Sleepless in SE4
Ok, well I know Brockley, London SE4 isn’t quite like Seattle, and there are no signs of anyone remotely resembling Tom Hanks or Meg Ryan in the neighbourhood. But I’m pretty sure there are a great many of us, who like them, are night owls or have trouble sleeping.
“The loss of one night’s sleep is followed by ten days of inconvenience” Chinese Proverb
Do you know that we spend almost a third of our lives asleep? Sleep is considered an essential component to how we function as human beings and along with eating well, exercising, regulating our mind and emotions, sleep is considered a vital aspect of the maintenance of good health. And like a chair, if this one leg is broken, our health becomes unstable - even if we take good care of the other three. [1]
Why is sleep so important ? - The basics
Sleep is an incredibly complex and dynamic process involving the use of all the key structures of the brain. These structures are responsible for the mechanism of sleep itself, the different stages of sleep and the production and regulation of chemicals and hormones such as melatonin, needed to help regulate your sleep-wake cycle. Scientists have spent a lifetime researching the importance of it. Sleep has been shown to have an effect on all aspects of bodily functions from the brain, heart, and lungs to metabolism, immune function, mood, fertility and disease resistance and research shows that a chronic lack of sleep, or poor quality sleep, increases the risk of developing conditions such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and obesity. [2] Think of sleep as the body’s chance to repair itself, just like you would take a car or bicycle to a workshop for repair - but just on a daily basis.
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In Chinese medicine, the importance of sleep is paramount and under the guidance of the basic principle of yin and yang. Daytime activity, warmth, energy and light is considered Yang. Nighttime, darkness, sleep is considered Yin. A period of turning inwards, calming ourselves and rest.[1] Our bodies and minds naturally follow this harmonic pattern known as our internal biological mechanisms, which comprises of circadian rhythms and sleep-wake homeostasis. These mechanisms work together to regulate when you should be awake and when you should be asleep. [2]
When you put the concepts of yin & yang and these sleep mechanisms together, it’s easy to understand why if the mind and body is still active into the night, how this works against our natural internal body clock. Deep restful sleep encourages the greatest opportunity for the body and mind to repair itself, so we need to do what we can to ensure we maximise this time.
The causes of poor sleep
There are many contributors that can affect our quality of sleep. These can range from stress and anxiety, side effects of prescribed medication, external noise, lack of exercise, poor nutrition, eating too late in the evening, illness, consumption of stimulants such as coffee, alcohol and recreational drugs to the overuse of digital screens, such as laptops, ipads and phones.
What is considered a good night’s sleep?
Good point. The amount of sleep we need will vary significantly from age group to age group. It’s very common to hear the phrase - “I only need 6 hours sleep and I feel fine”, but the reality is if you are an adult of 26 years and above we should be aiming for a minimum of 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, to be able to perform optimally.
So what can we do?
We can all benefit from improving the quality of our sleep. For many of us, it may simply be a case of making small lifestyle or attitude adjustments in order to help us sleep better. Right now, due to the current global health pandemic, anxiety and stress related insomnia is on the rise, so I have outlined below 10 useful tips and techniques to help reduce anxiety levels and achieve a healthier sleep routine.
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1) Set a sleep timer and routine. With spending so much time at home at the moment, it’s easy to fall out of our normal routine. Set a schedule to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day.
2) Starting winding down by 9pm. This is the optimum time for the body to start the recovery process. This might be tricky for some especially if you are used to going to bed much later, but maybe start to consider reducing your activities and stimulus just around this time, so that your mind and body starts to recognise that it is winding down and preparing itself for sleep. Consider relaxing techniques to help wind down instead, such as warm bath, reading, deep breathing techniques and/or a meditation technique.
