Are you having trouble sleeping, including falling asleep?

Are you waking up tired? 

Do you struggle getting up in the mornings for work?

Are you waking up several times a night and struggle to go back to sleep?

Are you needing to have a nap during the day?

Do you feel like you have brain fog?

If you have said yes to any of these, then having a sleep consultation would be beneficial to you.

What will we discuss?

 I will ask you to fill in a sleep consultation form before we arrange to have a phone call or I can send Email report. This will give me a background on your health and lifestyle so I can start to form an action treatment plan for you.

I will find out about your sleeping arrangements, your usual routine, bedroom set up. What stress you are under.

I will then give you tools and methods on how to overcome your problems and things I have picked up on from our chat that may be contributing to why you are not getting the quality sleep you need. 

These may include breathing exercises, mindful body breathing, alternate nostril breathing, Emotional freedom techniques to overcome sleep obstacles, like the tapping routine.

Ways to quiet your racing mind, through surrender/release meditation, confronting your thoughts compassionately and positive affirmations.

I will provide you with methods on creating the optimal sleep environment, and sleep tips to enjoy a better night’s sleep.

I have outlined some information about sleep, There’s a lot more to it then we realise.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Why do we need sleep?

If we don’t get a good night’s sleep, especially on a regular basis it affects our energy levels, our mood, our ability to concentrate and can have physiological effects where our cortisol levels drop along with our body temperature. Your muscles relax, your heart rate and breathing slows down, which results in our body’s being able to function better. 

When you get a good night’s sleep your cells are able to repair because your cells produce protein while you sleep. While you sleep these protein molecules form your building blocks for cells to repair damage and to renew. This is why your skin is in better condition when you get the sleep you need by slowing down the aging process and more. When you are in your deepest stage of sleep you produce physiological changes that can help boost your immune system.

The main reasons why you need sleep:-

Growth: A child or young adult growth is supported while they are in a deep sleep, the sleep that’s difficult to wake from. During their deep sleep their body releases growth hormones and increases the production of proteins which they need for cell growth and to repair damage.

Nervous system: When your sleep has been inhibited for any reason this affects your memory, performance and ability to think clearly and make decisions. Mood swings and hallucinations can occur when someone is severely sleep deprived. These neurological problems can repair themselves with sleep so they can function again at their best. Certain nerve connections get a chance to turn on again and strengthen our brains and thinking ability.

Survival: We are constantly learning about our body’s and our functions, even now researchers still don’t fully understand why sleep is so essential. There have been studies on animals that have shown that being sleep deprived of REM sleep can shorten life spans. Lack of sleep may harm your immune system, making you more susceptible to viruses and infections.

Wellbeing: If you continually don’t get enough sleep, you run a much higher risk for developing some health conditions like obesity, diabetes, and even heart problems.

Getting the sleep we need is just as important as the food we eat.

Restorative sleep

Did you know that we actually spend about a 3rd of our lives asleep!? We know it’s important but we don’t all know exactly why it is. It would appear when you see someone asleep that their body has shut down completely, but our brains haven’t. They work continuously doing very important jobs so we stay in optimum shape . Sleep enables our bodys’ to rest and recover, ready for the next day ahead.

Sleep gives our body the opportunity to remove toxins, repair tissue and regenerate cells. While you sleep, proteins are being produced which help you fight infections, so your body can restore itself and maintain a good level of wellness.

How much sleep do we need?

How much sleep you actually require does depend on your age. For most people between 7 to 9 hours is recommended. If you get too much or too little sleep it can impact your day to day life.

Regularly oversleeping can have adverse effects and can even make you feel more fatigued. Your body needs to be active as much as it needs to rest.

Benefits of sleeping well

• Increased energy levels
• Increase mental clarity, memory, brain function and problem solving
• Reduces stress, illness and disease
• Start the day feeling refreshed and re-energised
• Increased resilience to pressure
• Keeps you happy and motivated
• Increased ability to control your weight
• Helps the body’s cells to repair
• Slows down the ageing process

Sleep cycle

While you sleep you go through a sleep cycle, these cycles below will repeat throughout the night until you wake up. For most people each cycle will last 90-120 minutes, NREM (non rapid eye movement) makes about 75% to 80% of each cycle. Many people wake very briefly in the night and don’t remember doing so the next day.

Sleep stages	Type of sleep	Other names	Normal length
Stage 1	NREM	N1	1-5 mins
Stage 2	NREM	N2	10-60 mins
Stage 3	NREM	N3, slow-wave sleep (SWS), Delta sleep, Deep sleep	20-40 mins
Stage 4	REM	REM sleep	10-60 mins

The brain and sleep paralysis

We have 5 brainwaves, they are Gamma, Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta (highest to lowest frequency) they are the different types of electrical patterns. Your brain’s ability to transition throughout the 5 brain waves frequencies determines how you manage stress levels in your life. If any of the brain waves are over or even under produced in the brain this can lead to problems. Each brain wave is as important as the other as they all have their important functions like being able to learn new information, relaxing, and being able to cope with certain situations.

Many of us have had it before or have heard of friends/ relatives experiencing sleep paralysis. This can be quite frightening and if it happens regularly you may be worried about it happening again. People who live alone often find it daunting because it makes you feel vulnerable and even disorientated.

Sleep paralysis happens if a person wakes prior to REM sleep ending. The brain creates very vivid dreams during REM sleep. Your muscles in your arms and legs become paralysed. The reason why your body does this is to stop you from acting out your dreams if you get so caught up in them. When you experience sleep paralysis your arms and legs remain in this paralysed state even when you have woken up, it does soon go away and it is nothing to worry about, it is in fact very normal even though it probably doesn’t feel that way at the time.