Inspiring & empowering you to survive & thrive emotionally! Overcoming myheartandmind.co.uk How 2 Feel Good Now 9 tips and tricks to help you get a good night s sleep Your bedroom Make your sleep environment as calm, inviting and comfortable as possible. Your bedroom can make a huge difference to how well you sleep. To get the best sleep make sure the room is dark, quiet and cool. Ensure you have enough ventilation. Make sure you have a comfortable mattress and comforting pillows. It can be distracting to have technology in the bedroom. Remove televisions, laptops., tablets and mobiles if possible. Make your bedroom is your personal sanctuary used only for sleep and good sex!
Get organised Sometimes it can be thoughts about the next day that can keep you awake. Make sure you have everything prepared and organised. Take a few moments the evening before to review your plans for the next day. Work out what you will need and write a list of what you want to achieve. You can then retire to your bed knowing that everything is ready and that you need not concern yourself with anything. Remember the little things that can be taken for granted. Eg clothes or even medications. Background sounds One reason why you might wake in the night could be because of sounds from the building or from outside wakens you. Having background soothing sounds that gradually rise and fall in volume can prevent the noises startling you while asleep. Rainfall, ocean waves, sounds from nature and the low rumble of a distant thunder storm are known to put a person to sleep. There are plenty available on the internet for you to download. My daughter s preference is heavy rainfall. Give them all a try and find out what soothes you the most. facebook.com/how2feelgoodnow
Talk yourself to sleep Yes surprisingly there are many ways to talk yourself to sleep this includes the old faithful counting sheep. If sheep is a bit old school for you then here is an another idea that can work for you. Use the alphabet Take a few deep breaths. Decide on a theme and begin at A. List all of the items in your theme that start with each letter of the alphabet consecutively. If you get to the end of the alphabet start again but do it backwards from Z to A Here s some suggested themes: animals, product names, girls or boys names, makes of cars, trees or the periodic table etc. pinterest.com/how2feelgoodnow Worrying Sometimes the cause of insomnia can be because you are worrying about poor sleep. Do you tell yourself that you won t sleep? Do you find yourself telling others that you won t sleep? Do you lay in bed worrying about not being able to sleep the moment you re in bed? If this is the case it can be your belief about the lack of sleep that is the problem and keeping you awake. Change it up. Begin by noticing what you are saying. Practice changing the thoughts and tell yourself you can sleep and will sleep easily and effortlessly. You ll be surprised at how this simple thing can make a huge difference.
Essential oils Try lavender and chamomile. Chamomile especially as a drink or in oil form is one of the best herbs for reducing stress and promoting relaxation and sleep. You can find the tea can be found in many supermarkets. Lavender oil is another that is well known to aid sleep and relaxation. You can put a few drops on a pillow or in an oil burner. Try having a cup of chamomile tea and a warm bath about 1 hr before bed. Take about 20 drops of diluted lavender oil, rub it over your body and get into a bath with Epsom salts (they contain magnesium that helps with sleep too). Relax for about 20 minutes then continue with the rest of your routine. Reduce caffeine Whilst you may be using caffeine to keep you awake during the day it can be affecting how well you sleep. Make the change to decaffeinated coffee, tea and fizzy drinks. If you quit completely you may find you have a headache for a couple of days but this will soon pass. If you find it difficult to cut caffeine out of your diet completely then do reduce your consumption. Only having drinks with caffeine in the morning. Stay clear of caffeine tablets and read the packets of pain killers as some of them contain caffeine to enhance the effect of the pain relief. instagram.com/how2feelgoodnow
Your routine With children it is well known that routine is key good sleep hygiene. As adults we seem to have forgotten this. Just like children, our bodies need habits and patterns. Getting up at the same time every day and having a standardised bedtime helps create a regular body clock that means you re less tired waking up and more likely to sleep well at night. It is recommended that you should give yourself an hour before you go to bed to unwind and relax. It may be having a long bath or reading a book but whatever it is do it regularly. After a while it will become a habit and will signal your body that it is time for sleep. Valerian I first came across valerian when I started menopause. It was suggested by my doctor. I found it very effective for helping me go to sleep, stay asleep and sleep longer. Valerian is a herb and is classed as a supplement. There isn t enough research and studies at present to be definitive about how effective it is and how much is the optimum does. So this is something that you might want to try out for yourself. Always check with your doctor, pharmacist or herbalist especially if you take other medication. Note: It does have an unpleasant smell to me but one of my cats absolutely adores it, even more than catnip! twitter.com/how2feelgoodnow