The importance of a good nights sleep
Did you know that a third of adults in the UK don’t get enough sleep? So, how much sleep do you need? With advances in sleep research and MRI scanners to look into our brains and see what’s happening when we sleep, it’s now accepted that we need at least 7.5 hours of sleep a night to feel refreshed and energised the next day. Back in the 1980s, world leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan famously claimed to only need 5 hours sleep a night and the concept of ‘short sleeping’ became a ‘badge of honour’ for many hard-working individuals, aspiring to climb up the corporate career ladder. Little did they know the long-term damage this short sleeping would have on their health.
We now know that sleeping for less than six hours a night weakens your immune system, substantially increases your risk of developing certain forms of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, as well as contributing to psychiatric conditions, including depression and anxiety. It’s of little surprise, then, that both Thatcher and Reagan suffered from dementia in later life.
What is your attitude to sleep? If it’s to survive on as little as you can or that you’d like more sleep but don’t see yourself as a good sleeper, then things need to change! The first step is to change your belief about sleeping and to do this, begin by creating a positive sleep affirmation. A good example would be:
‘I go to sleep at the same time every night and sleep deeply for at least 8 hours, waking feeling refreshed and energised and ready to enjoy performing to my best at anything that comes my way’.
Once you have your affirmation, spend a few minutes each morning when you awake and each evening before bed, visualising your affirmation. Close your eyes and picture yourself as a good sleeper, enjoying 8 hours of sleep each night. Visualise how refreshed you feel the next day and see how well you perform tasks that you find difficult when feeling groggy.
Our beliefs are formed by the images we create and our actions follow our beliefs. So this is the first important step to becoming a good sleeper. Here are three other tips for getting a good night’s sleep:
Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, including weekends whenever possible.
Turn down the lighting in your house, including from your devices, two hours before bed time. This helps the brain to recognise that bed-time is approaching and it begins to produce the melatonin that is required to bring about the onset of sleep.
Keep your bedroom cool, the ideal temperature to fall asleep and to stay in a deep sleep is 18.3 degrees. Set your thermostat to that temperature each evening.
I hope you find those tips useful. Sleep well…
Written by Robert Brook - a dear friend who specialises in sleep therapy.
