Five tips for better sleep

A woman is sleeping

I’m often asked about hypnotherapy for sleep. When it comes to our health we often think about diet and exercise, but neglect to consider sleep. Sleep is crucial for our bodies and brains to function properly. It plays an important role in controlling your metabolism, keeping your immune system working, boosting your memory, repairing tissues and stimulating growth. We all need different amounts of sleep, but as we spend roughly a third of our lives in bed, it’s worth getting it right.

Here are some top tips for a better night’s sleep.

Write it down

Keep a notebook or journal by your bed and write down anything going around your mind before you go to bed. That way you can offload all the to do lists and things going on, clearing your mind of thoughts ready for a good night’s sleep. If you wake up worrying in the night, write that down too.

Switch it off

Try to keep the hour before bed a screen free time. The blue light emitted from phones, televisions and laptops can interfere with our sleep and throw your body clock out of sync. Use a traditional alarm clock and keep devices out of the bedroom.

Make it routine

Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day and try to keep the same sleep schedule on weeknights and weekends. Burning the candle at both ends in the week and then trying to catch up at the weekend isn’t great for getting into a regular and stable sleep routine.

Have a snack

We’re often told not to eat before bed, but actually having something small can really help. The tryptophan found foods such as oats, milk, bananas, chicken and wholemeal bread is brilliant for inducing sleep. Wash it down with camomile tea and you’ve got the perfect bed time snack.

Try meditation

Listening to a relaxing meditation or guided imagery can help you to nod off. I provide all my clients with a hypnotherapy recording for them to listen to as they fall asleep. It helps to relax them and embed ideas.