Yoga: The Sleep-Friendly Exercise

While it is often noted that exercise in the run up to bedtime is bad for your quality of sleep, there are a few exercises that are the exceptions to this rule. It is true that any form of intense exercise within the three hours before bed is a poor choice, as it will only raise your adrenaline levels, making it harder to relax. However, exercises such as yoga, which keep the heart rate similar to a resting level, but still offer a number of health benefits, can actually be beneficial to your sleep pattern.

Yoga originated in ancient India, and is a form of both physical and mental exercise. It has become very popular over recent decades, and classes for yoga are now commonly found in gyms and community centres. Regular yoga will help to improve muscle tone, cardiovascular health and mental wellbeing. Here are some simple yoga exercises and poses that will promote healthy sleep.

Stress-Relieving Breathing Exercises

If you’ve had a tough day, begin your yoga with a breathing exercise that can help relieve the stress of your day. Start the exercise by breathing in through your nose, slowly counting to five in your head while dong so. Then exhale through your mouth while counting to eight. Focus your mind on the process of breathing slowly, and repeat at least five times.

Seated Spinal Twist

This exercise is useful to aid good digestion before bed and can help settle your stomach. To perform the position, sit with your right knee bent and angled across the front of your stomach, while leaving your left leg lying flat in front of you. Place your right hand behind you on the floor, while simultaneously resting your left elbow over your right knee. Slowly turn your neck and upper back to the right, while constantly focusing on deep breathing. Carry out the exercise on the opposite side of your body as well.

Corpse Pose

The corpse pose is a good exercise to finish on when doing yoga before bed, because it relaxes your muscles, making it easier to relax your entire body and mind. Simply lie flat on your back while in bed, and focus on tensing each muscle group in your body, from your feet up to your neck. Stay attentive while carrying out the exercise, ensuring you’re always focusing on a particular set of muscles.

This type of yoga is very relaxing and cleansing, and when done properly will keep your heart rate low, and allow you to drift into a more natural sleep. Other more intense and demanding forms of exercise should be done at least three hours before going to bed. When trying yoga for the first time it may be useful to attend a class to ensure you are gaining the full benefit from each separate pose.

Fitting Sleep and Exercise into Your Schedule

Busy routines and long working hours can make it difficult to fit in the essential factors for a healthy lifestyle. If you find ways to get the balance right and fit in a good amount of exercise with the correct amount of sleep, you will notice the benefits in everyday life. Here are three tips to help you fit sleep and exercise into your daily routine:

Know Your Sleep
For a start it is important to know how much sleep your body needs. With many adults needing around seven to eight hours per night, you can work see how many hours is suitable for you to function to your full potential, as some people will need more and some people will need less. When you have worked out the correct amount of sleep that is most beneficial to you, it makes it easier to make a daily schedule and work around the sleep that you need. Try to stick to the same sleep time and wake up time everyday, this will set your inbuilt body clock and help you to fall asleep and wake up in the morning allowing you to feel more refreshed and alert.

Know Your Body
It is essential to know the amount of exercise your body can take. Starting off on a lower workout and building up the level of weights and time spent doing cardio will help your body to train and build up naturally. If you push yourself too hard too quickly your body will take much longer to heal, you will require more sleep and you will have to leave more time between workouts.

Make a Schedule
Planning out your day and making a schedule that takes into account all of your activities including work, house chores, exercise and the time you need to set aside for sleep will help you to visualise your day. Sticking to the schedule will help you to stick to the same bed time and exercise time so that you get the full benefits. Your schedule will change week to week with different commitments, however it is important that you do try and maintain a good balance with your sleep and exercise and keep the same bed time and wake up time to regulate your sleep wake cycle.

Sleep Tips: Improving Sleep for You and Your Partner

Syncing up with your partners sleeping pattern could help you achieve a much better night’s sleep. Snoring, tossing and turning and sleep disorders can affect both of your sleep, therefore syncing up with each others sleeping patterns may help you to fall asleep at the same time not keeping each other awake until all hours. Conflicting schedules can also be an issue when you are trying to settle down to a regular sleeping pattern, constantly finding your slumber is interrupted. When these factors are beginning to take toll on both partners sleep and health it is clear the problem has become more serious.

