A good night's sleep is essential for health - 11 tips

​A good night’s sleep is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.  You can enjoy your life so much more when you are well rested. You will be more productive as well as happier and better able to cope with any difficult situations.

Sleep supports the immune system, and your brain uses nighttime sleep to repair and renew.  So some good hours of sleep is definitely a major key to a healthy life.

Lack of sleep is a major problem

Lack of sleep has been used as a form of torture.  But psychologists doubt that it would have been effective as lack of sleep dramatically reduces intelligent thought as well as harming the body.  Students or those in stressful jobs who may pull an “all nighter” can recover if it is only once in a while. But long term disruption of our natural rhythm of being asleep in darkness does have damaging effects.
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If you are having trouble sleeping here are some simple tips to try:

Don’t put on a light if you have to get up to go to the bathroom, or look after children, or the elderly.  A red light will be less disruptive to your sleep.

If you wake up it can be better to do something like get a drink of water and then return to bed. The old advice to count sheep may work but you want to avoid building up a pattern of lying awake for a long time.

Lying on your side keeps your airways more open so you can breathe more easily.

Turn off screens at least an hour before you go to bed

Have little or no caffeine later in the day. 

Have a regular calming night time routine.  One of my personal favourites is a warm bath before bed.

Go to sleep and wake up at a regular time. We have a natural circadian rhythm which is in tune with daylight hours.

Do something you love to help you relax during the day. See friends and family, get into nature, enjoy a hobby or interest which will help to counteract any worries at night.

Take exercise to help you naturally feel tired.

Drink more water.  Keeping your body hydrated is an excellent way to restore balance.

And of course eat natural food with vegetables and fruit to help your entire system  function better.
 
If you are having sleep problems and can’t get a solution to work please contact me.  I have a lot more tips that may be specific to your situation. 

​If there are underlying problems we can address these first which will lead to that good night’s sleep you definitely need.