Sometimes when life is stressful or worrying we struggle to sleep. Sometimes our lack of sleep can cause us stress and worry. This can be an unhelpful cycle.
Sleep is important because it helps us to de-stress and rest, allowing our mind to unwind and providing restoration for knocks to our emotional and mental wellbeing. It boosts our bodies by helping us to physically recover, providing energy and boosting our immune system. It also gives our mind a rest, helping our brain to recover and revive.
Matthew Walker writes:
“Put simply: sleep – a consistent seven- to nine-hour opportunity each night – is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day, and the reason I revere and adore sleep (scientifically and personally)”
So what is your sleep like and what are the things that affect it? We can’t always figure out why our sleep is good or bad, but taking a quick audit of our sleep habits and practices can help us notice things we might not otherwise see.
Take five minutes now to honestly answer these questions and take a quick audit of your sleep. We’ve created a download you can use to answer these questions, or just use something you have to hand:
How would you rate your quality of sleep from 1 – 5 [1 = poor, 5 = great]?
Have I been able to fall asleep quickly or do I take a while to unwind?
If you’re taking a while to unwind, what might be the cause of this?
If you have a bedtime routine : What has my bedtime routine been like over the past week?
If you don’t have a bedtime routine : would having a bedtime routine be helpful for me? What could it look like?
Do I have regular sleep hours i.e. go to bed/fall asleep around the same time each day, or do they change from day to day?
Celebrate your successes! And if there are parts of this that don’t look like what you would want, that’s ok. Changing habits takes work and time but starting with accepting where we are now allows us to grow. Now that you have a realistic picture of your sleep habits, you can create a plan to either continue what you’re doing or make changes that will impact on your wellbeing.
Over the next few days we’re going to be sharing some tips related to these areas of sleep and give you ideas for how your wellbeing can be enhanced through some simple adjustments.
What are your top tips for getting good sleep? Or what healthy habits do you have that we could share to inspire others?
Our thoughts about resilience have been inspired by this article : https://elemental.medium.com/your-surge-capacity-is-depleted-it-s-why-you-feel-awful-de285d542f4c