A Good Night's Sleep

No-one needs to be told that proper sleep is vital for health and well-being. With a good night’s sleep everything gets that little bit easier.

Hypnotherapy is an excellent way to deal with insomnia but there are many things someone can do to improve their chances of a decent sleep:

• Establish a routine pattern of behaviour for bedtime: This gets your brain used to producing sleep friendly hormones at the right time. This could include a relaxing bath, reading a chapter of a book or any other routine behaviour appropriate before turning in for the night. Our minds will anchor these activities to falling asleep. Please don’t fall asleep in the bath though.

• Turn off the TV half an hour before bedtime. This is especially true if you’ve been watching dramas or action films

• Avoid drinking caffeine after lunchtime; after 5 hours half the caffeine from a coffee will still be in your system

• Use a daylight (blue) filter on computer screens, tablets and mobile phones. Some TV sets and mobiles have a blue light filter that gets gradually stronger into the evening. Check out the display settings on your devices for this.

• Avoid eating a meal after 7pm if possible to stop indigestion messing with your sleep.

• If you exercise in the evening it is best to finish at least 90 minutes before bedtime to allow your endorphin levels and core temperature to return to normal.

• And finally, we breathe out a lot of water overnight. Ensure you drink enough water throughout the day so that you are hydrated at bedtime and remember that alcohol will dehydrate you.

Sleep well, everyone.