Wellbeing - Sleep Well

Sleep Tight

by Noella Mingo

There are few things better than a really good night’s sleep, unfortunately, for most of us the chances of getting one are slim. A whopping 80% of women say they have difficulties sleeping, and kids, work, stress and too many lattès are just some of the things that conspire against them.

Like many women, there is one certainty in my life; sleep is elusive, particularly when I need it most. Whenever I’ve got an important meeting or a big shoot and need to get to bed early, I am guaranteed to toss and turn for hours and finally awaken feeling absolutely wretched.

I had always thought that the purpose of sleep was to help us recuperate from one day and prepare for the next. It would appear I was wrong; research shows that the amount of energy saved by eight hour’s sleep is a mere 50 calories. It is unbelievable that our highly-evolved bodies would demand that we spend a third of our lives doing something for such little reward.

Sleep does something far more important than simply refill our energy stores. It is what allows our brains to develop and is crucial in maintaining the levels of our cognitive skills such as speech and memory.

A lack of sleep will have a serious effect on the brain’s ability to function. In fact, as little as 17 hours without sleep will lead to a dramatic decrease in our ability to perform. It is the equivalent to having a blood alcohol level of 0.05, the legal drink-driving limit here in the UK. In fact, debilitating lack of sleep is believed to be a contributory factor in several major international disasters including Chernobyl.

So what can we do to aid restful sleep? The answer is different for all of us but there are some general guidelines.

- Try to go to bed at the same time each night and follow a bedtime routine. Yep! It works for adults as well as children.

- Have a warm bath just before bed. It’s important that the bath isn’t too hot as a cool body aids sleep.

- Add a few drops of Lavender essential oil or a relaxing cream bath to the water. Lie back and relax for 15 to 20 minutes. When you get out moisturise your skin (use a relaxing moisturiser not a reviving one) and go straight to bed. Johnson’s have just launched their Dreamy Skin range of bath, shower and body moisturising products that contain a calming and relaxing blend of moonflower and warm vanilla making them ideal for bedtime, from £2.59.

- Try not to eat too close to your bedtime. A body busy digesting food finds sleep more difficult.

- Although you’d probably prefer a glass of wine, a warm milky drink really will help you sleep.

- Check your bedroom isn’t too warm; 18 to 21° C is the ideal temperature for uninterrupted sleep.

- Be aware of items in your bedroom that might impact on your sleep. Even the luminous rays from a digital alarm clock can be enough to disrupt your sleep cycle. Computers, televisions and radios are all distractions that can hinder a good night’s sleep.

- If you fall asleep within five minutes of going to bed you were sleep deprived. Ideally it should take between 10 and 15 minutes to nod off after getting into bed.

- If you wake in the night with your head full of issues, problems, or things to you need to do, get up, go to another room and write them down. You are much more likely to sleep once they are out of your head and down on paper.

While researching this article I came across a fantastic sleep profiler on the BBC website. It takes a few minutes to complete and will tell you if you are getting enough sleep as well as give advice on how you can optimise your sleep patterns. My profile results showed that at 69% my sleep is fairly well optimised but it still offered loads of practical advice on what I could do to improve it further.

You can find the sleep profiler at: www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep.

Oh, and just so you know; a new baby typically results in their parents losing between 400-750 hours sleep in their first year!

 

Stockists:

Johnson’s Dreamy Skin is available from Boots, Superdrug, supermarkets and all good chemists.