allowing your body to better use the happy hormone serotonin and other neurochemicals that help you snooze. And other symptoms can disrupt sleep too, such as night sweats and anxiety. But you can take steps to support your slumber...
1 GET INTO A DAILY ROUTINE
‘Training your body into a consistent sleep pattern can have an incredible impact on the quality of your sleep. Waking up, winding down and going to bed around the same time every day helps you sleep better and deeper. Try to avoid napping in the daytime, too,’ says Rebekah Hall, founder and CEO of menstrual wellness brand FEWE (fewe.co.uk).
It’s also known that an hour’s sleep before midnight is worth two afterwards, which is because you get some of your deepest most restorative sleep before midnight. TRY IT Aim to start winding down around 9pm in spring and summer (earlier in winter), so you can be asleep by 10pm, giving you a chance to get eight full hours so you rise at 6am. ‘You can adjust the timings to suit you. Don’t worry if you have the odd late night, as long as you get back on track the next night you’ll be fine,’ says Rebekah.
2 BREATHE SLOWLY AND DEEPLY
Breathwork is a great way to help calm and switch off your brain before bed. This holistic practice is aimed at calming anxiety and reducing feelings of stress or anguish. ‘Breathing slowly helps relax your body and brain and it’s easier to quiet the distracting thoughts that keep your mind buzzing,’ says Rebekah. Aim to lengthen your out-breath, to activate your rest and digest nervous system.
TRY IT You can find lots of YouTube tutorials that will show you how to do breathwork, but essentially it is about slowing your breath and focusing on your breathing, which allows you to clear your mind and pay closer attention to your body.
3 GIVECBD A TRY
Some of the main reasons women use CBD –a non-psychoactive extract from the cannabis plant – are for anxiety and sleep. ‘A few drops of CBD oil on the tongue each evening can help you to relax and may relieve feelings of s
