Guest blogger and yogi Dr Sally Coulthard shares her top five sleep tips for overall health.

By Dr Sally Coulthard (YogawithSal)

     There is a lot of information coming out now about sleep. Seven to eight hours of sleep a night benefit both body and mind. However, many of us find sleep elusive. We struggle both to fall asleep and stay asleep. In view of this, I would like to share five tips that I have found extremely useful. These tips do not require any drugs or a complete change in lifestyle.

     The first tip is to use the body’s natural internal diurnal rhythms (daily rhythms) together with natural daylight. In the morning, as soon as it is practical, get natural daylight, sunny or not, into your eyes for between 5-10 minutes. Be aware this should be outside without looking at the sun directly and not through glass (windows) or sunglasses. Looking through spectacles is fine. Biologically, this sets the hormones that control wakefulness and the desire to sleep into their natural pattern. In the evening, repeat the process as the sun sets. This will also help set the biological clocks in the body for sleep.   

     A second easy thing to consider is your caffeine intake. As most people know, there is caffeine in coffee, including some in “decaffeinated” drinks, as well as many “energy” drinks. Caffeine works by blocking the “sleep” signals in our body thus preventing us from being able to sleep naturally. Many people do not realise that it takes 5 hours for the caffeine in your body to decrease to half of your intake. This means that a 4 pm coffee will still have a significant impact on your sleep at 9 pm! Try reducing caffeine intake gradually by either opting for “decaffeinated” options or swapping afternoon caffeine drinks for non- caffeinated drinks.

    Number three: Avoid drinking much fluid within 2 hours or your usual bedtime. Using a water bottle drink throughout the day rather than thinking in the evening, “oh gosh I haven’t taken enough water in today, I need to make up for it now!” Little and often is better! Aim for about 1 litre of water in addition to your normal fluid intake.

     A fourth option is Meditation. Sleep scientists group meditation with other forms of relaxation, such as Yoga Nidra and Mindfulness, under the umbrella term of Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR). Being able to completely relax the mind at any time of day or night teaches you how to tap into the relaxation response. If you wake up during the night, you will be able to return to sleep more easily.

     If you don’t already practice meditation or Yoga Nidra, try either guided or non-guided meditation for a few minutes perhaps two or three times a week. Build up to longer meditation sessions and/or more frequent sessions. There are many apps like the calm app that can help with this or ask your local yoga teacher if they run meditation/Yoga Nidra classes that you could attend.

     Finally, there are specific breathing practices that can help you quiet the body down pre-bed and during the night if you wake up, the one I find best is to inhale for 3 counts and exhale for 6 counts up to 5 or 6 rounds. Always pay attention to how working with the breath makes you feel. If changing the breath makes you anxious or uncomfortable. Try Visualization instead.

     Overall, remember, sleep is when the body re-sets itself, lays down neural pathways, removes unwanted pathways and “cleans” out the system. It is a very important part of our daily living. Don’t get over anxious if you are having a period of restless nights, try the above, use the NSDR techniques and our natural world to calm the mind and re-set your body’s natural rhythms.

There are many good podcasts, videos and books on this topic. Check out the work of neuroscientist Matthew Walker PhD.