It’s early January 2021, and here in the UK new restrictions are in place. For many of us this means being plunged back into a world of home schooling, juggling work, or worse, not having any work at all and all of the worries that that includes.
A good night’s sleep doesn’t solve any of these things, but good sleep is really important for our mental and physical wellbeing. So I’ve put together this guide to a good sleep, incorporating many of the things that I find useful in my sleep routine, that I hope are helpful to you. And for those of us who have sleepless babies or toddlers or even older children, or other responsibilities or health conditions that make a full night’s sleep impossible, I hope you can use at least some of these suggestions to make the sleep you do get better and more restful and restorative.
Limit naps during the day. I am the world’s biggest fan of naps, but they can be really detrimental to a good night’s sleep if you’re taking long ones in the afternoon. And I often find that a two hour nap can make me feel groggy, irritable and the opposite of rested. If you need a nap in the afternoon, set an alarm for between half an hour and 60 minutes. It’s often all that you need to feel refreshed, and it won’t affect your being able to sleep at bedtime.
Spend more time outside in the daylight. That’s not always easy in the winter, but where you can, try to take a walk outside every day, perhaps at lunchtime. If you walk your dog, do that during the day as well as at night. The exercise benefits will help you to fall asleep at night, too – even light exercise, like a short lunchtime walk, will have benefits for your sleep.
No screen rule. I put this in place last year after waking up at 2am one morning and automatically opening my phone and checking my emails, finding something that made me feel stressed, and realising that no one should be on their phone at that time in the morning when they should be sleeping. By bringing your phone into your bedroom, you are inviting the whole world into your bed with you. Since then I’ve stuck to it, leaving my phone in the hall or living room, and am amazed by how effective it’s been in meaning that I wake up less in the night. My one exception to the no screen rule is my Kindle, which I open up when I find myself unable to get back to sleep.
A good bedtime yoga routine is a great precursor to a restful night’s sleep. You don’t need to pull out your yoga mat – just some gentle stretching by the side of your bed works. I love this one with the wonderful Yoga with Adriene, but I also have my own shorter five minute version that I know off by heart too. It’s a good idea to create your own yoga routines, not just for sleep but for waking too, so that you’re not always dependent on a screen to practice.
Podcasts can be a great way to help you drop off to sleep at night. You might have to break your no screen rule to listen to one, so try to place your phone somewhere in the bedroom where you can’t easily reach for it if you wake up in the night. I really like Nothing Much Happens, a story podcast. I don’t think I’ve ever stayed awake until the end of the story. The Deep Energy podcast plays sounds from nature if you prefer that to the sound of another voice. Or, you could try a mindfulness meditation – there are some great ones on Headspace.
A sleep mask is a great investment as a way of blocking out the light, as well as dust particles and other irritants, and can help you fall asleep faster. The darker your bedroom, the better your sleep is likely to be, as our brains are hard-wired to need darkness for sleep. I’m a big fan of this Billy Sleeps sleep mask made from fabric cut-offs. Scenting your mask with a little lavender oil on the outside can help you drop off, too (check with your doctor about using this if you are pregnant).
A good strategy for chasing night time worries away is key to a good night’s sleep. Mindfulness techniques can come in really useful here, when it’s 2am and you’re wide awake and worrying about your MOT bill, what your colleague meant at that meeting yesterday, and whether that pain in your back is something more serious. Remember that you don’t have to engage with unhelpful thoughts. You don’t have to find solutions to all of these problems lying in your bed in the wee small hours. Imagine yourself sitting by the side of a waterfall, where the waterfall represents your thoughts as they pass through your mind. Acknowledge them as they rush by. It can often help to name them – here is anxiety, here is anger, here is sadness – and let the torrent pass as you watch your thoughts tumble through the waterfall from your comfortable place at the side.
And finally, make sure that your bedroom is the right temperature. The Sleep Council recommend a temperature of 16-18 C in your bedroom, as if you’re too hot or cold you won’t sleep well.