How Can I Sleep Better?

Good quality sleep is essential for our physical and mental health, and not getting enough of it can impact our lives in many ways. According to research commissioned by The Sleep Council, 27% of British people experience poor quality sleep regularly. It is thought that most people will experience some form of sleep problem during their lifetime. Poor quality or too little sleep can leave us struggling to focus during the day and depress our mood.

The NHS links a lack of good quality sleep to an increased risk of developing more serious medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. In addition, a lack of quality sleep can shorten life expectancy and contribute to depression and anxiety.

The Mental Health Foundation suggests that sleep, when enough, contributes to our ability to process information, form and sustain good interpersonal relationships, and aids our immune system in protecting us from illness and infection. Sleep is important.

So How Can I Sleep Better?

The key to a good night's sleep is what experts call good 'sleep hygiene'. This means taking your sleep habits seriously and developing a regular and predictable routine around sleep and bedtime. This can help to prime the brain that it is time to sleep. Aim to start your bedtime routine at the same time each day and try to keep regular sleep hours as much as possible.

Relaxation

Relaxing before bedtime is also essential; you could experiment with different ways of doing this. Not everyone relaxes in the same way, but some activities that may work for you might include reading, listening to the radio, taking a warm (not hot) bath, listening to relaxation CDs, engaging in some gentle, non-energetic exercise such as yoga or pilates, or making a 'to do' list of all the things that you want to do tomorrow.

Environment

In addition, the environment in which we sleep can impact the quality and duration of our sleep. So, for instance, your bedroom should, ideally, be dark, quiet, warm, and free of any electronic gadgets, including TVs, tablets, computers or mobile phones, that reduce the brain's association with sleep and relaxation. Aim for a room heated to between 18 and 24 degrees centigrade, and try to reserve it for only rest and sex.

Mattress

You may also want to consider the condition and quality of your mattress. Bs should usually be renewed every seven years and sooner if worn, sagging, or damaged.

Sleep Diary

Increasing awareness of your own experiences, feelings, thoughts and activities leading up to bedtime and the details of how well you sleep each night may also help shed light on lifestyle issues that may adversely impact your ability to get a good night's sleep. A sleep diary, which is a way of noting some of these things, can sometimes help with this. You can record things that may impact your sleep patterns, such as: what you have been doing during the day, how well you have slept the night before, how often you have woken up during the night, the duration of each of these waking periods, if anything has made you anxious or upset during the day, how much caffeine or alcohol you have consumed during the day, what you ate, whether or not you have exercised and in what way.

Talking Things Over

If you feel that talking over some of the issues that may be troubling you in your life these days might help you get a better night's sleep, do feel free to get in touch. Sometimes getting to the root of some of the more complex issues in your life that may be impacting you can have the additional benefit of helping you to sleep more easily at night.