Wellness Coach Katie on Sleep Cycles
Sleep is the most powerful ‘medicine’ we can take and best of all it’s free and accessible to everyone. So why is it that we turn to magic potions to make our skin look bright, caffeine to ‘perk us up’ and other over the counter medicines to make us look and feel better, when perhaps all we really need some good old shut-eye?
Like most things these days, everyone is looking for a quick fix. Aiming to max out their day, people often de-prioritise sleep, and even when they try to get those magical 8 hours, we can’t turn off to get a truly restful night.
Vicious cycles
Lack of sleep often creates behavioural patterns that I am sure many of you are familiar with… You wake up feeling exhausted and irritable versus refreshed and energised. To fight off the sluggishness we’ll often turn to caffeine to give us a boost, which it does but this is only short lived. When you are tired, your food choices often aren’t good – sausage roll from Greggs anyone?! – or whatever your Achilles heel is. Post lunch slump kicks in so perhaps it’s time for some more caffeine or a sugar hit to keep us going until we leave work. Then you go for ‘just one drink’ after work, and before you know it you are rushing to make the last tube/train/getting an Uber home.
Do these scenarios sound familiar? Doing any (or all) of the above will create the ‘perfect conditions’ for a restless night’s sleep; it’s easy to see how this behaviour quickly becomes a vicious cycle.
Breaking cycles
Don't fret! By taking some simple steps, you can be the benefactor of this wonderful elixir called sleep!
Aim to:
• If you want a good night’s sleep don’t drink alcohol, as you will probably get
to sleep quickly but you won’t experience the deep restorative sleep you need
• Create your own ‘wind down’ routine before bed that should include NOT
looking at a phone or tablet.
Think about and treat sleep as a really important meeting – you wouldn’t turn up unprepared, would you?
Wellness Coach Katie Dyer
Katie helps people with self-transformation – enabling them to think positively about themselves so they create new habits to support their goals. Their thoughts drive their actions and impact their feelings, creating a positive loop. With an outspoken mission to enable people to find balance in their own lives, Katie leads her clients to discover the best versions of themselves, both mentally and physically. Katie believes that both are equally important to our wellbeing enabling us to live life to our full potential.
Instagram: @wellnesscoach_kd, www.wellnesscoachkatie.co.uk