Sleep and Rest
Hello! Wakey Wakey!!!
Are you ready for some Sleep and Rest and Recovery tips?
Great, because today you're going to look at sleep and rest and how it impacts your health and your life.
Sleep and rest are essential for your wellness and recovery because it helps your body heal, AMEN!!!
You'll look at how much sleep and rest you need and why exactly you need it AND you’re going to choose your sleep routine and changes you need to make to stay committed to support your health.
Sleep and rest both help restore, rejuvenate and repair your body so you need to make sure you prioritise your sleep, otherwise you won’t be functioning properly, and when you're in recovery mode functioning can already be difficult enough right?!
Good sleep and rest allow your body and brain to function effectively and efficiently so let's make sure you start getting enough, consistently.
Let's go for it...
OK, I love this quote ‘early to bed and early to rise makes a person healthy wealthy and wise’. Many highly successful people rise early and go to bed early to ensure they have sufficient energy during the day and to lead an effective and empowered life; they attribute their success to this daily practise.
And, as the saying goes ‘health is wealth’ meaning if you are healthy you can provide for yourselves and provide for others...and sleep is one of the most important elements of your health.
Without sleep you can really suffer and the impact of a bad night's sleep and insomnia can sadly be absolutely devastating.
One tip to enhance sleep is to make your bedroom a relaxing haven...with comfy pillows, scented candles and calming music. Try reading a good book before you sleep too; choose what works for you but make it relaxing and this will make it easier for you to fall sleep because your nervous system is already in a relaxed state.
You might ask why is sleep so important? Well it is crucial if you have health struggles such as brain injury and need more sleep than the average person, because your body is working extra hard to recover after each day. After a working day I'm pretty exhausted I was even told by my neuro-doctor that my brain will be working five times harder than a person who doesn't have brain injury or epilepsy.
Typically, your body will recover and heal faster with 7-9 hours of sleep a night and remember you should be turning off all your electronic devices at least one hour before bed!
During the day and after work you might feel tired, because your brain and body is working hard to recover so you'll possibly need to rest. I find 20 minutes to one hour power naps work wonders!
Another tip is to decide you regular sleeping times and commit to them. On work nights I go to bed between 9 and 10pm and rise between 6 and 7am. Regular sleeping times make all the difference to you the following day. Begin a regular sleeping pattern and you will notice the difference immediately I promise!
Like me, you may start to wake earlier in the morning but you will find that you’re more alert and can concentrate better and it's a brilliant time to start your meditation, stretches and prayer time and go out for early walk or run which is so invigorating first thing in the morning.
Sleep rejuvenates your mind body and spirit, it’s the perfect way to protect your mental physical and emotional health and keep them all well balanced. Please don't underestimate how much your body needs you to sleep well every night for you to have good health.
Sadly there are consequences if you don't value your sleep and rest and hold other things in your life higher in your list of priorities. If you don’t sleep well you will soon become sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, I’ve been there and it’s so frustrating.
Each time this happens I just remind myself I'm human and my brain is to be loved even more! I ensure the next night I return to my usual bedtime routine and take extra care to pamper my brain in every way possible...yes chamomile tea, stretches, music, reading, prayer time and candles!
For your mind, a good sleep improves your brain function and cognitive skills and reduces stress and anxiety. After a good night’s sleep, you will be able to think more clearly, your memory and speech will be better and retaining information and making sense of things will be far easier too. I'm sure you know how awful it can be after a poor night's sleep trying to remember things not to mention how irritable you can feel.
For your body, a good sleep regenerates the cells in your body and your brain because all the physical healing your body needs takes place at night. Because of your health condition it is essential that your body and brain rejuvenates overnight and now, with the exercise you're doing, it's extra important that you give your body enough sleep to recover between sessions and for you to get stronger.
For your spirit good sleep stabilises your emotions and lifts your spirits. I'm sure you've noticed when you wake up in the morning and feel great after a good night's sleep and equally how after a bad night's sleep or a late night you wake up and immediately feel rotten.
So, focus on stabilising your emotions and lifting your spirits with good sleep because life is already challenging for you so let's do everything to make you as happy and healthy as possible.
Do you see how important sleep is for you now?
Of course you do!
So, what is your new bed routine going to be? What time are you going to start having a relaxing bath, lighting candles and turn off the lights for you to get your 'beauty' sleep?
And finally, what changes do you need to make to get to bed early on time?
Do you have family commitments to consider?
Do you need to arrange things with your family to make sure you can prioritise your sleep?
Remember 'health is wealth' and the happier and healthier you feel, the quicker your healing will come and you can make that happen more easily with sleep and rest.
Here's your coaching questions and planner to help you maximise your sleep, just click below:
Have a beautiful, sleep-filled and dreamy week!
Lucy x