If you’ve been reading my stuff for a while, you’ll know that I’m a bit of a pulpit basher for sleep – I think many of the worlds ills are caused by poor sleep, and I know for myself that if I’m not sleeping well, I become somewhat psychotic and homicidal…not a great mix! Poor sleep affects you physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually because exhaustion makes it hard to connect with your soul.
So, sleep’s important! I used to be a chronic insomniac, and had such trouble getting to sleep that I ended up overdosing on sleeping pills…and woke up at 4 in the afternoon (I should have been at work at 9, my boss was not impressed!) At this point, I embarked on a journey to cure my insomnia, and now my sleep is much better – I don’t always sleep well, but I have a toolbox full of tricks to try if my insomnia rears its head.
And I’d like to share that toolbox with you.
1. Take responsibility and NOTICE
It’s your sleep pattern – if it’s broke, you need to fix it. I know that when you’re tired things seem harder, and you may feel you’ve tried ‘everything’ (by the way, when clients tell me they’ve tried everything, they’re normally talking about 3 things…that’s not everything by a long shot!), but even if you have genuinely tried plans A-Z…keep going – take responsibility for finding a way to sort it out, or make it better. And notice what works and what doesn’t – this toolbox is what works for me, it might not work for you…but try the ideas and notice what happens. Notice what ruins your sleep and what helps it.
2 No stimulants after 4
No coffee, tea, coca-cola, even Peppermint tea after 4ish – you can play with the time, you can even play with what drinks stimulate you and keep you awake and which don’t…but start with banning them before the evening. Yes, even Peppermint tea! I had some in the evening recently for indigestion…it worked on the indigestion, but I was also awake til 3. Hmm. If I have a coca-cola in the evening, it has the same effect (this goes some way to explaining my previous chronic insomnia as I used to drink vodka and coke often!) And notice what effect alcohol has on your sleep. If I have an alcoholic drink, even just one, my sleep quality is severely adversely affected.
3 Exercise
If I don’t yoga regularly, I don’t sleep. You need to tire your body out – especially if you sit at a desk all day, give yourself some fresh air and movement – you don’t have to spend 4 hours in the gym, you could just dance around your living room for 20 minutes.
4 Empty your mind
If your mind is racing and you have a bazillion thoughts going round in a whirlpool in your head, that’s hard to sleep through. Do a brain dump and get everything in your mind out of it. This is sometimes really annoying – I get an idea for an article at 3 am and I don’t want to get up, put the light on and write it down…but if I don’t, I can’t sleep, so I keep pen and paper by the side of the bed. If your mind often races at night, get into the habit of brain dumping before you try to sleep – just scribble down everything going through your mind…then stop and go to sleep!
5 Give your body clock a chance
When I had chronic insomnia, my body clock hadn’t a clue what was going on. In the week, I’d be up early for work. At the weekend, I’d be up til 6 am dancing. No wonder my sleep was all over the place. Give your body clock a chance to kick in – if I go to sleep around the same time most nights and get up around the same time most days, I sleep better. In fact, this could be a cause of the poor sleep I’m having at the moment, because my bedtime and rising time are all over the place.
6 Have a bedtime routine
I cannot sleep if I haven’t read my book. Even if I can barely keep my eyes open, I’ll read a chapter of my book. Over the years I’ve also experimented with journalling, meditation (I fall asleep, so it’s kind of pointless if I want to meditate, great if I just want to sleep!), bedtime yoga, lighting a scented candle, warm baths, all sorts of things…they can all help, but once I start reading my book, my body and mind know it’s winding down time and get ready to sleep.
7 Get your tech out of the bedroom
TV, phone, laptop, tablet…get them out of your bedroom. Or at least, turn them off an hour before you’re going to sleep. The lights from our devices stimulate the brain into thinking it’s daytime, and the stimulation from these devices helps to keep us awake. I’ve experimented a lot with this…and I always sleep better if I haven’t been on my phone or tablet or watching tv just before bed. I know we’re welded to our devices these days, but it’s affecting your sleep, stop it…and make sure your phone/tablet is on silent overnight – if someone tweets or facebook messages you, it can wait til the morning!
8 Have a bedtime story or meditation
Kids have bedtime stories because they help them sleep. They work to get you off to sleep, and now audiobooks are available, you can have your favourite voices sending you to sleep. I recommend you choose a story you don’t need to listen to though – like a kids’ book you loved or a story you know well…you don’t want to be staying awake to listen, you want to just drop off while Winnie-the-Pooh is finding Eeyore’s tail, or while Toad is stealing the motor-car. I listen to Winnie-the-Pooh
9 Use what works for you
If lavender, baths, ear-plugs, eye-masks, bedtime stories, music, open windows/air-con, closed windows/heat, orgasms, counting sheep, muscle relaxing, visualising yourself on a beach with a pina-colada works, use the tools! So many people know what works for them, or what has worked in the past, but they don’t do it (me included until I remember I know what works). That’s nuts. Do what works.
10 Nap
Hey, if you’re not sleeping, you need to catch up on your zzzz’s. Let yourself have a little old lady (lol) nap. Some people suggest you don’t because it buggers up your sleep pattern. But your sleep pattern may already be buggered, so if you’re tired, sleep! If you’ve had a nice restorative snooze, you’re less likely to be overtired and unable to sleep when you go to bed, there’s less pressure on you to get your 8 hours in and you’re rested. If you’re tired in the day, sleep. In Japan, they have sleep pods in offices because they know that a little nap can rejuvenate the brain. (this is one of my favourite things in the world, it’s genius!)
11 Meditate/learn to relax
Meditation complements good sleep. If I have had a bad night’s sleep, I do a meditation and always feel more rested, relaxed and restored. You can do it before you get up if you’re awake early, or make time for it during the day and feel rested without the zzz’s. And just in case you think meditation means sitting cross-legged in silence for 4 hours…well, it can mean that, but it can also mean 2 minutes of breathing, beautiful guided meditations that take you to balmy beaches or cool forests, mantras to focus on, walking mindfully, watching the clouds or the stars…If one style doesn’t work for you, try another. And if meditation is really not for you, learn to relax. A lot of insomniacs are tightly wound…relax. It’s easier to sleep if you’re relaxed (in fact, all of life is easier if you’re relaxed!)
12. Do not accept poor sleep as your lot in life
if what you’re doing isn’t working, TRY SOMETHING ELSE. Persistence is an underestimated quality, but if you’re stubborn and you persist, you will find a way. My acupuncturist tells me that many people come to her with chronic sleep problems…and acupuncture does help with sleep. The internet is full of ideas for sleeping well – I could have come up with 100 tips by just googling for 10 minutes, so if my toolbox is no help to you, go fill your own with a little googling and try them all (not all at once, that’s stressful, not soothing!)
Sleep is one of my top 3 basic self-care foundations – it’s wildly important to keep me positive, effective, and not homicidal! I can’t recommend enough that if your sleep isn’t good, make it better!
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