Ultimate Sleep Tips To Cure Your Insomnia
From headstands to warming up your feet, a sleep psychologist has revealed seven unusual sleep tips to help people who may be struggling. Yorkshire-based bed retailer, Happy Beds, has teamed up with Katherine Hall, a psychologist in sleep from Somnus Therapy, to provide a selection of tips that are set to revolutionise the way you prepare for bed. Here’s what she suggested:
1 Go Camping or Sleep Outdoors
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“Your body’s circadian rhythm, or sleep cycle, is dependent on exposure to light. By getting outdoors and into nature, you can set your sleep cycle to follow the natural rhythm of day and night, including the rising and setting of the sun.”
2 Do a Headstand
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“Headstands help circulate refreshed blood to your brain, specifically the master glands – the pituitary and hypothalamus. It also helps detoxify the adrenal glands to help expel negative thoughts and promote more positive thinking. Practise by supporting yourself against the wall until you gain enough balance and core strength to try a freestanding headstand.”
3 Tell Yourself a Bedtime Story
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“Bedtime stories aren’t just for children. Reading a book or telling yourself a fantasy story in your mind helps reduce stress. Choose a niche like mystery, romance, or sci-fi. Avoid non-fiction books that shift your brain into problem-solving mode. Fictional stories mimic dreams, helping your mind prepare for sleep.
“Avoid reading from a Kindle or another digital device. The blue light from these screens will keep you awake. Blue light can delay the release of the sleep hormone melatonin and reset the internal clock to an even later schedule. Just one hour of screen exposure can delay your melatonin release by 3 hours!”
4 Tighten and Release Your Muscles
“Squeezing then releasing your muscles promotes full-body relaxation. It’s a technique called progressive muscle relaxation that can mimic the tension release of a massage. There are three steps in this process: first, take a deep breath. Second, squeeze a specific muscle group and hold, then lastly, release. Start at your toes and slowly move up your entire body, focusing on a single muscle group at a time including your toes, calves, thighs, stomach, buttocks, arms, shoulders, neck, and face.”
5 Lower Your Body Temperature
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“Temperature control is one of the most important elements of achieving quality sleep. Most people achieve optimal sleep in a room that’s 65 degrees. Cool surroundings prevent your body from overheating. Try sleeping in lightweight pyjamas or without any clothes. Don’t use a heavy blanket or too many blankets.
“Research also shows that a cooler temperature provides a deeper Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep, which means a more restorative sleep!”
6 Warm your feet to bring on sleep
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“While you want to keep your bedroom and body temperature low for sleeping, warming up your feet might actually help you fall asleep faster. Cold feet restrict blood vessels and lead to poor circulation. Studies show that wearing socks to bed can improve blood flow through a process called distal vasodilation. As the blood vessels in your feet warm-up or dilate, your core temperature begins to drop.
“While this may sound like a bad thing, it’s actually an important part of the sleep process. Your body’s core temperature naturally drops between 1 and 2 degrees (Fahrenheit) in preparation for sleep. By warming your feet and lowering your core temperature, you’re signalling to your brain that it’s time for bed. Research also suggests that warm skin, including the skin on your feet, can help you fall asleep faster.”
7 Try to stay awake
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“It may sound counterintuitive but to fall asleep faster, you may want to try and stay awake for as long as possible! It’s a technique called paradoxical intention. Paradoxical intention encourages you to lie in bed without doing anything to try to fall asleep. You might even want to try to stay awake in bed as long as possible.
“The idea is to tackle the worry that comes with lying in bed awake and to normalise it in your mind. Once you’ve faced this fear, anxiety reduces and you’ll soon find that you are drifting off to sleep. This is also referred to as remaining passively awake. It’s all about being aware and accepting any negative thoughts or worries that usually keep you awake, instead of fighting or blocking them. With paradoxical intention, you learn to stop spending energy on getting rid of what you don’t want, and start putting energy into what you do want…sleep!”
To find out more about Happy Beds and browse the range of products to complement a great night’s sleep, please visit: https://www.happybeds.co.uk/
Moira Chisholm
I'm the Health Editor on My Weekly and am always interested to hear what's new in this fascinating field. I also deal with the gardening, shopping pages, general features, our website content and the Ask Helen problem page. I have a special interest in Christmas content because I'm on the team for Your Best Ever Christmas Magazine, too!
