King’s College London recently conducted a study with market research company Ipsos MORI which found that nearly two thirds of the British public are currently struggling with sleep during the Covid-19 lockdown.
But why is that?
Firstly, sleep disorders are often linked to anxiety. The more anxious you are the more you tend to struggle with sleep. In our hypnotherapy sessions we talk about a stress bucket – all our negative thoughts, worries etc. slowly drip in to our buckets throughout the day. At night, we rerun the events of the day during REM to process all those niggles. However, if our bucket is at overflowing point, REM will try to overdo it and wakes us up (3am a familiar time?) and we struggle to get back to sleep. Unfortunately, this then becomes a bit of a vicious circle, as the more you have in your bucket at the start of the day, the more likely it is to overflow, therefore causing more anxiety and less sleep.
Exhausting isn’t it?!!
Another factor to consider is that the more anxious we are, the more we tend to turn to alcohol, caffeine or sugary/fatty foods. Often all three. Our primitive mind looks for food at times of stress, even though we know that poor diet and alcohol often lead to poor sleep.
This, together with a complete change of routine, uncertainty about the future, and lack of social and family interactions, is it any wonder that the nation struggling?
Here’s my 5 top tips for getting a good nights’ sleep:
1. Try not to overindulge in sugary snacks and limit alcohol
2. Limit caffeinated drinks to mornings only
3. Try to exercise outside for at least half an hour. Fresh air and exercise are a brilliant combination to give you a lovely hit of serotonin
4. Limit screens and phones for at least an hour before bed
5. Sleep in a cool, dark room
If your sleep struggles are causing you issues in your everyday life, the great news is that solution focused hypnotherapy is an extremely effective way to help. We will help you to limit the amount you are putting in your stress bucket and focus on getting the real you back. Hypnosis also mimics REM so therefore emptying your bucket in every session and you will also get a complimentary relaxation recording to listen to every night to do the same. By reducing your anxiety through our sessions coupled with the recording, you’ll soon be facing the day with an empty stress bucket and sleeping like a baby!
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
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