Getting regular, restorative sleep is crucial to your health and wellbeing - and what a difference it makes to how you feel after a restful sleep! The day seems to pass more easily, tasks and problems don’t seem as difficult, you can think clearly and your mood feels lifted.  

Other benefits include : 

• Better management of stress 
• More patience 
• Better problem solving 
• Better relationships 
• Improved weight management ability  
• Getting unwell less often 
• Lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes 
• Reduced inflammation 
• Faster healing 
• Improved performance 
• Better reaction times and decision making  

Here is what happens while we are asleep that makes these wonderful things happen: 

Between 10pm-2am our bodies regenerate on a physical level; they secrete high levels of growth hormones and our organs are cleansed. Anything that needs healing will kick-off during this time; that’s why if we skip this stage we can wake up with all kinds of aches and pains or old injuries can feel aggravated.  

Between 2am-6am our psyche goes through a regeneration process; the best way to describe this is having a load of paperwork accumulated in the day that we didn’t have time to get to - these are the thoughts or feelings we haven’t had a chance to process but our minds are subconsciously aware of. During the night this paperwork gets filed away into the correct places. If we miss this stage of sleep we may wake up feeling stressed and in a bad mood. 

These days sleep issues are a common problem, in fact 1 in 3 Canadians are thought to not be getting enough sleep for optimum mental and physical health. Now don’t get me wrong, being busy and productive is valuable but we need to make sure we’re getting enough of that down time to recharge our batteries. 

So here is how you can get better sleep: 

Start winding down from 6pm, dim the lights, maybe play some calm music in the background and make sure you have finished any work at least 4 hours before you go to bed. This will help your brain to slow down. Avoid sugary foods or too much water before bed or they may wake you up at night. 

Get into bed before 10pm and lay down with your eyes closed; you probably won’t be able to fall asleep straight away, which is fine. Being in bed and laying down at this time will help your body’s rhythm to adjust and after a few days, you will find it much easier to get to sleep and stay asleep. The aim is to eventually be asleep by 10.30pm. 

Some other things you can do to improve your sleep are: 

• Make sure your room is peaceful and promotes relaxation 
• Eat a healthily diet 
• Have a healthy exercise routine during the day 
• Limit caffeine and alcohol intake later in the day 
• Avoid bright screens before bed 
• Practice relaxation in whatever way works best for you; this could be reading or meditation 

Now, I have a question for you: 

What is the next best step you can take to make sure that you get restful sleep tonight? 

Give the tips I outlined in this blog a try and let me know how it goes! 

Much love, 

Julia