Sleep .....zzzz

 If some one gave me the ability to sleep for a week right now...I'd take them up on their offer. How about you?

The Easter school holidays are done and its back in to the routine of waking earlier and getting gradually more sleep deprived! 
I'm at least grateful for the chance to have had a bit of a lie in on a morning over the holidays to give me that extra half hour I feel I need.  I'm one of those individuals who needs AT LEAST 8 hours a night if not 9. Sometimes if I get lights out by 10.30 I can squeeze in the 8.5 but even then it's often not enough input for the output that I expend. Sleep is something I've been working on for some time... because without it I don't function very well. Anyone out there the same? 


Last year was crazy for sleep...or should I say, the lack of it! I wouldn't call it insomnia because I could actually get to sleep...I just wouldn't be able to stay that way, OR I would rest so lightly that I would wake up feeling totally unrefreshed and feeling like I hadn't had any. 

Hubby on the other hand has always needed a lot less and he can sleep anywhere. Totally not fair. He used to sleep four hours a night with a short mid day nap of 15 minutes. Nowadays he needs a little longer...with an extra long snooze, but then again his make up is very different from mine.

My point...or one of them, is that we all have individual constitutions and needs and we should listen to our body and for the signals it gives to us and act accordingly. Listening is the first step.

Oh to be able to sleep anywhere. My baby after a hard day out (Disney 2004)

Tom laughs at my nightly rituals of getting ready for bed, the wind down routines  and the essential oil potions I concoct.  My daughter even calls me a white witch! I usually avoid napping  during the day because I don't want  it to affect my nights sleep (I've listened and learned that when I nap I don't sleep as well that night). I exercise and am vigilant at getting my outdoor time every day to catch my daily quota of light (to stimulate my melatonin production). I limit my night time computer and phone usage and keep all electronics away from where I sleep to reduce EMF interference. My room is cool, my mattress has been changed, my pillow is a pillow I've used for years and is comfortable  (I take it everywhere with me). I've got black out blinds at the window. My earplugs and eye mask (that my friend bought me for my birthday) get used every night....

 BUT Do all these sleep hygiene routines that I've gradually put in place work? 

Sometimes the steps you have to take in trying to overcome a problem can seem like a mountain to climb and can feel like a hard thing to do.  Maybe they help some people a lot, others the effort put in to all of these measures reap disproportionate result by only helping in a small way.

Often it's as easy as just going to bed a bit earlier, having a bit longer rest time and having some good routines to make you feel more human like, other times it's not so simple and the quality of your sleep can be an indication of the state of your health.
But which comes first the chicken or the egg? Does the lack of sleep create ill health or do health issues create lack of sleep?..... Both!

When it comes to sleep we may think that it's a simple tick list of hygiene routines but it's actually quite complex and multiple factors can effect it.
Anyone who has sleep issues that aren't improved after trying out all of the above should look further in to the cause of their sleep disturbance. 
Is stress, pain, depression, digestive disturbances keeping you awake? Nutritional imbalances like magnesium, calcium, vitamin D depletion can all keep  you awake.....so it's important to look a little deeper. If you want to read more on tips for sleeping better you can go to:-
 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/08/15/nutrients-better-sleep.aspx

As for me, I'll be continuing to keep up my oils, exercise and nutrition  routines as they are helping slowly but surely. I still have a ways to go according to my H.R.V scores (see Heart Rate Variability post) but if there is one thing in my favour... it's that I'm persistent!

Do the best you can within the circumstances you have but keep moving forward working at your problems one small step at a time. You'll get there...eventually!

Buenas Noches

Jx

Join me  in "Sanity Space" on my Silk Pillow and Eye mask Project ...coming soon!