Sleep is essential for good health. In fact, we need sleep to survive — just like we need food and water. So, it’s no wonder we spend about one-third of our lives sleeping.
Ideally 7 to 9 hours of quality restorative sleep is recommended for adults. Babies initially sleep as much as 16 to 18 hours per day, which may boost growth and development (especially of the brain). School-age children and teens on average need about 9.5 hours of sleep per night. However after age 60, nighttime sleep tends to be shorter, lighter, and interrupted by multiple awakenings.
Listen to your body- it’s okay to take a nap when you’re feeling tired or less than ordinary.
Many biological processes happen during sleep:
- The brain stores new information and gets rid of toxic waste.
- Nerve cells communicate and reorganise, which supports healthy brain function.
- The body repairs cells, restores energy, and releases molecules like hormones and proteins.
- These processes are critical for our overall health. Without them, our bodies can’t function effectively.
"Sleep is the golden chain that ties our health and our bodies together."
Thomas Dekkar
10 great tips to help with more and better sleep:
- Preparing for the next day can alleviate some of the stress that keeps us up at night. You can get a jumpstart on the next day by packing your lunch, picking out an outfit, bathing at night instead of the morning and jotting down a to-do list.
- Shut down your devices at least 2 hours before bed. If you must be on your phone or computer try wearing blue blocker glasses that keep the blue light out of your eyes. This blue light that is emitted from our electronics suppresses the release of melatonin which is the hormone that makes us sleepy.
- Try a supplement to help you get to sleep faster and stay asleep longer. Some examples: magnesium, melatonin, L-Theanine, passionflower, valerian and CBD oil. Start with the minimum dose and work up as some people are more sensitive to these supplements than others. Certain calming essential oils such as lavender, chamomile and eucalyptus are also very beneficial to quality sleep.
- A great product to have fitted under your bed sheet is an Earth Mat research and customer feedback has shown that grounding can greatly improve the quality of your sleep due to its calming effects on the nervous system.
- Create a bedtime routine. Try to do roughly the same thing every night before bed to help signal to your body that it’s time to sleep. Relaxing ideas are doing a meditation, a hot shower or bath, a few pilates moves like Cat-Cow, the Hip flexor stretch, pelvic tilts followed by TRE with a focus on breathwork is fantastic for calming your nervous system a key element of having great nights sleep.
- Get some exercise during the day. Any type of movement helps you sleep better at night. Exercising outside is particularly helpful due to sunlight exposure. Be careful not to exercise too close to bedtime as this can raise your cortisol levels and make it harder to fall asleep.
- As much as possible go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day. This will help train your biological clock. Our bodies crave a consistent schedule when it comes to sleep.
- Finish all eating 3 hours prior to going to sleep and reducing your water intake later in the evening allows more time for digestion to occur while you’re relaxed yet still awake, preventing insomnia and heartburn.
- In the winter try sleeping with a hot water bottle instead of an electric blanket. It will keep you warm and help you to fall asleep more quickly.
- Journal before bed- make the last thing you do before falling asleep a list of 5 “wins” for the day. Five things that happened that felt good or five accomplishments. When you make this the last thing you focus on you sleep more soundly and wake up in a better frame of mind. If you wake in the early hours and can’t get back to sleep, don’t lie in bed awake tossing and turning with your thoughts, journal your thoughts instead, getting them out of your head helps clears the mind to fall back to sleep quicker.
Wishing you all a deeply restorative sleep and sweet dreams
