To Sleep; Perchance to Dream

Are you really getting a good nights sleep? (Week 1)

Now for those of you who know me well, will know that I am not known to be a good sleeper.  In fact, I would describe myself as a ‘light sleeper’ – that is – going to bed, resting but rarely feeling that I ‘fall’ asleep – in fact the number of ‘real’ nights sleep is fairly rare for me.  Last year I did wonder if I had Insomnia?!  One definition is ‘habitual sleeplessness; inability to sleep’ – that kindof fits me…. but I assumed Insomniac’s were ‘up all night’ pacing, eating, reading or watching tv and just couldn’t sleep or rest?

Wikipedia’s version is “Insomnia, or sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which there is an inability to fall asleep or to stay asleep as long as desired” - well, that seems to fit too – however I must say that the full definitions for Insomnia are much more complex.

Why am I interested in the quality of (or lack of) my sleep you might ask.  Well simply put, sleep is of course the time when the body replenishes its energy – I would say, on all levels, physical, emotional, mental and even perhaps spiritual – for rest is extremely important to well-being.

Getting enough quality sleep and the timing of that sleep is also important.  In Dr Christiane Northrup’s Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, she points out that “getting quality sleep prior to midnight appears to be more restorative to your adrenal glands (those that produce adrenalin and cortisol the stress hormones) than sleep that begins later in the night – even if you sleep late the next morning!  Alcohol impacts too, two drinks per evening can wipe out your rapid eye movement (REM) sleep which is the sleep associated with dreaming – and she adds, why would you want to do this?”.

If we do not engage in the best quality of sleep and replenishment then we will encounter a level of stress, (probably subtle or mild initially), but longer periods of poor sleep will mean that the mind and body are not as alert as they could be and therefore any decisions, actions, ideas, plans, activities will be hampered by this stress.  I therefore felt it was time to understand my ‘light night-time status’ and conquer the problem.

Last year I did record my sleep to ascertain if I was really having difficulty.  I labelled each night as either poor (felt like I was permanently awake), okay (rested but still aware of the nights movements) or good (definitely fell into sleep at some point).  On the rare occasion I did record excellent (I actually have no idea what happened during the night and woke refreshed – result!!).  My findings were interesting and varied.  My sleep did improve for a while but gradually became disrupted again.

So with a fresh start to 2013 I have decided to have another go.  I have been introduced to a great app - Sleep Cycle* - it records your sleep pattern for the duration of the night, number of hours in bed, and calibrates whether it thinks you slept well or not?! – see the graphic below.

My plan is to monitor my sleep using this app* and to make changes, and therefore see what affect they have.  I am going to record this weeks sleep (week 1) as a normal week – a control week if you like, without making any changes.  Next week (week 2) I will incorporate all the usual sleep tips and recommendations such as going to bed at a set time, reading before bed, ensuring the bedroom is dark, not drinking stimulants before bed or eating too late etc and then will compare notes.  The following week (week 3) I intend to use Hypnotherapy as I suspect from the early part of last year, this had a significant affect on some of my improved nights.  I can then compare the weeks and see what I find!  I will, of course, keep you posted each week about my findings and hopefully my improvements!

For interest, this is what my first night of monitoring looks like!!

What is your sleep like?  Do you sleep really well? Or like a great number of my clients (and me), is your nights sleep broken, varied or disturbed?!

Why not join in with me and monitor your sleep cycles too!  If you have a smart phone, why not download an app to monitor your sleep cycle or simply not any changes in your diary.

* One issue I do have with the ‘app style’ of monitoring is that you have to place your mobile phone on your mattress, reasonably close to your head – they suggest that you keep the phone charging while you do this.  I’m afraid that I do have concerns about having mobile devices, or other electrical devices, close to your head/body for such a great length of time – especially on charge – as the surge of electricity may cause stress to the body and the phone may emit EMFs (electro-magnetic fields/currents).  However as the ‘test’ is for a short period of time I shall give it a go but I have to say, it is not something that I would recommend for longer than a spot of monitoring!

Tags: Hormonal Changes, Hormones, insomnia, sleep, stress, wellbeing, worry