Top tips for good sleep!

Sleep is vital to everything! Our brain activity, metabolism, digestion, mental health…the list goes on. So here are some tips in today’s blog to improve how well you sleep:

1.     Keeping a regular wake time is perhaps more important than the time you go to bed. Waking up at the same time every day, yes even on the weekend, really helps keep our sleep cycle in check, as well as the sense of routine helping anxiety in some.

2.     Seek bright light by day

a.     Our circadian rhythms are largely controlled by light, sun tells us its daytime (awake), night skys tell us its night-time (sleep). Getting early morning sun and then multiple times throughout the day ensures we are correctly calibrating our internal sleep clock so that we feel tired in the evening ready for bed and wide awake when the sun comes up. If stuck indoors (hello England) try to keep your room lights and screen monitors bright during the day.

3.     Avoid light at night

a.     Given that light tells us its day time, its really important that we keep our bedrooms as dark as possible when going to sleep. The invention of the light bulb is both a blessing and a curse, the latter when it comes to our sleep. Light pollution from the outside gets in through our windows, let alone from our chargers and laptops on standby in our rooms. Investing in some good black out blinds and covering up or turning off other sources of light in the room is an easy step to improve sleep quality. Even a small amount of light perceived through closed eyelids can disrupt our circadian rhythm and sleep quality.

4.     Blue light

a.     Following on from tip 3, its blue light in particular that most supresses melatonin release (our sleepy hormone). Either avoiding the use of TVs, computers and smart phones in the 2 hours before bed, using software like night shift and f.lux on your devices, or wearing blue blocking glasses helps prevent this blue light disturbing your sleep.

5.     Food timing

a.     Food timing is another factor influencing our circadian rhythms. We ideally want to synchronise food intake with light exposure, therefore eat food primarily in daylight hours, or at least several hours before a normal bedtime. Carbohydrates (think rice, potatoes, fruit) seem to have the effect of promoting night rhythm and sleep due to their influence on the hormone leptin, so aim to consume your more carbohydrate rich meals in the evening (think fats and proteins in the morning, starches in the evening).

6.     Exercise

a.     Exercise in and of itself is key for improving sleep quality as well as being one of the most powerful tools for improving physical and mental health. Physical activity gives a ‘nudge’ to the circadian clock to inform it that its daytime. Why not couple exercise with outdoor light exposure with a morning walk, jog or cycle. Whenever you chose to exercise, if you are an adult, aim to get 150 minutes of physical activity across the week, and on 2 days of the week try to get some strengthening activities in.

7.     Pre-bed sleep inducing techniques

a.     Mindfulness or breathing exercises before bed

                                               i.     Apps like ‘Calm’ offer fantastic guided meditations designed for sleep. Alternatively a simple exercise of belly breathing (where your belly, not your chest, rises as you breath in and falls as you breath out) to an inhalation to exhalation ratio of 1:2, for example breathing in for 4 seconds and out for 8 seconds, is a very calming strategy to apply when in bed, but also throughout the day if you are feeling stressed. Speak to one of our Chiropractors if you want some help with this technique.

b.     Paradoxical intent

                                               i.     If you are in bed staring at the ceiling trying your hardest to fall asleep, stop. Paradoxical intent is a technique that many insomniacs have found game changing. The idea is to lie there and try not to fall asleep. Sounds counter-intuitive right? Give it go and see if your brain decides otherwise ;)

c.     Sleep restriction

                                               i.     If you are still struggling to fall asleep, time to give up, get out of bed and do something else. If you have been suffering with sleeping difficulties for a while what we don’t want is for you to associate your bed with staying awake and struggling to sleep. Time to get out, go somewhere else in the house and read a book, do some yoga, housework, go for a stroll, whatever, just do something else until you feel so exhausted that you couldn’t not fall asleep. Yes, at first you might be going to bed way later than would be ideal, but we are trying to train your brain that bedtime means sleep time, and over time that bedtime can become earlier and earlier.

d.     Hot and cold contrast shower

                                               i.     Having a contrast shower before bed can really help people down regulate. No need for shampoo, just get the water going, hop on in and turn the dial down to a bearable cool, not unpleasant cold, temperature for 1 minute, then whack it up to as hot as can be tolerated, again go sensible, the aim is not to freeze and burn ourselves here. After a minute of comforting hot, switch back to that tolerable cool, and alternate this for the next 5-10 minutes finishing on cool. Dry off and hop into bed before your eyes shut.

We hope some of the above tips help you get better sleep. But if your pain and activity restrictions are becoming an issue, don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our chiropractors for a consultation so that together we can work out how best to manage your case so you can get back to doing what you love. You can reach us by phone on 01202 604707 or by email admin@wimbornewellnesscentre.co.uk.

Happy sleeping!