how to become sleeping beauty
Sleep!
So many things are interrelated when it comes to your health and wellness goals but one of the things I find is critical is sleep! It’s not just the number of hours you spend in bed but also the quality of your sleep that matters. For me when my sleep goes, my eating goes, my exercise goes (well as much as it can at the moment while i’m teaching!), things that bring me joy slip from my life and ultimately my mental health as well as my physical health goes. Stopping the downward spiral can be challenging but SO so rewarding!
A few years back i was experiencing what I thought was stress induced insomnia. I had no problem getting to sleep each night but around 1-2am I’d wake up and struggle to get back to sleep til around 5am. It was hideous! After a few weeks or maybe even months of this I could barely function. One day at work i ended up crying and I literally couldn’t stop. My workmates convinced me to go to the doctors who did a blood test and put me on antidepressants. However I wasn’t depressed, just absolutely exhausted!!!
Fast forward a couple of weeks with the antidepressants doing nothing, i went back to the doctor who changed the antidepressants, but also told me i was low in b12, so gave me a b12 injection. The pharmacist said i needed to get the first antidepressant out of my system before starting the second so i stopped taking anything. And somehow during that time i started sleeping through the night again, and like magic my symptoms of depression went away. I found out years later there have been some links between low b12 and insomnia.
I’m definitely not saying if you’re depressed all you need is a good sleep, but i am saying the quality of our sleep can affect us in many different ways including our mood.
Some of the other things sleep can affect include growth and stress hormones, our immune system, appetite, breathing, blood pressure and cardiovascular health.
There are loads of things that can affect our sleep too. Let’s explore a few.
Breathing
I’ve been learning all sorts of interesting things about breathing lately. And I gotta admit, it absolutely fascinates me! One thing in particular is the incredible benefit of breathing through our nose over breathing through the mouth, and while we’re asleep is an important part of this.
In a couple of the books I’ve read they advocate for putting a piece of tape across your mouth while sleeping to ensure that you’re nose breathing all night long. I tried it once and had no problem til about 4.30 when I woke up thirsty so took it off. I definitely need to try it again though! One of my friends said she tried it a few years back and had no idea sleep could feed so good!
A few weeks back Benny had a decent snore on him whenever he slept with his mouth closed (I self diagnosed it as enlarged adenoids), so was doing a lot of mouth breathing. One of the effects of mouth breathing when you’re asleep seems to be that you can’t get into as deep a sleep. Because you’re not getting into that deeper level of sleep your body doesn’t shut down urine production the way it should, so you can experience multiple night wakings with a full bladder. We definitely noticed this with Benny but it took me a few nights, and a few wet beds to put all the pieces together! However a few nights later his breathing was been back to normal and as if by magic he is sleeping through the night again! It is the best thing ever!!! Bonus is that he’s getting to sleep much quicker too!
Do you wake up multiple times in the night, especially with a full bladder? Any chance you’re breathing through your mouth? Interestingly enough, mouth breathing can also be linked with obstructive sleep apnoea, a condition where you stop breathing when you are asleep, and taping your mouth closed, forcing your body to breathe through your nose can reduce the incidences of obstructive sleep apnoea (and snoring!!), improving your sleep quality and therefore the energy you have through the day.
Do you find this as fascinating as me?!?!
The impact our breathing can have on our sleep quality (and our health and energy in general) blows me away!! Learning breathing techniques, mouth taping, or even if necessary a CPAP machine can be helpful in improving the quality of sleep if breathing is one of your downfalls. I definitely think i need to do a whole post on breathing at some stage!
Aside from our breathing there are a number of other things that can also impact our sleep and the quality of it.
Photo of me with my favourite little sleep stealer
Sleep stealers
If you have little ones who are waking you up in the night there isn't always a lot you can do, except implementing the following techniques and hoping that even if you're not getting great quantity of sleep, it's great quality. Never be scared to reach out and get help if you're struggling!
Nutrition
Having the right nutrients at the right time can be a game changer for helping you get to sleep and stay asleep. Carbohydrates are important for helping your body produce tryptophan, an amino acid which is used in the production of serotonin and melatonin. Milk contains tryptophan which is why a glass of warm milk before bed can help make you sleepy. Protein before bed can help you stay asleep, but eating too close to bedtime can be detrimental.
Other things we eat and drink can impact our body. Caffeine is a stimulant and can definitely affect the ability to fall asleep or the quality of sleep. Some people are more sensitive to it.
Alcohol is a depressant which can help you fall to sleep, but often after the down comes the up, so the quality of sleep after drinking can be terrible.
Vitamins and minerals like iron, b12 and magnesium can be helpful in helping us relax and sleep, so if you are low in these it might be harming your sleep quality or quantity, or even both!
Technology
Are you using your phone on bed or watching tv til right before bedtime then hoping to fall straight to sleep but struggling, maybe you're sensitive to blue light! This disrupts your circadian rhythm and can stop your body from producing melatonin, the chemical helpful in regulating your sleep-wake cycles. Personally i’m quite sensitive to blue light so have an automatic filter come on my phone and laptop a couple of hours before bed. I struggle to watch tv then go straight to bed so make sure I have some screen free wind down time in my schedule. My husband on the other hand, has zero issues watching tv til right before bedtime, going to bed and falling straight to sleep and staying asleep.
Movement
Are you moving your body throughout the day? Could you move it more? Exercise can be helpful in helping you get to sleep and stay asleep. It doesn't have to be a massive gym session or super intense, even just some gentle stretching or a walk around the block could be what you need to up your sleep game. Timing also matters. Doing high intensity exercise right before bed might be a bad idea, to try to do it earlier in the day if you want that sort of exercise.
Mental health
Stress, anxiety and depression can all have a major impact on your sleep, which has a major impact on your sleep. If it is majorly impacting you then talk to someone about it. Medication might be helpful. But also practices like journaling, meditation, yoga, exercise and finding joy in the moments can help reduce the impact of these things.
Hormones
One of the 'fun' symptoms of peri-menopause is insomnia. It can make life feel like it's all falling to pieces! If this is you then there are some herbal supplements that you might be able to take to support your hormones, or maybe even hormone replacements. It's worth it for good sleep!
Move your body to improve your sleep, and improve your physical and mental health at the same time. Yoga is a great low impact exercise that helps build strength and flexibility, while potentially helping your mental health.
In summary. Sleep is important for our physical and mental health. There are loads of different things that can impact our sleep, and it's often not a one size fits all when it comes to improving your sleep quality or quantity. If sleep is part of the puzzle concerning your exhaustion and you aren't sure where to start, send me a message, I’d love to chat to you about it!
