Get a Good Nights Sleep

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No More Sleepless Nights

A Good Night's Sleep

Home Page > Health & Fitness

Getting a good nights sleep is crucial for allowing to body to heal and regenerate and recover from the stressful events of the day. Most adults need between six and eight hours of sleep to avoid fatigue, irritability, lethargy, lack of concentration and short-term memory loss and wide array of health issues that can be associated with sleep deprivation.

Disturbed sleep patterns can be caused by a number of factors

• Illness (short term or long term)

• Stress, worry and anxiety

• Poor diet and nutrition

• Environment not conducive to sleep (hot/cold/light/noise).

• Irregularity of sleep patterns (shift work, too many late nights or broken sleep, sleeping during the day)

• Chemical imbalance (hormones/toxins in the body)

• Stimulants before bedtime (caffeine, alcohol, nicotine).

Eliminate sources of outside light as much as possible with heavy curtains or blinds that generously cover the window. Darkness inhibits the brain’s biological clock and encourages you to sleep sounder and for longer periods of time. Use thermal backed curtains to keep the bedroom warmer in winter by keeping cold air out and reducing heat loss from within the room.

The bedroom is for sleeping. Electromagnetic waves have been shown to suppress sleep-inducing melatonin in the brain. Remove TV's and computers from the bedroom and avoid using a computer late at night as the light from your monitor right before bed is enough to reset your whole wake/sleep cycle and postpone the onset of sleepiness by 3 hours. Clock radios with lighted displays or even hall lights can be misinterpreted by your brain as a signal you should wake up.

If you suffer from allergies check the room for dust and mould if you find you are waking up un-refreshed or with sinus problems. Keep the bedroom as dust free as possible and this includes the mattress and bed linen. If allergies symptoms persist consider installing anti-allergenic carpeting or polished wooden floors for easy cleaning.

Make use of night breathing plants in the bedroom such as bromeliads, anthuriums and orchids that are natural botanical air purifiers. These plants breath out oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide during the night to refresh the air for a restful night’s sleep.

Reduce stress, worry and anxiety

Over time, stress can lead to serious health issues such as obesity, depression and even death. When you start seeing red think blue as in blueberries. Antioxidants found in blueberries fight stress hormones. Stretching and breathing exercises can have many healthy lifestyle benefits including reduction of stress and anxiety. Stretching relaxes the muscles and releases built-up tension. Try yoga (an ancient practice of stretching and breathing exercises) or Pilates - regular practice can help profoundly.

Take time to learn some deep relaxation techniques or meditation if you feel your insomnia is caused by stress and anxiety and don't forget to breathe. Correct breathing helps calm the nervous system and focus the mind. Inhaling a deep breath for five seconds, then exhaling for another five seconds, can help clear your mind and enhance blood circulation. When anxious our breathing becomes shallow and short, located high up in the lungs and chest area instead of the diaphragm. This tends to further increases anxiety.

To exercise the lungs take a good deep breath inhaling through the nose followed by an even longer exhale through the mouth while keeping your stomach relaxed. To help you focus, slowly say the word “soft” in your head while inhaling, and speak the word “belly” as you breathe out or try my favourite lotus flower breathing exercise. Laying on your back in a relaxed comfortable position image a lotus flower located in the area of your navel. As you breath in image the petals opening fully and widely. On the out breath image the flower petals closing tightly. Do this several times until you feel calm and relaxed, breathing deeply and naturally.

If you still can't get to sleep because of worry, or you tend to wake in the night try...

• Reading a book.
• Writing down everything you’re thinking about and any strategies you’ve thought of that will solve the problems and get a good nights sleep knowing you will deal with those items in the morning.
• Picture a calming scene in your mind. The mind can only focus on one thing at a time and electing to focus on a calming scene (or whatever else you find relaxes your mind) replaces worrying thoughts keeping you awake.
• Take a warm bath before bed with added Epsom salts before retiring. Epsom salts are high in magnesium and help to relax any tension in the body. Six to eight drops of lavender essential oil can also be added to the bathwater for its calming effect on the mind.

The following calming meditation technique can be very beneficial for helping you become more relaxed in general. Practice for 10 minutes, twice a day whether at work or play.

• Sit or lie in a quite place with your eyes closed, stay alert and awake if you can. Starting with your right hand, tense then relax each muscle group in turn, all around the body then back to the right hand again.

• Next, focus on each muscle group, this time relaxing only. pay extra attention to your head and neck or any area that feels extra tension.

• Now turn your attention to your breathing. Listen to the sound of your breath and focus on the rate of each breath. Breath in and out slowly, filling your lungs from the stomach up to your chest.

• Now repeat the words "relax" silently in your mind. If you find the pace fast slow down. Each time other thoughts distract you, calmly return to the word "relax"

• just let go and enjoy this quite time for yourself letting your body and mind totally relax.

Avoid stimulants at bedtime

For quality sleep, eat a healthy diet throughout the day and try to follow these general rules:

Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants and can make falling asleep difficult. Alcohol affects REM and deep sleep. Alcohol is a sedative, but the sleep it induces is poor quality. You wake up more frequently as your body processes ethanol and you go into overnight withdrawal.

Avoid drinking coffee, tea and energy drinks containing caffeine within 3 to 6 hours of going to bed. Research has shown the caffeine blocks the effects of adenosine, a chemical produced by your brain that makes you sleepy.

If you need to drink something, choose water, non-caffeinated tea or hot chocolate which has very little caffeine. Consume vitamin B6 and tryptophan found in chicken, cheese, tuna, eggs and nuts to boost the production of sleep-aiding serotonin. Try a warm glass of milk and a cookie. The carbohydrates in the cookie will help get the tryptophan, a chemical found in the milk, to where it is needed in the brain to make you feel sleepy.

Short-lived bouts of insomnia are usually nothing to worry about, but chronic sleep loss can contribute to health problems that can affect metabolism, mood and cardiovascular health. Getting fewer than five hours on a regular basis results in higher levels of fibrinogen - a blood-clotting protein that can slow the blood flow to your heart. After only four hours of sleep for six consecutive nights studies have shown that our ability to process blood sugar can be reduced by 30 percent - a level close to diabetics.

Did you Know?

The opposite to not enough sleep is too much sleep. This can have its own drawback in health terms. Too much sleep can cause weight gain. Studies have shown that people who slept more than nine hours a night were 25 per cent more likely to gain five kilograms over six years than people who slept between seven and eight hours a night.

For sleep problems that have existed for a while visit your doctor or health professional to ensure there are no underlying health or sleep disorder problems preventing you from getting a good nights sleep.

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