PROFESSOR ELLIS’S NIGHT-WAKING ADVICE

REMEMBER IT’S NORMAL “Most of us wake up about six times in an average night, but healthy sleepers will fall straight back to sleep and be unaware of the waking.”

LEAVE THE BED: “If you’ve given it a few minutes and can’t get back to sleep, get up. Sit upright and do something calm such as reading for 30 or 45 minutes. Stick to this time even if you feel tired, then get back into bed.” EXPERIMENT WITH RELAXATION TECHNIQUES:

“There will be one to work for you. Try counting backwards in sevens from 1,000. Or visualise a mango in minute detail, then change its colour and visualise every part of it all over again. Or use progressive muscle relaxation, where you tense up parts of your body, bit by bit, then deeply relax them."