It’s World Sleep Day today.
One of the most important things you can do for your health is get a decent amount of sleep.
Since our kids moved in we have been in some form of sleep deprivation and truly understand how poor quality sleep can affect every decision you make.
We’re in a lot better position than were were at the start but in 5.5 years we’ve had less than 10 nights without a visitor. Wiggly visitors who are constantly moving the sheets around and finding crevices to push toes.
I don’t fully wake up for those incidents now, just don’t feel fully rested in the mornings.
Following bad nights, it is harder to resist any leftovers and sugary snacks. A few in a row and I’m actively seeking out sugar.
Night-time visitors aside, there are a few things you can do to improve the quality of sleep you get. Here are my top 3:
1. Consistent time for lights out and alarm to wake up. By not snoozing in the morning you actuary set your body up for better quality sleep that evening. Having consistency with your lights out time helps your body fall in to it’s circadian rhythm.
2. Get outside for some sun and exercise, an early morning walk again helps set up your circadian rhythm and stimulates the hormone cascade that supports better sleep. Exercising earlier in the day is also beneficial from the point of view that your body has returned to base by the time you go to bed. My recovery on nights I do BJJ until 9.30pm is through the floor.
3. Take a good quality magnesium and zinc supplement and hour or two before bed. We use Drift Off Formula from our mates company Lean Greens.
Other stuff that helps me include wearing blue light blocking glasses if using a screen in the evenings, breath work, black out sleep mask, tulsi tea and binaural beats for sleep.
Over the last 5 years, I have tried pretty much everything out there to improve the quality of sleep, the amount we get is outside of our control. We do like to try and be adults sometimes and have a late double figure 10pm night though rather than going to bed straight from work at 8.30pm every night.
If you struggle with sleep, give the above a try. If you want some more help, let us know.
Darren “snoozy” Checkley
