This is for everyone!
An interesting way to look at ways to support our health by getting the correct sleep that we need.
The Festival of Sleep Day falls on the 3 January BUT has a far greater reach than this date.
Sleep patterns can be a great way to ensure you are at your best each day. Increasing your mood, aiding concentration and improving self esteem and well being.
Whether at home, on your travels, wherever you lay your head at night!
By producing and implementing a sleep management plan, utilising the resources from Life Challenges.
‘The Festival of Sleep Day was created for people that would like to get some “shut eye” and relaxation after the holidays. After the Christmas shopping and present opening deadlines and the New Year celebrations, it’s time to celebrate — in “Sleep Land”. Observe this wacky and unofficial holiday on 3 January.
The Festival of sleep has an interesting history despite the fact that it is a modern day celebration. The aim is to help us to recharge but;
‘It reminds us to practice self-care for the coming year and take advantage of the numerous benefits of a good night’s sleep’.( https://nationaltoday.com/festival-of-sleep-day/)
Although this is good for everyone it has a greater significance or the community of people with LTHC’s and Disabilities. Sleep is often disturbed by worry, pain, medication, even anxieties about actually getting to sleep quickly. This in turn impacts on our health. But anyone can create a plan and, why not use this ‘fun day’ of recovery from the Festive Season to bring about change. Create a sleep plan that will see you break a vicious cycle of disturbed but much needed nightly restoration. Sleep is an anti-inflammatory so we all need it to rejuvenate both mind and body.
We’ll look through some history, some top tips and show how you can create a complete Sleep Management Plan to maximise your nightly fix of sleep with a range of options and ideas.
Some History!
According to National today;
‘We’ve been enjoying forty winks ever since the human race came into existence, but we haven’t always understood it’
They continue with;
‘Early speculation by the Ancient Greeks about the reason for sleep was that it is due to lack of circulation, causing the body to become unconscious for a period of time while it rebalanced’.
At that time it was thought that sleep was divided into two segments. This allowed for socialising and relaxation in between. Unlike what we have today with one long stint of sleep. It is believed that this continued for centuries but was interrupted by the Industrial Revolution. With light becoming an invention it allowed a longer working day and ultimately pushed those two sections of sleep together, which meant socialising was moved and placed before bedtime instead.
National Today finish with;
‘The desire for success in the newly industrialised world would eat into the sleeping time of many workers and businesspeople, as it continues to do today. A new regulation was introduced by Ford in 1926, when it became the first American company to provide employees with a fixed schedule of an eight-hour working day and a 40-hour working week, allowing those on the payroll to get to bed on time’. (https://nationaltoday.com/festival-of-sleep-day/)
Sleep Management Plans
If you are having trouble with sleep due to Mental Health, Chronic Pain, a Disabilities or illness then these sources of information can be really helpful. Without a good sleep the day will seem even more challenging than normal. Potentially causing low mood, poor concentration and getting angry, anxious or stressed. Here we aim to show how some simple steps can be taken to ensure you get the right sleep for you and your Health.
Basic Level Support
The NHS Every Mind Matters programme have some helpful tips, that are great for anyone to try. The basics include;
Regular Sleep Hours
Creating a Restful Environment
Moving More, Sleep Better
Confronting Sleeplessness
Writing Down Your Worries
Putting The Pick Me Ups Down
Detailed Programme Especially For Those With Chronic Pain
Life Challenges looks further into how Long Term health issues and pain can affect you. It recognises the difficulty that pain can manifest itself into, affecting our sleep and looks at mental health, social isolation and discrimination. It highlights how mental health problems can also lead to poor sleep and how managing this well can support the effects of self esteem, low mood and the feeling of isolation.
Live Well with pain have a great booklet that you can download and explains the issues that people with Chronic pain experience and the vicious cycle that this involves. You can download a copy here. This theory involves six different triggers as;
Medication
Worry
Not having a regular routine
Noticing pain because of lack of distractions
Not being comfortable
Experiencing changes in mood
Having identified the triggers it then looks at ways in which we can try and turn these around to improve our sleep by looking at 5 areas of our lives;
Daily Routines
Activity levels
Food and Drink Choices
Your night time routines
Helping your mind and body to rest
This plan encourages us to think of our body clocks and sleep drive as ‘friends’. Apparently this is done by increasing our sleep drive through the day in order to help our body clock be more balanced. One reason for this is that those with Chronic pain, Health conditions and Mental Health problems spend to be inside more and therefore the body struggles to recognise what time of the day it is.
When creating our sleep plans this downloadable Sleep Infomation Leaflet has a handy sheet to put this programme on. There are aims to meet REST goals which are;
Realistic - focus on one element at a time for at least 2 weeks.
Specific - the more detailed the better
Enjoyable - Make your bedtime wind down time enjoyable (1 hour to 1 hour 30mins)
Timed - create routines that suit you.
A few top tips are;
Avoid napping during the day. (Or if you do then no longer than 15 minutes)
Try to do some activities outside each day even if it’s just for a few minutes.
Eat your main meal earlier in the evening and have a small snack before bedtime.
Make sure your room is dark so your body can release melatonin.
Avoid checking the time through the night.
These are just a few, there are so many to choose from you are bound to find something. It may take a while and the advice is very clear and precise.
Summary
Sleep is a very personal thing and so sleep plans will never look the same. Whatever you have to contend with it’s vital to;
Work out how much sleep you need
Establish what time you need/wish to wake each day
Calculate your ‘wind down’ time
Fill that time with activities that you enjoy
Create your plan!
Finally, make small changes at a time, try each one for a few weeks before changing it. Try to be patient and not get frustrated. Think about making small marginal gains. Improve by 1% at a time on everything you try and you’ll hopefully get there. We are on this journey together, same resources, different activities but a collective goal being to get our optimum sleep routine that can then help us to manage whatever challenges we face a little better. With the rest we need the body and mind will support us and enable us to advance with activities during the day, hopefully with a more positive mindset, a clear head and reduced worry, better focus and in the long term better control over LTHC’s and disabilities.
The Important Links
The Festival Of Sleep
National Today - Festival Of Sleep
NHS - Every Mind Matters - Sleep
NHS - Every Mind Matters - Challenges - Health Issues
Live Well With Pain
Live Well With Pain - Sleep Leaflet PDF
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