Advice from a good book!
Hiya..
guess were all different! ..for me, it's massively improved the quality of my sleep, but I seem to be needing less, feeling alert right up until bed time, and waking up bright and keen about 20 mins or so before my alarm.. which has NEVER happened in my life - normally, Im tempted to be in bed by just gone 9, and could happily sleep through til mid morning given the chance!!, but I'm not feeling that at the mo...
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Following is taken from C. Williams 2006, and is not copy-righted.. in fact.. he prefers people to spread the word.. so here goes!!
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Here's some evidence-based info on tips to help improve sleep (trick is to just tackle the ones that interest you, or you know are your downfall)
-Making the environment more enjoyable:
Mattress: turn it over, get a new one, or put a board underneath it to feel better
Too hot/cold: windows open/closed, heating, extra blanket, summer/winter douvet
Noise: internal plastic sheeting can reduce noise from outside.
Light: thicker curtains? (book suggests you could even staple bin liners between the front of the curtains and the lining, so can't see it, but improves light penetrating)
De-clutter: Make your bedroom a very lovely place to be. If you have clutter, have it anywhere else but the bedroom.
Smells: Fresh smells, fresh sheets (changing them more often than you really need to) can feel nicer, reduce chances of bed bugs, and help with feeling good when dropping off.
Interuptions: TV, radio, kids, pets, telephones, are best left outside the room, only coming in if it's really important (hmm.. not always realistic this one!)
Sleep management:
-Time: keeping a rhythm, going to bed at the same time each night, helps get the body switching off at the right point.
-Keep a sleep diary for a few days (only filling it in when it occurs to you during the day), to spot any patterns in your sleep.. are you napping in the day? Do you sleep more when you've had more fresh air during the day?
-Only using your bed for 2 things - one being sleep.. you can guess the other
- helps the body to respond automatically to the message that it's time to sleep when it lies down.
-the "golden rule": If you are restless and not sleeping for more than 20 minutes, get up and do something very low stimulous, like read a calming poem or water a plant.
The body
-spend time winding down.
-reduce caffeine in the afernoon, and have none at night (including cola)
-long term excess alcohol causes long term sleep problems.. don't be fooled into thinking it helps, just cause it helps in the very short term.. it only makes things worse
-avoid highly stimulating activity (??! Haha!), such as drinking stong flavours, watching scarey films, or having an argument last thing at night - save the difficult conversations for early afternoon..
Thoughts
If thoughts keep you awake at night, try keeping a diary in another room in the house. Never take the diary into your bedroom. When you have these thoughts 'capture' them, and put them in the diary, to look at when you're feeling more relaxed and able to think about them. Over time, your thoughts are likely to change, and affect your sleep less.
And finally:
If you can't sleep because of physical pain, or you're concerned about any of the advice or information, and you need to talk to someone, go to your GP.. or if you just fancy a good old chat - Come to minimins!!
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So, how does any of that sound?? I wasn't sure about the 'don't do strenuous activity before bed'
that's not much fun! Ha!
..and some of it is a bit obvious, but is kinda handy as a checklist to see if I'm missing anything...
Hope some of that is helpful
Vxxx