The problem can persist when you wake up every morning angry with your partner because they have kept you awake all night and the sleep deprivation can make you moody and cranky so you struggle to resolve the issue. No one likes going to work in a bad mood and therefore it is not a great way to start the day and has a negative effect on your well-being and home life. You can seek help from professionals to assist you and your partner with overcoming sleeping disorders and issues that keep you both awake at night, in order to improve both of your sleeping patterns.

There are tips that you can try if your sleeping problems are not bad enough to be serious sleep disorders, the main one is compromise. If you do feel like you move around a lot in your sleep there are changes that you can make to your sleeping environment that can stop you from overhauling their sleeping space:

Ensure the bed is big enough
Large beds are a great way to contain your own space but still sharing with your partner. If your room and budget can accommodate a large mattress, then the bigger the better when it comes to having room to sleep. You can sleep over on your side but still be able to share a marital bed without getting cramped and flustered in a small sleeping space.

Dark and Quiet Room
Try blocking out any other external factors that keep you awake. If you fall into a deep sleep you will be able to block out the noise and movement of the other person and have a long restful nights sleep without any interruptions.

Comfortable Sleeping Space
A comfortable mattress will help you to relax and stay in one area of the bed. A memory foam mattress is ideal for creating a comfortable sleeping environment as you sink into the mattress immediately finding the optimum sleeping position preventing you from tossing and turning throughout the night.

After implementing these small changes to your room, you may find that your sleep improves for both partners’, you will both wake up in the mornings feeling refreshed and relaxed and positive about the day. Moods will improve as will your home life and general health and well-being.

Knowing When You Need More or Less Sleep

As you will have often seen written in other articles here on the Sleep Guide, eight hours is approximately the amount of sleep you should be achieving every night. While this is the rough amount that most people will need to feel fully refreshed and rejuvenated, every person is different, and as such, will need different amounts of sleep. Some of us will need more and some will need less, but it is important to recognise the signs telling you just how much you need.

Do You Need More Sleep?

There are many ways to tell if you need more sleep on a night. The most common signs of a lack of quality sleep include excessive tiredness, apathy, irritability and a lack of focus. There are more serious problems with a lack of sleep, such as a suffering work life, because you will be unable to focus for a long period of time. Even more dangerous is feeling drowsy while driving. Drowsy driving can affect your ability to drive just as much as drink driving, which is a definite sign that you need more sleep.

A lack of sleep can be caused by a general poor sleep routine, or possibly by an underlying sleep disorder. Sleep disorders such as insomnia will cause a lack of sleep, and insomnia can be hard to rectify using force of will alone, so a visit to the doctor is necessary. Long-term effects of sleep deprivation include weight problems, depression and increased risk of fibromyalgia, a disease that causes widespread aches and pains in the body.

Are You Sleeping Too Much?

As mentioned above, the amount of sleep you need is completely down to you, but it is rare that you will require any more than nine hours a night. If you sleep more than this on a regular basis then you may be oversleeping. Also, if your need for sleep has suddenly increased, which can be caused by stress, anxiety or an undiagnosed sleep disorder, you may need to visit your doctor before you fall into a routine of oversleeping.

Oversleeping may seem like a harmless idea, but has many side effects. Many of us will be aware of having experienced a bad head or back pain, which has been caused by a long lie-in. Oversleeping can also lead to much more serious problems such as obesity and diabetes. According to WebMD, people who sleep nine to ten hours a night are 21 percent more likely to become overweight and 50 percent more likely to develop diabetes than people who sleep seven to eight hours a night.

Taking Action

Making changes to the amount of sleep you get each night can be difficult, as breaking out of a routine is not an easy process. Tips to help get you started include setting a consistent bedtime and time for waking, ensuring your bedroom is very dark and quiet and turning off electronic devices in the hour before bed. It may take a while for these tips to have an effect, but if these changes make absolutely no difference over a period of time, you need to visit your doctor with your problem.

