SMC Wellbeing
Sleep
What is Sleep?
Not too long ago people thought that sleep was when the body and brain shut off to rest so you could function the next day, however, scientists have researched and found that both your brain and body don’t shut off as we sleep but instead work incredibly hard, sometimes harder than they do in the day, making sure you are restoring cells, improving your health and take in all the information from the day.
This Video below gives a great overview of Sleep
How to get to sleep?
Lower the Room Temperature- Ideal is 15-23 degrees, having a warm shower before bed cools down the body as soon as you hop out helping your body get into sleep mode.
Use the "4-7-8" Breathing Method - How to Perform the 4-7-8 Breathing Exercise - YouTube
Set a routine - Having a base time to go to sleep and wake up helps your internal clock adjust to a schedule making it easier to fall asleep at night.
Have a Dark room If your room is bright your brain is telling your body to stay awake and alert linking to the day cycle: light during the day, dark during the night.
Avoid naps during the day - If you are napping regularly this can lead to poor quality sleep at night. However, irregular short naps can help to boost alertness and wellbeing!
Listening to Relaxing music - Can help improve the quality of sleep. In particular Buddhist music is a great tool for a better night sleep.
Exercise during the day - If exercising moderately, you can help your body have a better quality of sleep.
Stages of Sleep
When you go to sleep there tend to be many different cycles that your body goes through. Different websites have different names but here are some of the basic names that Fitbit called them.
REM - This stage generally occurs later in the night. It is very important for your mood and memory as during this stage your dreams are more memorable. Your heart rate and your breathing are slightly faster and as the name suggests your eyes flicker rapidly during this stage.
Light Sleep - Light sleep is really important for your body to restore itself physically as well as mentally. As this is its job the majority of your sleep ends up being in this stage.
Deep Sleep - This stage is when your body physically recovers and parts of your memory are recollected. If you feel energized in the morning it is probably because you spent some solid time in this stage.
Awake - On average people wake up 10-30 times throughout the night but the majority of the time we don’t even realize as the length of time we are awake is so short.
Guided sleep Meditation
Click Image above
Click on the photo to the left to find a poster with the Stages of Sleep in more detail.
Ideal Duration
Disorders
Sleep Walking - Also Known as Somnambulism is a condition in which people get up and walk around while still sleep. This condition is common in children but most people grow out of this by the time they are teenagers. Sleepwalking is a harmless event however if injuries occur treatment may be required. Consulting a doctor for medical advice is the best option.
App: Sleep Bot
Insomnia - Watch Video for information on what Insomnia is. Consulting a doctor for medical advice is the best option. This website has really useful information - around this topic. Website: https://au.reachout.com/articles/insomnia
Apps: https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sleep/top-insomnia-iphone-android-apps
App:
Narcolepsy - Is when your brain is unable to control your sleep cycles causing you to have sudden sleep attacks that can last from a few minutes to a couple of minutes. Have a look at the website below for more information, and what to do if you have Narcolepsy.
Website: https://www.wakeupnarcolepsy.org/about-narcolepsy/
App:
Apps
Insomnia
• The relaxation pill, 'T-Break' comes pre-loaded so you can see real results in less than 20 minutes.
Digipill is the #1 Health & Fitness App around the World. Each pill is a guided meditation voiced by Brian Colbert, a leading expert in NLP, and psychoacoustic director of Digipill.
Take back control of your sleep with Relax Melodies and join our community of millions that sleep better every day. Start sleeping now and enjoy full nights of sleep like you haven’t in a long time.
Select sounds and melodies that you like, combine them and adjust the volume of each sound to create a mix. Add one of our meditations specially designed for sleep, lay back, listen, and enjoy falling asleep. It’s that simple and it works. Create different and new mixes every time!
Sleep Walking
SleepBot is an intuitive smart alarm and beautiful sleep cycle tracker that lets you record movements and sounds throughout the night.
Customize how you want to sleep and wake up gently each morning during your lightest sleep phase. Listen to soothing ambient soundtracks as you fall asleep.
Narcolepsy
The Narcolepsy Screener App is designed to provide doctors with two validated screening tools that can help screen patients for excessive daytime sleepiness and narcolepsy with cataplexy.
Other Useful Information:
