Night's Rest | Sleep

Night's Rest | Sleep

A good night’s sleep

Getting a good night's sleep is really important. It’s not even about how long you sleep - what really matters is the quality of your sleep. Good quality sleep helps your body to recover from everything it has experienced during the previous day. It also prepares your body and mind for the day ahead. You’re most likely to wake up feeling rested when your body and mind are properly in balance. But if you spend a lot of time lying awake, go to bed with your mind buzzing and worry a lot, then this will affect the quality of your sleep.

Melatonin, the sleep hormone

Why do you feel tired and start yawning when it gets dark? The reason is simple: when it gets dark, your brain starts to produce melatonin. This is a sleep hormone that prepares your body for the night. Actually, you should go to bed then, but we don’t do this. We ignore the signs of sleep and expose our brains to the light emitted by laptops, tablets, mobile phones and televisions. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, as long as you get enough sleep and give your eyes a break from these light sources in good time. This will help to improve the quality of your sleep

Sleep quality

Sleep goes through various stages, during which you sleep lightly, sleep very deeply or dream. These different stages all go together to make up the sleep cycle and you progress through the sleep cycle several times each night. It starts with the falling-asleep stage, followed by the light sleep stage. Stage 3 is an intermediate stage transitioning from light sleep into deep sleep. After deep sleep follows REM sleep, named after the rapid eye movements that can be clearly observed. During this stage, you process all the previous day’s information, your sleep is more restless and you dream. After REM sleep, you wake up briefly and then the cycle starts all over again. You do this about four or five times each night. Each cycle takes about one and a half hours. If your body hasn’t had enough deep sleep and REM sleep, you don’t feel rested when you get up in the morning. A restless night without deep sleep and REM sleep leaves you feeling tired. Sleeping too long actually has the same effect. If you want to sleep longer for once, more than four or five times your sleep cycle, then don’t add on more than one extra sleep cycle lasting an hour and a half.

Sleep ritual

A good night's sleep starts with a good sleep ritual. This ritual helps your body and mind to unwind. Turn off the television and other screens around half an hour before your bedtime. Use this half hour (or longer if you like) to relax before you go to bed. For example, by meditating or doing yoga. A hot shower, brushing your teeth and reading a book can also form part of a good sleep ritual. Observing a sleep ritual like this prepares your body for sleep. This particularly helps with shortening the falling-asleep stage, so that you can enter deep sleep more quickly.

Tips for getting good sleep

As well as a good sleep ritual, there are other changes you can make to improve the quality of your sleep. For example, don’t eat a heavy meal just before going to bed. When you do this, your body needs all its energy to digest the food and it can’t unwind. If you’re sensitive to alcohol or caffeine, then it’s better not to consume them in the evening. They both disturb your sleep rhythm. Routine will help you to be able to sleep well. So try to maintain a regular sleep-wake rhythm. You do this by going to sleep and getting up at the same time every day. Keeping your bedroom well-ventilated, cool, quiet and dark also helps you to sleep well. A good, supportive mattress and pillow help your body to relax. Did you know that physical exercise helps you to unwind, making it easier for you to sleep well? Go for an extra walk or push yourself to the limit at the gym. By taking exercise and playing sport, you produce all kinds of hormones that get rid of stress hormones.

Lying awake due to stress

Of course, everyone struggles to get to sleep at times. This is generally due to stress, anxiety and tensions that you can’t get rid of. They make it harder for you to fall asleep and disrupt your sleep cycle. Sleep deprivation can cause all kinds of symptoms, such as tiredness/exhaustion, weight gain, irritability, hormone fluctuations and skin problems. Stress and anxiety also get worse when you sleep badly. This is often compounded by frustration, as you want to sleep but can’t manage it. Scientific research has shown that chronic lack of sleep can be very dangerous, as it affects your reaction times just as much as drinking alcohol. If you’re so stressed that you develop long-term sleep deprivation as a result, then we recommend that you consult your GP.

What can you do?

If you find yourself lying awake due to stress and tension, try talking to someone about it. It’s not always easy to get rid of tension, anxiety and stress, but talking about it can help you to feel calmer. If you can’t get to sleep, try getting up and out of bed for a while. Take a book, write something or have a cup of herbal tea or hot milk. Try to stick to your sleep ritual and to think about positive things when you’re in bed. Breathing exercises can help with this. It’s also a good idea to take a food supplement that helps you to relax, to support your body’s natural processes. When you’re feeling tense, Positive Mind can lend a helping hand, thanks to its beneficial ingredients, ginseng, passion flower and ashwagandha. 5HTP promotes the production of serotonin and melatonin in your brain, which not only help you to feel sleepy, but also help prevent irritability and binge eating. The ingredients in Dr. Becky Perfect Sleep includes camomile and lemon balm. It not only helps you to unwind and fall asleep; thanks to various B vitamins, it provides optimal support for your nervous system.

More information from Dr. Becky

If you have any questions about the best supplements for your sleeping problems, don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Becky. We’ll be happy to help and advise you on how to get a good night’s sleep.