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IT’S BEEN A long weekend in every sense of the word, and many of you may be feeling a little traumatised at the thought of heading back to work tomorrow.
Sleep is an amazingly under-rated commodity – we all need it but how many of us are getting as much as we really need.
Fear not, nutritionist and health blogger Charlotte Watts (whose new book, The De-Stress Effect, is out now) has written a fantastic blog post for healthista on the subject.
So without further ado, here’s 14 tips to getting the most out of your bed-time.
Find your quiet place before bedtime
It’s a little unrealistic to think that buzzing brains can just switch from wide awake and buzzing to full on sleep-mode. Give your brain a break before you hit the pillows.
Ban the screens
Of any sort. They induce quick eye movements which wake up the brain. Candles are a-ok though for those who love mood lighting.
Keep your temperature regular
A hot bath or shower may be wonderfully soothing, but be sure to bring your body back in check before bedding down. Otherwise the drop in body temperature could wake you up.
Get to bed by 10pm
The most soothing time of day for our adrenal glands is the two hours before midnight. And that means that’s the best time to hit the hay.
Be consistent
Your body responds to rhythm and patterns. Always get up at the same time regardless of how little sleep you may have gotten. Yes, even on the weekends.
Make your bedroom a dark one
Seratonin, a brain chemical which calms us in the evening before sleep, releases the sleep hormone melatonin, but the latter is only released when our body senses low-light levels.
Keep a diary or journal
If your mind is racing, put your thoughts on paper. It will help you empty your mind and is especially effective if you feel you have important things to remember.
Keep the bedroom free from clutter and as a sleep haven only
Your bedroom should be quiet and restful and free from distracting and distressing mess. Make sure all you do there is sleep (and other nice things).
Wear ear plugs
If you struggle to sleep (because of a snoring partner say) ear plugs can be a very convenient solution. The wax ones are best says Charlotte.
DO NOT get up during the night
And if you do, don’t turn on the lights. The less you stimulate yourself the greater chance you have of drifting off easily once more.
If you have a digital alarm clock, turn it to face away from you
Knowing what time it is stimulates your brain. It also stresses you out if you start to think about all the sleep time you’re missing out on.
Waking up is perfectly fine
You are still probably getting a lot more sleep than you think. Enjoy your wakefulness and that wonderful, cocooned feeling says Charlotte. Worrying about lost sleep will just stimulate your nervous system and make it harder to drift off again.
Fantasise
A little fantasy never hurt anyone. Call to mind something pleasant or soothing, or simply relive in your mind something nice that happened to you that day.
Listen to something
Break out the headphones and listen to something, anything, that isn’t your own thoughts, be it a podcast, audiobook, or an Iron Maiden LP (maybe not the last one). It’ll keep the part of your brain that craves language and speech happy and let you happily drift off into nothingness.
Charlotte Watts’ new book, The De-Stress Effect, is out now. You can buy the book here
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The idea of royalty in this day and age is repugnant.
The idea of royalty has and will survive a lot more ages than any other idea.
@jps why? It’s good for tourism in countries that have them! I’ll be visiting the Royal Palace when I head to Madrid next month as will thousands of other tourists!
Tourism isn’t the be-all and end-all of everything.
Nice wife!
Yeah qwerty Latizia used to read the news on state TV, a Spanish version of our Sharon!
Totally different world he lives in. He certainly wouldn’t know what a bin tag is lol
I think Ireland should have a king !!
How about a vote on it !!
Spain didn’t say ‘hello’, they protested and ignored in their droves..
Look at the photos, only a couple of thousand turned out, in fact there was only marginally more spectators than police at the event.
Monarchy belongs in fairytales
To avoid disruption to business and traffic they purposely planned it to happen on a bank holiday, most people take tomorrow as well and make it a long weekend! And there was decent size crowds all along the route! It was also covered and shown live across most of the TV channels.
Nice uniform all the same, YFG should take style tips.
Id prefer an irish monarchy
Considering the political dynasties we have its probably better we dont.
Viva el Rey!
Could you have got a worse photo of ? He looks like he has three arms, one of which is used for saluting!
Republics are filled with so many grey drab people. They end up putting beggars onto horseback in bereft if any nobility who perpetuate their political dynasties whose primary purpose is self interest even at the cost of the general good.
If you claim royals are by contrast ‘colourful’, I have to agree. I’d rather they were colourful with money they earned rather than sponged though. That is more the nub of the issue, no?
The Irish have a dynasty when it comes to politician,s we have moved into three generations of the same families in ,or tipping in and out of power in this country
Llibertat per a Catalunya! Visca! Aquest rei no es el nostre.
Right on! Jo tambe, visca la Catalunya!
Long life to the Catalan Republic!
The Irish have a dynasty when it comes to horse racing the O’briens.
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