Are Sleeping Tablets the Answer?

If you ask a number of people about how to get to sleep when you’re not feeling relaxed, it is likely that many will suggest using sleeping tablets. However, as with any medication, sleeping tablets need to be used very carefully, and they are often other alternatives to your sleeping dilemma. Below are some tips about the use of sleeping tablets, and remember that it’s always important to know all the facts, rather than risking your own health.

Try Simple Alternatives

If you’re lying in bed feeling restless, it can be difficult to focus on relaxation techniques to help you sleep, but they can sometimes offer a lot of help. First of all, ensure your bedroom is quiet and dark, and then carry out a couple of simple relaxation exercises, such as writing your thoughts in a diary and focusing on clearing your mind. More relaxation tips can be found here. Hopefully, these tips will help you fall asleep without having to resort to sleeping tablets.

Never Use Tablets as a Long Term Solution

Even if you’re normally a relatively good sleeper, there can be nights where you just can’t fall asleep, and even using relaxation techniques do not help. On these occasions sleeping tablets can be used if necessary, but they should never be used as a long term solution. You can build up a dependency, meaning it can be hard to stop using them once you start. Also ensure that you have a full seven or eight hours to allow yourself a full night’s sleep.

Beware of the Side Effects

While the use of sleeping tablets is not uncommon, there are many potential side effects if not used properly, or in the wrong situation. As mentioned above, prolonged use can lead to a dependency on the tablets. Simple side effects include a sore throat, blurred vision when waking, dizziness, and drowsiness during the day ahead. More serious side effects include a condition known as rebound insomnia, which essentially means your inability to sleep will become even worse when you stop taking the tablets, compared to when you started taking them in the first place. There are many more side effects in each individual type of sleeping tablet.

Visit Your Doctor if in Doubt

If you’re not sure about taking sleeping tablets, a visit to your doctor can help you make the right choice. Plus, the need for sleeping tablets can be a sign of an underlying problem with your sleep, such as a sleep disorder. Always follow your doctor’s advice on sleeping tablets, because going against sound medical advice can lead to serious problems with your sleep quality and general health. Plus, always follow the directions and guidelines of the sleeping tablets you are taking.

In conclusion, sleeping tablets are often not the answer, and you need to be certain that they are before taking them. They can also often be incompatible with a typical nine-to-five routine, as you will feel groggy on the morning, meaning spending a day at work can be difficult. Plus, driving or using heavy machinery is not compatible after taking sleeping tablets, meaning even getting to work can be a problem.

5 Techniques to Help You Sleep

With Christmas and New Year now only a distant memory it is the time of year many of us stay up late through the night working or studying, trying to get things done for deadlines and important upcoming dates. There always seems to be things planned at the weekends and long working schedules through the week, it is not often that we can catch a moment to ourselves. When you burn the candle at both ends it can take a serious toll on your health, it can make you feel exhausted and struggle to sleep even when bedtime comes around. It is important to set time aside for a bit of relaxation no matter how busy your schedules is, this will help you to wind down and settle your thought process after a busy day so that it is easier to fall asleep and catch up on those essential hours that you have deprived yourself from. There are some great techniques to help you drift into a deep slumber that you can carry remember before bed:

Go to bed with regularity
Waking up at the same time and going to bed at the same time is important for getting into a good routine. Your brain knows when it is bedtime so you can prepare and get tired ready for a long and restful nights sleep.

Wind down
Ensure that you have finished doing any work at least an hour before you got bed. Lighting candles and playing relaxing music will help you to de-stress after a long day and help you to relax so that you can fall asleep.

Clear your mind
Writing a list of everything that you need to do and crossing off things that you have done helps you to organise and visualise your thoughts so that they are not on your mind when you are trying to sleep. Even if they are mundane every day tasks it can help to reduce stress and de-clutter your thoughts.

