Our problem with sleep and 5 tips to do it better
Sleep issues are alarmingly common. In fact, it’s pretty unusual to find someone who never struggles with their sleep. From the occasional difficulty getting to sleep, to full-blown insomnia, sleep disturbances are rife. I think it’s reasonable to view this as is particularly reflective of our current day and age, as we know that modern-day pressures and stressors are bigger than ever, our screens are everywhere, and we are too with all of the demands and business in our lives. It’s not surprising that this set-up inevitably leads to more anxiety, more overstimulation, more load on our adrenals, more skewed circadian rhythms, more stressed out nervous systems, and less good sleep.
Why sleep matters
- Sleep is essential for supporting our bodily systems, especially our nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. A persistent lack of sleep increases our risk of developing chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s.
- Insufficient sleep directly impacts brain function, causing impaired executive and cognitive function. You’ll likely notice that your memory, attention, reaction times, balance and coordination, and capacity for decision making all decline when you are sleep deprived.
- We all know that when we are tired our emotional stability and flexibility decreases – we can see this most evidently in children perhaps – but it also increases our likelihood of developing mood disorders.
These are just a select few points, really the. tip of the iceberg. Nonetheless, it’s quite clear how these effects would impact a person’s ability to live a full life and have an overall sense of wellbeing.
Having worked with numerous clients with disturbed sleep and having experienced 15+ years of fatigue, I feel well placed to comment on the value of sleep and share knowledge when it comes to ways to improve it.
In fact, the very first client I worked with after qualifying as a therapeutic coach came to me wanting to resolve their insomnia. Oh God, I thought, there could hardly be a more obvious measure of whether this works or not, which would surely be the true test of whether I could possibly call myself a therapist and coach or whether I have spent all this time studying for nothing and am an ineffective fraud!!!
As it turns out, it really worked. And faster than I could have dared hope. Within a matter of weeks my client was experiencing next to no sleep issues at all and was confident in their capability handling them when they did occasionally arise. I think it’s fair to say that I was as delighted as they were with that outcome.
Obviously, the kind of 1-1 work that went into that outcome is hard to translate into a brief newsletter, but I have a few suggestions below that seem good pillars of healthy sleep as starting points…
5 tips for sleeping better tonight:
- Recognise that what you do with your brain and body in the day directly impacts their state at night. How does different kinds and intensities of movement and exercise effect your body? Ideally, you’ll identify the sweet spot of feeling pleasantly tired and sleeping well without overstraining and exhausting your stressed-out body. Speaking of stress, how stressed is your mind during the day? How much space do you allow for quiet and stillness? At a neurological level, your brain at night is a reflection of your brain during the day; the more alpha brainwaves (those brainwaves that happen when you are relaxed and unfocused) present during the day, the more delta brainwaves (associated with deep sleep and healing) present at night. Getting enough of these is essential for restorative sleep.
- Have a routine to signal to your brain and body it is time for sleep. Lots of people who struggle with sleep don’t like going to bed, but if you can build a consistent and pleasant routine around it this can help. That might involve having a hot shower, which helps to lower your body’s temperature and so mimics the natural drop associated with sleep, or reading even just a couple of pages of a book. A good routine also means getting up and going to bed consistent times, which will helps too to…
- Support your Circadian Rhythm. Help your brain to regulate your body clock by getting sunlight directly on your face (or for those of us who live in a drearier climate, at least some daylight) at the earliest opportunity – ideally within 30mins of waking. Consider also reducing blue light in the evenings, opting for warm light bulbs (orange and red are even better) and limiting screen time for 90 mins before bed, to reduce the confusing effects of these lights on our ancient brains used only to the sun, the moon, and fire.
- Pay attention to what you eat and drink. Everyone is individual so preferences may differ, but generally, going to bed hungry or with full stomach is not a recipe for good sleep. It’s best to avoid large meals within a couple of hours of bedtime so that your body has time to do most of its digesting before sleep. Caffeine and alcohol also deserve a special mention for being big sleep disruptors too. Keep caffeine to 6-8 hours before bedtime, and you may find you fall asleep just fine after a glass or two, but alcohol’s negative effect on sleep-quality is well established.
- Consider emotional and mental factors. Sadly, an often overlooked area, as one of the biggest cause of sleep disturbance is our mind. Sorry, I said it. We often do this to ourselves, but that also means that we often can rectify this ourselves. Alone or with professional support, identifying and working through the emotional and mental patterns that cause you stress and/or are inhibiting your sleep can be the silver bullet. These might be generalised, because, as I pointed out already, your day effects your night, or around sleep itself, which is very common when sleep issues persist.
You may well know these points already, in which case I hope they are a useful reminder, or you may find something new to think about. Either way, I hope they are of value to you. I’ll take a moment to emphasise that I haven’t even begun to comment on shift work, or neurodivergence, or chronic illnesses, nor any other complicating factor that requires more specific attention. Perhaps I will, but likely that lies in more individual work. So yes, these are just general suggestions, a starting point. And I would suggest that if sleep is causing you regular issues it’s worth looking into 1-1 work as you, too, might be amazed at what can come of it.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and tips, perhaps you have something you swear by! Please feel free to leave a comment or message here, or DM me on instagram!
Disclaimer, I am a therapist and life coach. I do not hold any nutritional or sleep-specific training, I merely have a wealth of experience both personal and professional with sleep-improving protocols.
