Sleeping well.
Are you a great sleeper – able to put your head down, and doze off easily? It is said to be the gift of the angels! You may have times in your life when sleep doesn’t come so easily. You may have a number of types of sleeping issues :
- Dropping off ok, but waking with thoughts going around in your head and then you can’t get back to sleep.
- Not being able to drop off well at all – and when you do it is on and off with wakeful times.
If you have ever been a good sleeper, you can be so again. If you have never been a good sleeper – what is your idea of a good sleep? Are you getting 7 hours and worried that you need more? I talk to people about sleep and the number of comments about what they consider a “good sleep” is – is frankly vast and disparate. Now any teenager will look at you suspiciously if you ask them if they find sleep easily! Duh! They can do 12 hours easily! Then they whinge that they haven’t had enough sleep. They have different issues… going to bed late, having a different Melatonin cycle to adults.. (That’s another story).
There are a number of strategies which aid you to great sleep. In brief here are some :
- Set the stage (rules for bedroom setup, creating a haven)
- Create a routine (tell your brain you are ready for rest)
- Learn how to relax easily (breathing, meditation, relaxing non-verbal music, hypnotic trance tapes, hot bath)
- Learn how not to wake yourself up (what not to say to yourself when you awaken – what to do if you have invading thoughts)
- Understanding your body sleep cycle and honour it
The research on sleeping identifies some interesting science about sleeping:
- Our sleep cycle is regulated by melatonin from our pineal gland
- Photoreceptors in the back of the eyes notice light even when our eyes are closed and this can awaken us. Blackout curtains can help.
- Foods affect sleep - Light veg and protein meals keeps us alert, heavy carb loaded meals make us drowsy.
- Jetlag is caused by our melatonin cycle being affected, and is further affected by our eating cycle.. which is often changed while travelling by plane. Not eating on long flights will drastically reduce jetlag and help restore normal sleep times cycles.
- A hot bath in itself doesn’t make us sleepy, but raising the body temperature a few degrees in a hot bath or spa and then cooling down creates drowsiness.
- Alcohol can makes us tired but it affects the different sleep phases of our sleep cycle and we do not awaken refreshed.
There are other things which need addressing when working with sleep issues.
- Managing stress
- Reframe beliefs around sleep
- Diet and stimulants
- Medications / drugs
- Exercise and breathing well
- Managing noise – snoring, other sounds
Do you have a sleeping/waking issue? – and want to change that.. Imagine sleeping well, feeling rested, alert and energetic after a good nights sleep! Check out your local NLP Master Practitioner or Hypnotherapist for help with sleep.. it may begin a new era in sleeping well.
