How sleep is your best friend, and how to improve it

This morning I had a client who is on a 6 month coaching pathway wishing to deep dive into sleep as the topic of the session. 

And a little happy flip occurred in my stomach as I know this is a topic I can certainly offer support with! Babies, menopause, stress and expectations have all been major sleep disruptors in my life and I know what works for me to both help and hinder this crucial biological need.

Sleep is a fundamental requirement to functioning, health and positive mindset. With bad sleep or no sleep we can easily become our worst selves - grouchy, bad tempered, lacking patience and understanding, reacting and being triggered easily are some of the surface level symptoms - depression, poor mindset and inability to function can become much worse effects. 

And the worse we feel the more we lean into bad habits to deal with it all - alcohol, scrolling, other addictive habits and anything to blank it out. A downward spiral happens, I’ve been there, it’s frightening. 

So in we dive. And I have to remember that my client’s sleep issues are different to mine, her experiences may not be the same, her needs may differ. Yet while her routes into better sleep may be unique to her, a list of similar rules apply to all of us as foundational steps for better sleep. 

Sleep hygiene:

• No screens at bedtime!

• Dark room

• No late eating

• A ‘wind down’ activity - reading, yoga, walking

• Regular bedtime well before midnight

And general sleep improvement tips and activities :

• Journal before bedtime, unload the mind

• Breathing practices

• Gratitude practice

• Meditation 

• Guided muscle relax meditations

• Sleep stories and meditations (Insight Timer)

• Lavender oil

• Magnesium 

• Sound therapy - brain waves Hz soundscapes 

Personally things that have helped are:

Walking. Shaking off the day’s worries and getting into a restful mindset by walking outside at the end of the day and before bedtime. This has been a game changer. 

Instructing the mind to switch off. This may seem silly but is hugely effective. I use ‘brain instruction’ quite a lot in coaching to powerful effect, particularly with imposter syndrome, for example. Here we can simply instruct an over-thinking mind that it is OK, it is safe, it can now switch off - giving it permission to rest.

Magnesium intake - magnesium deficiency creates all sorts of symptoms,, look it up you’d be surprised. Sleep is one of these. There are 3 types of magnesium to look out for so choose the right one for sleep. I have a foot balm which is allows fast absorption. An Epsom salts bath is also a great way to increase magnesium levels.

Ashwagandha and L’theanine have also helped in settling the system but do look these up and research what might work for you.

Dealing with the cortisol - this is the killer 3am wake up and can’t switch the brain off sleep deprivation, it’s harsh. In those times instead of ‘trying to get back to sleep’ which can become a battle, I sink into the lovely feeling of relaxing and dial up the enjoyment of rest. A muscle relaxing body scan - where you clench, and then relax each muscle in turn instructs the body to rest and slow breath work stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. Changing the focus to breathing or meditation or a body scan, allows us to get ‘out of our head’ and into our body - thus stopping the prefrontal cortex spinning round and keeping us awake. 

Getting to bed early. Honestly some days there’s nothing more I enjoy than getting into bed really early and reading or writing or watching something. I find this really helps to wind down and by being asleep by a decent time means a) a better sleep overall and b) wake up earlier feeling better.

So - sleep! 

It’s’ fundamental!

If you find this interesting you might also be curious to explore the Zone of Brilliance™ - sleep is a part of the Wellbeing Foundations pillar of the Zone of Brilliance™ framework, one of 3 pillars to finding, creating and building your inner brilliance.

We cover the concept of the Zone of Brilliance™ in my Three month mastermind - I’m forming a new cohort of just 6-8 business leaders just now to be starting 1st May. Get in touch quickly if you’d like to explore what that looks like as the places will get taken up.