“Is it you snooze you lose, or you snooze you win?” ~ Bev Pugh

We all have restless nights. If I am overwhelmed, overstimulated, or have a lot on my mind my sleeping can be off. How do we cultivate good sleeping patterns? It’s important for our immune system, our nervous system, and our strength and power.

So many people are using sleeping pills. The difficulty with sleeping pills is that they can be psychologically and physically addictive. They interfere with our brain wave patterns. We don’t learn and practice the relaxation response.

If sleeping is an issue for you and you want to improve your sleeping patterns, this is what I would recommend.

We sleep in five phases which repeat themselves every 90 minutes. Five cycles equate to 7and a half hours of sleep. This is pretty good.

Your Pre-Sleep Ritual

This is pivotal. We prepare for many things in life…why not sleep?

• 90 minutes before bed start turning off televisions, mobile phones and other electrical devices.
• Have a shower prior to sleeping. When you come out of the shower, your body temperature will cool down. This will help you ease into a state of sleep.
• Turn your heat down. A cool 16-18 C is ideal.
• There is truth to the belief that a glass of warm milk before bed helps with sleeping. Dairy products are rich in tryptophan, which aids the production of the sleep-inducing chemicals serotonin and melatonin.
• Watch what you eat and drink in the evening. Caffeine and liquids high in sugar, as well as fat laden meals take longer to digest. They raise our body temperatures. This slows the process of falling to sleep.
• Do some slow stretching and deep abdominal slow breathing to release the stress of the day, and help your body feel relaxed. Our breath signals the body that there is no reason for fight or flight and it is safe to relax. Sometimes I listen to very relaxing music while belly breathe.

Your Sleep Environment

Is your bedroom cluttered or inviting? Of course as I write this I realize I have to clean up my room! Look around your bedroom. Do you like it? I love mine!! Do you like your bed? Your mattress? Your sheets? Your duvet? Your pillows? I love buying good sheets and a duvet that is very inviting.

Take time to create a sleep environment that welcomes relaxation

I remember when we moved into our house the master bedroom had a very busy wallpaper. It was way too stimulating. It was one of the first things to go.

When you go to bed

• Read a gentle book. My husband often read thrillers, and he is up into the wee hours because he has to find out what happens next. I deliberately choose a slow moving book.
• Reflect on your day and everything you are grateful for.
• Belly breathe.
• Sink into your bed and really enjoy the feel of it.

I recommend that you go to bed and wake up ant regular times. It is very helpful.

Our bodies have two built in nap times when energy levels dip. The first is between 1 and 3pm and the second is between 5 and 7pm. It’s okay to have a snooze or siesta. Listen to your body.

Sleeping is so important for all of us to regenerate. I know I am grumpy if I miss a lot of sleep. My creativity falls, and I am more in survival mode than really being present in life.

Play with your sleep rituals and notice what works for you.

What lulls you to sleep? Be aware that having some practices around good sleep habits is very important, rather than just hoping for the best. A delightful woman I worked with said she always read the wall street journal in bed and was asleep in minutes!

Happy Dreams!