So, lets get personal for a moment...how did you sleep last night?

So….how did you sleep last night?   

Was it good quality, deep, restorative sleep…sleep that stretched on for hours uninterrupted so you were fresh and alert in the morning?

 Or were you awake for hours tossing and turning in the middle of the night, just like I used to be? 

Sleep is so critical to good health and quality of life that there is now a whole day dedicated to it.  It was World Sleep Day last Friday, 15 March. 

 Personal experience shows us that a good night’s sleep is the difference between coping and not coping, functioning safely and properly and critically it is a key factor in living a long and healthy life. 

 And while many of us have had the experience of broken sleep due to a tiny baby or jet lag if you have a consistent pattern of fragmented sleep this is something that needs to be, and can bem addressed for your long term health. 

 Now there can be many reasons why your sleep is disturbed. Pain, teeth grinding, anxiety, depression and medical issues like sleep apnoea are among the top causes.   And the good news is that the evidence tells us that most sleep disorders can be treated however, very few people actually seek the help they need to ensure a good night’s sleep.

So allowing disrupted sleep to persist is not uncommon and it is something that is very familiar to me. There was a time when I used to wake at 3.30 am every night and would fall asleep just in time for the alarm to wake me at 6.30 am.  I would drag myself to work and spend the day feeling like rubbish. 

At one stage, I became so frustrated with this pattern of constant waking that I eventually decided to just get up and do all the work that was on my mind to try and get ahead of the curve for a change. 

 They say hindsight is 20/20 vision and I know now my disturbed sleep was a sign of the pressure that I felt at work (as a corporate lawyer) and my night-time waking was the result of anxiety that I was experiencing in trying to cope with the avalanche of work that never seemed to stop.

 And before I knew about the magic of mindfulness and the power of hypnotherapy I tried lots of strategies to help me sleep, all less than ideal and all with varying degrees of success or should I say failure…. 

From drinking wine to help me fall into a stupor (this is NOT a healthy way to tackle the issue) only to wake a few hours later feeling even more wretched so now I was awake and feeling seedy to boot; to drinking warm milk when I woke up at night to taking prescription sleeping pills to knock myself out at the other end of the spectrum, which left me groggy most of the day. 

 Nowadays I know that the key to a good night’s sleep starts with some good sleep hygiene and a stress-free mind.  So enough about me, back to you. 

If you are waking in the night and you want the joy of a full night’s sleep then there are options for you.

Start by checking out my tips to set up good sleep hygiene.  And have a listen to my progressive relaxation recording to help you relax at night. 

And if that doesn’t work come and see me and we will get to the root cause of what is stopping you from sleeping and get you sleeping like a baby in no time.  Book here to have a chat.