Creating a restful sleeping environment
Avoid doing work, making phonecalls, paying bills or doing any other daily chores in your bedroom. Use the sleeping environment only for sleep so that you can relax as soon as you lie on your bed. Get rid of anything work related to that nothing triggers thoughts or worries so that you can concentrate on getting to sleep.

Consider your evening meal
Avoid eating a large meal just before bedtime. You need to allow yourself at least two hours before you go to bed so that you can digest food and relax again. If you get hungry just before bed, try eating a light snack such as milk, turkey and peanuts which all contain chemicals that help you to fall asleep, try eating a small portion of one of these before you go to bed.

Following these techniques will help you to have a longer and more beneficial sleep. You will be able to relax and sleep right through allowing you to wake up feeling refreshed and restored. No more burning the midnight oil and waking up feeling tired and lethargic, it is important that you get the recommended amount of sleep in order to be focused and productive during the day.

Getting Back to Sleep in the Middle of the Night

If you wake up during the night, whether because of a disturbance outside, needing to use the bathroom, or when you just find yourself waking up for no apparent reason, you may find it difficult to get back to sleep. This is especially the case if you are already having trouble with your sleep, and waking up in the middle of the night can cause more unnecessary stress, meaning it will take you longer to get back to sleep. Here are some useful tips to help minimise the level of disruption caused by waking up in the night:

Focus on Relaxing

When you wake up in the middle of the night, it can be easy to get hung up on the thought of getting back to sleep. Trying to force yourself to sleep will only make you feel more stressed. Instead focus on relaxing and try to forget about sleep. If you can let your mind rest, then your body will soon follow suit, allowing you to fall asleep more easily.

Read a Book

If your sleep disruption causes you to wake up fully, to the point where you no longer feel sleepy, you must resist the temptation to watch TV or log on to your computer. While these may distract you, they will make it even harder to return to sleep. Instead, simply read a book or magazine, while keeping the light levels as low as possible, but still bright enough to read without straining your eyes. This activity will help relax you in preparation for sleep.

Don’t Let Yourself Worry Too Much

When you wake up during the night, it can be easy to return to any stressful thoughts that may have been bothering you during the day, and a racing mind will prevent you from relaxing. Try to postpone your worries by telling yourself you will focus on them tomorrow, or if that does not work, write down any persistent thoughts in your diary or in a journal, thus keeping them safe for the day ahead.

While waking up during the middle of the night is not something to worry about too much if it happens occasionally, it can be a cause for concern if it happens multiple times a night. Without long periods of uninterrupted sleep, your body does not fall into deep sleep, where you gain the most benefit. If this is the case, you should not hesitate to visit your doctor, who may be able to help you with your problems.

Make the Most of Melatonin to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Melatonin is an important chemical involved in the regulation of your sleep patterns. If you maintain a consistent routine, and adhere to a few simple rules, you will produce enough natural melatonin to allow you to get natural sleep, and feel awake and alert during the day. However, certain habits that many people have will reduce melatonin production, meaning you can struggle to fall asleep easily, and will suffer in the long term because of it. Here are some simple ways to boost melatonin production, thus helping you sleep better:

Spend Time Outdoors Everyday

Even if you work in an office, you should try to spend at least a short amount of time outside during the day. This is because sunlight helps boost melatonin production and spending all day in a dark environment will not allow this to happen. The walk to work on a morning or a quick break before lunch can help you achieve this.

Let Sunlight into Your Workspace

While you can take measures to allow yourself time in the sunlight, you will inevitably spend most of your day inside if you work in an office. If possible, sit near a window and try not to spend all day sat beneath artificial light. While it may not always be possible, depending on the preferences of other people in your office, opening blinds or curtains can really make a difference.

Turn Off Electronic Devices at Bedtime

In the hour or so before bed, turn off electronic devices, such as televisions, computers, mobile phones, e-books and anything else that gives off excess artificial light. To aid this process, you can even switch the bulbs in your bedroom to lower wattage alternatives, giving a much softer light in the room. Spend the hour before bed reading a book or a magazine.