3) Limit your digital exposure to laptops, phones and ipads right before you go to bed and try to avoid taking these items into the bedroom. The light glare from the screen and the over-consumption of current news can over-stimulate the brain, preventing it from going into the yin phase of our sleep-wake cycle and causing the mind to race and remain unsettled. If your phone is your alarm clock, move it to the other side of the room and put it on do not disturb, so you limit any unnecessary notifications from social media, texts or what’s app group chats.
4) Keep cool. The body and mind can settle far better if the body temperature is stable. If you are too hot, the mind won’t be able to rest and you may experience night sweats, thirst and night urination. Keep your room well ventilated and avoid wearing heavy, non breathable materials. Cotton is best. But what if I am freezing at night I hear you say? Try warming and soaking your feet in a foot soak of epsom salts and grated ginger before you go to bed. Epsom salts is rich in Magnesium which helps promote restful sleep and ginger boosts circulation in the body if you are prone to cold hands and feet.
5) Avoid eating close to bedtime. Eating heavy and rich meals late has a negative impact on our digestive system, slowing it down and making it more sluggish. Recent studies have found that increased dietary fat in the evening, can reduce REM (random eye movement) sleep and have negative impacts on our breathing, which is of particluar concern if you suffer from sleep apnoea and hypopnoea [1]. Ensure your diet is full of nutritious vegetables, fruits, omega 3’s and whole grains. Check out my previous blog post on boosting your immunity, which includes lots of helpful nutritional advice.
6) Avoid stimulants such as caffeine, alcohol and recreational drugs where possible and especially in the latter part of the day.
7) Exercise at least 20-30 mins a day. We have now been told by the government that we are allowed outside to do one form of exercise, in our current lockdown. Take advantage of this. Exercise increases our ‘happy’ hormones endorphins and serotonin levels which helps boosts our mood and well-being and can help improve our sleep cycles. It will also help balance your body’s level of stress hormones, such as adrenaline. Adrenaline is released when you body feels like it’s in danger - a mechanism called ‘Fight or Flight’ and can increase stress and anxiety, so daily exercise be it walking, yoga, seated based exercises or running will help keep this in check.
8) Remember to breathe. This might sound like a silly tip, but so many of us breathe incorrectly especially during times of stress and anxiety. Consider using deep breathing techniques such as Diaphragmatic abdominal breathing or nurturing and meditative exercises such as yoga and Qi-gong to help increase the oxygen levels circulating around the body and brain and help relax the mind. These are especially important to do in your wind down time before you go to bed. I can highly recommend Qi Gong routines by Chinese Medicine master Peter Deadman.
9) Try acupressure. Due to lockdown measures, many acupuncture clinics have had to temporarily close for now, but we can still help. Acupressure massage on certain acupuncture points at home can help stimulate the points in order to relieve stress and anxiety and can be done very easily throughout the day. There are many links to these online, but it’s really worthwhile being able to reference videos that demonstrate them, by a qualified acupuncturist. Not only will they help you locate the point accurately, but also advise of any contraindications to using the points for certain health conditions or groups of people, such as expectant mothers.. I will be releasing a series of acupressure videos on my instagram handle @saminahaideracupuncture over the coming weeks, so be sure to give me a follow so you can keep up to date.
10) If you follow the above steps, you should start to find some improvements in your sleep patterns, but if you do find yourself lying in bed awake at night, the worst thing we can do is to just lay there, over thinking it. Try getting up and reading a book, having a sip of water if you feel hot and thirsty or deep breathing techniques to help settle the mind again.
I hope you find these tips helpful. It’s worth noting here that if you have a medical condition that affects your quality of sleep or you are concerned about your insomnia and anxiety, these tips will still be beneficial to you, but it may be also worth speaking with your primary health care physician (GP, midwife or practise nurse). Stay well and keep safe.
[1] Deadman, P., 2016. Live Well Live Long. 1st ed. London: The Journal of Chinese Medicine.
[2] Ninds.nih.gov. 2020. Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep | National Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke. [online] Available at: <https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Understanding-Sleep#4> [Accessed 28 March 2020].