Almost every doctor out there can agree on one thing: getting a good night's sleep is one of the most important things you can do to improve your health. It can help boost your mood, improve your brain function, keep your heart healthy, maintain a healthy weight reduce stress levels, the list is endless.
But for some of us, getting a good night's sleep isn't as easy as it seems. According to the NHS, it is thought that one in every three people in the UK will suffer with episodes of insomnia at some point in their life.
People with insomnia find it hard to go to sleep, may wake up several times during the night, lie awake for hours or wake up early and cannot go back to sleep. For some people with Insomnia, they still feel tired even after waking up, find it hard to nap during the day despite feeling tired and struggle with their mood and concentration as a result.
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Dr Micahel Mosley has dedicated his career to sharing tips around living a healthy lifestyle, helping people with everything from their diet, to their mental health and their sleep. The TV doctor launched a podcast aimed at people who struggle with their sleep, Sleep Well, and shares five simple things that you can do to sleep better.
Each episode of the BBC Sounds podcast is designed for you to listen at bedtime, or any time you want to really unwind. The five episodes each explore a simple, scientifically-proven technique to hep you drift off.
The five tips for better sleep
1. Slow your breath
According to Dr Mosley, the first place to start is by taking slow, deep breaths. He says it works by tapping into a cluster of cells deep in the brain, called the locus coeruleus. If sleep isn't coming, and your mind is racing, it's the locus coeruleus that's active, spraying a hormone called noradrenaline (the wake-up chemical) all around the brain. Prof Ian Robertson from Trinity College Dublin and his team discovered that you can slow the locus coeruleus just by slowing your breath.
It can slower your heart rate and promote deep relaxation.
Dr Mosley says breath in through your nose, and out through however you are most comfortable. He also recommends trying to breathe out for longer than you breathe in, but said not to overthink it. He added that the NHS recommends you breath in for four seconds, hold for two, and breathe four seconds out.
He added: "I recommend you try belly breathing. Put one hand on your chest, and the other just below the rib cage. As you breathe in you should feel the hand on the belly rise, while the hand on your chest remains relatively still. It's a great way to calm things right down if you're struggling to get to sleep, or have woken up with your mind racing in the middle of the night."
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2. Use the morning light
Dr Mosley admitted that he struggled with chronic insomnia, and the best bit of advice he was given was to get up at the same time each day, and head outside into the morning light.
In the second episode, Dr Mosley discusses the circadian rhythm, a natural internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. It helps determine when your body wants to naturally fall asleep. According to research, the time you get up in the morning has a greater influence on our body clock than the time we go to bed.
According to Dr Christine Clume, a sleep scientist from Switzerland we need to reset our body clock every day, and the way to do this is by exposing yourself to daylight. Dr Mosley explained: "We have receptors at the back of our eye which are not used for seeing.
"When light hits the eye, it excites receptors at the back of the eye that detect light and send signals to a region of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, your "master" body clock. A burst of morning light halts the production of the sleep hormone, melatonin, and signals to the body that the day has begun. A morning signal will kick-start a cascade of events so that around twelve hours later, melatonin starts to rise, preparing your body for a deep rest."
3. Enjoy your bed
"If sleep isn't coming, then just get up", is the advice that Dr Mosley claims is one of the most effective and well-used methods in sleep therapy. He said though it may seem counter-intuitive, it is all about making bed a place of solace.
He explained that it is called stimulus control and that studies have consistently shown that doing this can reduce insomnia and the effects are long-lasting. It is about avoiding your brain making an association of your bed being a place where sleep doesn't happen. By getting up when you aren't falling asleep, and going to bed when you feel tired, the negative association can be broken. He also recommends not working from bed or watching TV.
Dr Colleen Carney, a sleep expert said: "No matter what you do, if your bed is the place where you become wide awake, there needs to be a strategy to get rid of that."
Dr Carney explained that there are five steps to this: "The first step of stimulus control is to be able to recognise when you are sleepy enough for sleep, don't go to bed until you are literally falling asleep."
Step one: Stay up until you feel sleepy.
Step two: If you go to bed and you can't get to sleep, or you wake up in the middle of the night and you can't get to sleep, get out of bed.
Step three: Avoid napping during the day to build up your sleep pressure.
Step four: Get up at the same time every day.
Step five: Save the bed for sleep.
4. Warm up to cool down
A warm bath or hot shower before bed can really help you to fall asleep faster, Dr Mosley said. According to a recent round-up of 13 studies, those who had a hot bath before bed fell asleep 36% quicker, had a better quality of sleep and felt more rested the next day, Dr Mosley explained.
A drop in body temperature is important for us to be able to fall asleep rather quickly, and Dr Mosley admitted we don't know why. So by warming up, to cool down will help you achieve this sleep hack.
Anna Wirz-Justice a professor at the University of Basel explained that the key is in warming up your hands and feet, so even if you don't have a warm bath, a hot water bottle or bed socks may be able to do the trick for you. She said: "What we are doing is that we are supporting the biological clock in its preparatory efforts to help us fall asleep." She also advises that your bedroom should be cool.
5. Listen to your body
We all aim for eight hours sleep, but the reality is we are all different and we may need less sleep than we think. Prof Nicole Tang from the University of Warwick explained on the podcast that some people naturally need more sleep than others and advised listeners to stop looking at clocks at night and worrying about how much sleep you're getting.
"One size definitely does not fit all, your body will tell you if you are getting enough," Dr Mosley added.
Prof Tang said it is important for people to watch out for signs of sleep deprivation during the day, "when you are not supposed to be falling asleep", is a good indication of if you are getting enough sleep or not. But the key, is not to worry about hitting the eight hour window as the anxiety it causes could be contributing to your insomnia.
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