Make Sure Your Bedroom is Dark when You’re Sleeping

When you do go to sleep, try to make sure your bedroom is as dark as possible, possibly using thick curtains to help block out any lights from outside. A sleep mask could also be useful if there is some light that can’t be blocked out. If you need to get up during the night for a drink or to use the bathroom, try to keep your house as dark as possible, using just enough light to allow you to safely navigate from room to room.

The importance of melatonin production should not be overlooked, and spending all day in the dark can seriously affect your body clock, making it hard to sleep at regular times. If you feel your sleep has been adversely affected by this, a visit to your doctor can often help. Your doctor may advise the use of a light box, to help encourage the production of melatonin, or possibly even suggest taking melatonin tablets, which are used as a natural remedy to help sleep.

Recognising the General Symptoms of Sleep Disorders

The problem with having a sleep disorder is that you may never experience it first hand, simply because it happens during sleep. This means it may take weeks or months to realise you have a sleep disorder if you sleep alone, and by that point you will already be suffering from the effects of the disorder. Therefore, if this is the case, the only way to tell that you have a sleep disorder is to be aware of any potential early symptoms.

There are numerous types of sleep disorders, which all have different symptoms and causes, and often affect different people in different ways. However, the vast majority of sleep disorders will share a number of common symptoms, and recognising these can be the first step to diagnosing and treating the disorder. When trying to find out whether you may be suffering from a sleep disorder, you must ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you feel irritable and stressed during the day?
• Do you feel excessively tired during the day, and struggle to maintain concentration?
• Do you have difficulty staying awake when sitting still, reading, watching TV or sitting in front of a computer?
• Have you developed a recent need for napping on a daily basis?
• Do you have problems dealing with simple emotions?

If you realise that you suffer from one or more of these symptoms, it is a sign that you could be suffering from a sleep disorder. While it may be down to other factors, if these symptoms have started recently and affect you on a regular basis, it is likely due to an undiagnosed sleep problem.

While the type of sleep disorder you are suffering from can be narrowed down by looking for certain symptoms, it can be very difficult to properly diagnose a specific disorder yourself, because of the amount of overlapping symptoms and the fact that not everyone will experience a particular sleep disorder in the same way. If you are suffering from the general problems associated with sleep disorders, then you must visit your doctor, who will be able to find a more accurate diagnosis of your problems.

Making Changes to Prevent Sleep Apnoea

Sleep apnoea is a disorder that causes the sufferer to stop breathing during sleep for a short period of time. There are different types of sleep apnoea, but the most common is OSA (obstructive sleep apnoea), and is caused by a blockage of soft tissue in the throat. OSA causes the sufferer to move from deep sleep into a lighter stage of sleep, or even wake up for a short period of time. This means they will need time to reach deep sleep again, which is where they gain the most benefit during sleep.

There are treatments for OSA, including CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machines, surgical splints and even some lifestyle changes. These methods can help ease OSA, and even stop it altogether in some cases, but it will cause less stress and suffering if it can be prevented in the first place.

While OSA can affect anyone, there are factors that will make it more likely, which include being overweight, smoking, drinking alcohol regularly and sleeping on your back. If you fall under one or more of these categories, then you may want to take measures to help prevent the potential onset of OSA. Plus, cutting down on alcohol and smoking, as well as taking on a healthier diet, can offer a number of other benefits to your overall health.

Another way to help stop the onset of OSA is to improve your general quality of sleep and your sleep routine. This is partly because a good sleep routine will allow the most restful night’s sleep possible, but also because OSA can be caused by taking sedatives to help you sleep. Having a natural bedtime and time to wake up will help you achieve a restorative and re-energising night’s sleep.

While these precautions can help stop or delay OSA, will sometimes offer little benefit, as there are other potential factors that can cause it. For example, being male and being over 40 increases the chance of developing OSA. If you think you have OSA, which will show in symptoms such as daytime tiredness, irritability and poor concentration, then you must visit your doctor with your problem.