“I’m shattered”, “I didn’t sleep well last night”, “I’m too tired at the moment” how many times have you thought or said one of these?

I think we’ve all said at least one of these lines or maybe even all of them at one point and we all know that Getting a Good Night’s Sleep does us the world of good. When we don’t get a good night’s sleep the next day it can feel like the brain is buried under a cloud of fog, unable to produce your best work you can feel grumpy, irritable and down.

Lack of sleep on a regular basis can have a detrimental effect on your health by:

  • shortening your life expectancy,
  • higher risk of serious diseases such as diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure
  • and heart disease
  • increase risk of becoming obese
  • higher chance of accidents or injuries
  • lowers sex drive
  • can contribute to depression symptoms
  • Ageing the skin – a lack of sleep can make skin appear sallow have a lack lustre appearance with eyes having dark circles and becoming puffy and fine lines beginning to appear due to this is due in part to the body starting to release more of the hormone cortisol, because of the lack of sleep. Cortisol is a stress hormone in large amounts it causes the collagen in the skin to be broken down.
  • Can increase forgetfulness
  • Impairs judgement

Sometimes a medical condition such as sleep ap0nea can cause you to have a poor night’s sleep in which case I would suggest visiting your doctor. However poor sleeping habits are often to blame.

 

So what are the benefits of Getting a Good Night’s Sleep?

  • Boost immunity
  • Helps keep you slim:-D how you may ask, well…it’s thought that a lack of sleep causes reduced levels of the chemical leptin and increased levels of ghrelin. Leptin is the chemical responsible for making you feel full and ghrelin is the chemical that causes you to feel hungry!
  • Helps with mental health and wellbeing such as anxiety or depression
  • Helps prevent diabetes
  • Increases sex drive
  • Helps to lower the chance of heart disease
  • Increases fertility

 

So how can you help yourself to get more sleep?

  • Create a regular bedtime of going to sleep and getting up, even at the weekend
  • Eat dinner three hours before bedtime
  • Avoid napping in the afternoon if you’re having trouble getting to sleep at night
  • Exercises daily even light exercise if you can
  • Avoid stimulants that contain caffeine four to six hours before bedtime
  • Try to avoid alcohol before bedtime as it can disrupt the quality of your sleep
  • Keep your bedroom temperature between 60-67 degrees
  • Ensure your bed is comfy replace pillows and look into a new mattress if possible

Make and start a relaxing bedtime ritual such as:-

  • Switching off the laptop and phone!! Try to stop yourself from checking emails, texts and facebook last thing at night
  • Try a few drops of lavender or Neal’s Yard’s Night Time aromatherapy blend on your pillow, or soak in a lavender bath just before bedtime
  • Soothing hot drink; if warm milk isn’t quite your thing try chamomile or Neal’s Yard’s Night Time tea

 

Holistic Treatments can help with sleep too

Holistic treatments such as reflexology and reiki can help with sleep problems:

Reflexology can help by regulating sleep patterns and can help with sleep problems such as insomnia by reducing stress and encouraging the production of sleep producing hormone Melatonin.

Reiki is a healing and balancing energy it works by creating a state of deep relaxation in this state the reiki energy helps your body to release any negative energy or energy blockages and helps your body to heal and balance.

To find out more, to book an appointment or to purchase any Neal’s Yard products give me a call on 07948 569 164 or 01773 687 349.