OH TO SLEEP LIKE A BABY!

Good-quality sleep, night after night, is critical to virtually every aspect of your mental and physical health. Studies show that one night of poor sleep is enough to undermine your immune system, and chronic poor sleep increases your risk of type 2 diabetes and diseases including dementia and cancer.

The chemicals released during sleep calm inflammation and bolster immunity. Studies have shown that better sleep can lead to fewer colds and immune-related disorders, and even a lower risk of cancer. It can also make you more likely to exercise, eat healthily and resist alcohol and any bad habits you might be wanting to shake off.

So it’s good to do whatever you can to ensure you get a good night’s sleep every night, but don’t get hung up on recording the number of hours you sleep each night as that can add to the kind of pressure that can keep you awake. Monitoring your sleep too closely can create an obsession with sleep hours that becomes unhealthy. Worrying about lack of sleep is one major cause of sleep problems and has spawned a new ‘syndrome’ called orthosomnia, to describe an unhealthy obsession with achieving ‘perfect’ sleep.

Instead, aim to create a calming winddown routine at night, and make sure you go to bed early enough to get eight hours’ sleep if your body needs it.

So why not make your first goal to be in bed by at least 10.30pm every night and 11pm on weekends? There’s rarely anything exciting happening after midnight once you pass 40 anyway!

Studies show our bodies function best when we go to sleep at roughly the same time each night. Our circadian rhythm – the internal clock that tells us when to sleep and wake up – relies on regularity. If you are consistent, it makes it easier to fall asleep every single night of the week, but going to bed at a different time every night disrupts this process.