Sleep has always been known to be important for, well, everything when it comes to our health and wellbeing but in recent years the spotlight on sleep has only been growing.
Research has continued to show us that sleep can affect not only our energy levels but also our mood, appetite, hormones, skin, immune system and even our blood pressure.
By now you’ve probably been told time and time again to focus on sleep and improve not only the quantity but also the quality. But getting a good night’s sleep is often easier said than done.
Worrying about sleep only makes it worse so here are five manageable changes/additions you can make to help you catch some quality z’s.
- Power down
It’s tempting to scroll through social media as a way to ‘switch off’ at the end of the day – those algorithms know how to give you that dopamine hit. But having your eyes glued to a screen is actually harming your sleep.
The light from screens stimulates a part of your brain that actually stops the production of melatonin which is essential for good sleep.
So swap out that bedtime TikTok scroll for reading a book, listening to a podcast or writing about your day instead. - Lights out
Light plays a huge role in influencing our internal body clock (known as the circadian rhythm) which tells us when to be awake and when to sleep.
We evolved to sleep when it’s dark and wake when it’s light but today’s world with electric lights and screens can interrupt this natural rhythm.
To help your mind and body get into the sleep zone, do yourself a favour and close those curtains and swap the main light for softer lighting that tells your body it’s time for bed.
Sunrise alarm clocks are popular at the moment and they’re great for helping you with those early mornings but if you get one with a sunset option too, they’re fantastic for creating a calm atmosphere in your bedroom – aesthetically pleasing and functional. - Food for thought
Your diet impacts your sleep probably more than you realise.
You may have heard advice about not eating too close to bedtime and avoiding foods that may spike your blood pressure (sugar, we’re looking at you!) but what about the foods we can add in to help our sleep?
There are plenty of different food recommendations that can help with sleep (for example, foods high in melatonin like red grapes, kiwi and tart cherries as well zinc-rich foods like salmon and nuts) however, one mineral that can have benefits for sleep as well as both mental and muscle relaxation is magnesium so it’s a great one to focus on to begin with.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to make any drastic changes to your diet or fork out for expensive supplements. Instead why not add in some of the following magnesium-rich foods to your current diet where you can:
Spinach and other dark, leafy greens
Avocado
Almonds and cashews
Whole grains such as whole grain rice, pasta, bread, oats
Pumpkin seeds and chia seeds
Salmon
It’s best to work with a professional before making any major dietary changes or if you’re concerned about your mineral and/or hormone levels so make sure to reach out to your GP, a nutritionist or other health professional with dietary knowledge. - Caffeine o’clock
I know, I know! If you’re a coffee lover, kicking the habit is hard but hear me out.
I love coffee and used to throw back three to four coffees a day. I struggled falling asleep, often tossing and turning in a ‘tired but wired’ state for up to an hour before finally drifting off. I also noticed my anxiety spiked pretty much every day at around 3pm and left me on edge for the remainder of my afternoon.
When I started cutting back on caffeine I saw a huge difference.
It’s not just the amount of caffeine you’re drinking but also when you’re drinking it. Aim to have your last coffee before 4pm at the latest to ensure you’ve not still got a caffeine buzz going on when you get into bed. I like to ensure my last caffeinated drink is before 12.30pm.
If you think you’re going to miss the habit of a hot drink, try out caffeine-free coffee alternatives such as decaf coffee (just make sure it’s good quality as some of them are full of nasty chemicals!), decaf breakfast tea, herbal tea, or chai which still has the warm yumminess of a milky coffee.
If you’re worried that reducing your caffeine intake is going to leave you falling asleep at your laptop, start small by just dropping the one coffee at a time and perhaps swap to an English Breakfast tea which does have less caffeine.
Matcha is also a great alternative as it still contains caffeine but also has l-theanine, an amino acid that has incredible stress-reducing properties and balances out the caffeine spike to give you the focus of coffee but without the major energy spike and crash. - Look a little deeper
If you feel like you’ve tried everything and still sit wide awake for hours when you just want to sleep, it might be worth looking a little deeper at what could be going on.
If you think there might be another reason such as chronic stress, hormone imbalances, anxiety, or a deficiency, it’s worth working with a professional to find out what the cause is.
If you don’t currently have any kind of sleep routine, I recommend starting with tip one, limiting your screen time before bed, and one other tip from the above list and practicing this for at least two weeks. Once these have become solid habits, add another habit or make another change and add this in for another two weeks.
We want to create sustainable habits that will last so building them up slowly rather than trying to change everything all at once is so important.
If you want more support with fixing your sleep or have other health concerns or questions, feel free to get in touch with me and we can set up a free consultation chat to talk about what’s going on and what your needs are.
Ethos Health Coaching 