In the pursuit of wellness..
We all want to be well.
All of my market research and the time I spend with The A Club members every week tells me this. We all want to be well.
My lived experience has also taught me that without health we have nothing else. Imagine all of the beautiful aspects of your life that you are most grateful for and then try to play them out while you're fighting health conditions, chronic pain or disease. I've been there and it is hard. If you are there now, my heart goes out to you. It undeniably detracts from the joy. Everything good has the underlay of a dull melancholy.
And so instead of pursuing riches or travels, I advocate for the pursuit of wellness. The rest will follow. And that's not to say I don't want the rest, I do. I just know which order they have to come in.
So what of this ‘wellness’? What does it entail?
If you've worked with me before or attended a masterclass, or even read my newsletters, then you'll have heard me bang on about my health triangle; mental, physical and spiritual.
If either of these three are not equally prioritised, you will know about it. In fact I day say they bleed into one another and ultimately your body will scream at you “No more, no more! We can't go on like this!” …well mine does anyway!!!
Something that has been proven to benefit all three, is sleep!
Today is world sleep day. Happy world sleep day, reader!
I recently saw a friend who is more than ten years older than me and she looked AMAZING. Glowing, beautiful, athletic… I said as much to her and she responded, “I’ve started focusing on my sleep.”
I noticed she was wearing an Oura ring. I wear a Garmin watch but both track your zzzs. Why bother? There are different aspects of our sleep that provide different services. Knowledge is power and I know the power of quality rest. Rest is restorative. We literally need it to restore.
Having had chronic fatigue and severe burnout I know what it feels like when you’re not getting what your body needs. It’s not nice. Brain fog, delirium and exhaustion. The mood swings. Relying on food for energy instead. It does not feel good! Just think about jet lag and how the machine that is YOU winds to a halt.
A quick overview of what sleep does:
- memories are consolidated
- learning and emotions process
- physical recovery occurs
- blood sugar levels and metabolism balance out
- the immune system is energised
- the brain detoxifies
The different stages:
- Light sleep: As you begin falling asleep, your heart rate and respiratory rate slow. At this stage you may still hear noise and be sensitive to temperature changes and movement, and you may believe you’re still awake. You may begin dreaming during light sleep, but your dreams will likely be less coherent or intense than dreams during REM sleep. It’s far easier to wake during light sleep than other stages.
- Deep sleep: This is the healing stage, when tissue growth and repair take place, important hormones are released to do their jobs, and cellular energy is restored.
- REM sleep: Entered usually 90 minutes into the sleep cycle, this is when emotional processing, memory consolidation, brain development and wakefulness preparation happen. These occur as your amygdala, the part of your brain that processes emotions, activates and your brain processes new learnings and motor skills from the day, committing some to memory, maintaining others, and deciding which ones to delete.
I’ve been focusing on my sleep quality for the last few years and it’s made a huge difference to my life.
A few tips to improve your sleep:
- sleep with your phone in a different room
- enjoy getting ready for bed, it actually signals to your body to unwind
- avoid or if not then reduce caffeine and be careful as to when you drink it
- write down thoughts and to do lists so you’re not juggling them in bed
- try and stick to the same times for bed and rising
- use a lumie alarm clock ! So much better for the nervous system!
- remove light pollution and aim for absolute darkness
- sleep in cooler temperatures (I know this feels the opposite of getting cosy but it is so much better for your sleep)
- if you're struggling to fall asleep leave your bedroom for a bit and then return… don't let your brain associate your bedroom with ‘an awake place’
- no tv in the bedroom!
These official days make me laugh because who defines them and who acknowledges them? Regardless it’s a nice prompt for me to discuss different topics.
As you digest this First name / dear reader, you might find yourself thinking “sleep is easy” or it could stir up some difficult emotions if insomnia is something you battle with. I hope however you feel empowered by your body and your mind's resilience, intelligence and proactiveness. They do so much for us, the least we could do is say thank you and let them both recharge as best we can.
If you would like to know more about getting the most from your daily routine check out the below e-book. I've got a MOUNTAIN of information to share with you and it is a total game changer once you learn more about the physical system we live within.
