SLEEP - Do you get enough of it?
I’ve always loved bed. For me, snuggling up and being cosy in a lovely warm bed is one of life’s little luxuries. But sleep, well I’m not great at this.
You might be wondering how someone who loves bed is not good at sleeping. This can be the reality for so many people. It can be very common for people to dread going to bed, knowing they will lie waiting for sleep for hours, or maybe they have no trouble falling asleep, only to wake in the early hours and try every technique they know, desperate to return to the land of nod.
Sleep is part of our body’s natural physiological function and is essential for our survival. It’s when our body repairs, regenerates and restores itself. As humans, we cannot survive without sleep, so suffering from sleep deprivation can have harmful short and long term effects on our mental and physical health.
The physical act of sleep takes up around one-third of our lives - if you’re getting enough! So why do so many of us knowingly deprive ourselves of getting enough or the right type of sleep?
“Human beings are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent gain”
As someone who has struggled to sleep well for many years, I know firsthand the impact that a lack of good quality sleep has on your health and wellbeing - constant tiredness, poor concentration, memory issues, low energy and mood fluctuations. There are also many other health issues it can contribute to or even cause; headaches, weight gain, hormonal imbalances, low immune system, depression, poor skin health, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, reduced bone density, and infertility. It’s a big list!
Research now proves that poor sleep also affects ageing and can cause certain cancers, dementia and Alzheimers. Pretty scary right?
I struggle to fall asleep with ease, despite feeling excessively tired in the day and evening leading up to bedtime. My mind becomes a hive of activity, one thought leads me through a maze to more bizarre and random thoughts. It’s as though I have a hive of worker bees in my brain, and once they get going, they work together to become the most efficient, connected team out there!
When I fall asleep, it’s not unusual for me to wake less than 30 minutes later, my body screaming out for the loo - this is another issue which I won’t go into, but can be a major cause of sleep disruption as well as a result of poor sleep - so who knows which came first, just like the chicken and the egg!
Then follows many more occasions of wakefulness, tossing, turning, checking the time, the hive activity starting back up with no break looming to take me back off to sleep.
So what causes such major sleep disruption, and why does someone who feels the impact of poor sleep every day, not hit a point where deep sleep comes easily?
Like so many things in our lives, it usually comes down to habits. There can of course be some genetic factors at play that have been proven to make certain people wired to come alive at night, or other health issues impacting your ability to sleep. But many health problems can be an outcome caused by lack of sleep - we’re back to the which came first debate.
Habits have such a big part to play in how we fall and stay asleep. They affect our ability to move through the four cycles of sleep with natural ease, the way our body was designed to do. They lull us into a sense of security that we can cope with only a few hours of sleep because we’re used to staying up late, binge-watching Netflix. Or maybe it’s that you’ll sleep better the later you fall asleep, or can only drop off with the TV playing because it’s soothing.
Bedtime and sleep habits can be so bad for your health and wellbeing. Like many of the habits we have, we don’t think about them or even recognise that we have them, or question the value they’re adding to our life. That’s what habits are; they’re embedded into our subconsciousness and feel comfortable, easy and ‘just’ part of who we are.
“Does everyone really need seven or eight hours of sleep a night? The answer is that you almost certainly do, even if you’ve convinced yourself otherwise.”
I’ve been aware for quite some time of the importance of sleep and how it was contributing to my mental and physical wellbeing. I knew I needed better sleep, but when you’re stuck in the cycle of bad habits, how do you change? Like so many of us who want to change anything in our lives, how do you know where to start and how do you find time to make the change?
I knew I needed to do something different to help me sleep better. And then something happened without intention, helping me to get the sleep I’d been dreaming of - daydreaming!
When I was made redundant and had my first ‘real’ break from working, I started to just sleep better and for longer. It was as though a spring had been uncoiled in my mind, and the activity in the busy hive came almost to a standstill. It was peaceful, quiet, and so very nice. To just get into bed, quickly fall asleep, wake less, and sleep longer.
It gave me a chance to feel like myself again. I felt more motivated, energised, happy and refreshed. I was able to start thinking clearly about my future plans and start out on my entrepreneurial journey.
Which is what took me right back to where I am now. Struggling to sleep, stay asleep, and feel refreshed from good quality, sufficient sleep. Within weeks of deciding to start my coaching business and embarking on some training courses, the mental chatter returned, along with the need to work late into the evening, not giving my brain a chance to switch off before bedtime.
So I’m taking action, to understand the impact of sleep on your body and wellbeing. It’s a huge topic and one that is still massively understood. There’s some great research out there and you might have picked up, that Matthew Walker is a great leading expert in the field of sleep, one of few, and he talks about it so clearly with such great insight. Please, take some time to listen to his Tedtalk below. I think the topic of sleep and why we shouldn’t see it as a boastful win to miss sleep, is something we should all educate ourselves on. I truly believe that there is going to be so much more to come from Matthew and his colleagues on the importance of sleep, and why it is absolutely the most important factor in achieving good, long-lasting health.
Sleep scientist Matthew Walker talks about why sleep is your superpower in his 2019 TEDTALK.
Learn more about sleep's impact on your learning, memory, immune system and even your genetic code -- as well as some helpful tips for getting some shut-eye.
Do you need help with your bedtime routine to get better sleep?
If you would like to create new habits for your health and wellbeing but feel like you don’t have the time to start making the changes you want, download my FREE guide.
It has 5 great tips to help you start putting new daily habits in place for a healthier and happier life.
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