Snoozy things, tried and tested

Hey Beautiful, 

You may or may not remember,  I did a blog post around 2 months ago about Sleep, and for a lot of us, our lack of it. 

I mentioned some of the tips and advice I had read and watched for help with drifting off to sleep quicker at night and I said I would try some of them and let you know which ones helped me. 

It's typical that although I am writing this today and my sleep has been the best it has been for years this last couple of months, last night was a particularly bad night for me and coincidentally I didn't really follow any of these tips, so take from that what you will and just know that I am clearly terrible at taking my own advice. 

I think my anxiety got the better of me last night in all honesty. So Tonight, I will be following all of these tips again. 

OK so here are the tips I found,  whether they helped me and the star rating I would personally give them. 

Having a warm bath up to 90 minutes before bed. 

"a warm bath can help relax your body, your muscles and is some great quiet time for your mind. relaxing your body and mind is key when it comes to sleep. 

If you don't like baths or you don't have a bath in your house try soaking your feet in warm water, It can have the same relaxing effect on your body."

This one I have been trying on and off and it DEFINITELY helps, especially when I add in the magnesium flakes mentioned below.

I have to admit though, I certainly haven't been doing this every night. Some nights I don't feel like a bath especially on the days it has been a lot warmer.

I found that getting out of the bath around 30 minutes before I want to go to bed worked the best as it gave me time to cool off a little bit and for that sleepy feeling to kick in.

*Even better if you can turn the lights off and light some candles. 

⭐ 9/10 would recommend - Would be a 10 but it's not ideal when it's hot.

Adding supplements to your bath

"Adding things like magnesium flakes to your bath is said to have great effects on your sleep by increasing your melatonin which is a sleep inducing hormone." 

As I mentioned above I have been doing this every time I have a bath and I would say based on how improved my sleep has been on those nights it would be likely that this has had a big contribution to that. 

 ⭐9/10 would recommend

Avoiding Blue Light

"Blue light comes from electrical devices such as mobile phones, laptops, iPads etc. it's not something you can see but blue light tricks your brain in to thinking it's daytime and preventing you from getting to sleep. It's recommended you put you put your phone and laptops down at least 2 hours before you go to bed to help your mind get back in to a night time state and put your phone face down your bedside table."

"There are also apps you can download that block blue light from your phone and laptop. I am going to download one as soon as I finish writing this."

I actually found that my phone and I actually think most phones now have a Blue Light Filter option built in to them.

I found this on my Samsung phone (No, I don't have an iPhone like all the cool kids and I am not ashamed haha! )  by dragging the screen down, it's situated right under the Flight Mode option. 

Just switching that on, blocks the blue light from your phone.

I really do think this has made a difference to how quickly I am able to fall asleep at night, My brain doesn't feel as "buzzy" if that makes sense? As well as this I have been trying to stay off my phone as much as possible for at least an hour before I go to bed so my brain can switch off and relax. 

I try and leave it somewhere out of reach for that last hour so I am not tempted to pick it up again. 

 ⭐10/10 would recommend  - mainly because it's the flick of a button and then you never have to think about it again. 

Romaine Lettuce Tea

"OK so this one I thought must be a joke when I first heard it. A Tea made from putting romaine lettuce in a cup and pouring boiling water over it but after doing a little research It seems this is actually could be a natural sleep remedy as well as being a really good natural anti inflammatory.

Although no studies have been carried out on humans yet it has been tested on mice and was shown to have very powerful anti-inflammatory effects and induced sleep . It is thought that when mixed soaked in hot water Romaine lettuce releases lactucin and lactucarium which help induce sleep." 

In all honesty, I have only tried this 3 times because I keep forgetting to add Romaine lettuce to the shopping list 😂 

I will say the 3 times I tried it I did feel sleepy within about 20 minutes and drifted off pretty quickly once my head hit the pillow, but I had also had a bath with the magnesium flakes,  so It's hard to tell if it was because of one, the other or both. 

I will say if you really struggle with getting to sleep then why not throw the kitchen sink at it and give this a try along with the other things. 

 ⭐7/10 would recommend trying 

Guided Meditation

"A simple youtube search for guided meditation for sleep will bring up hundreds of options for you to select from. Basically it's someone with a very calming voice talking you through some things to focus on, imagine and do that will have you drifting off to sleepy land in no time."

This one as I mentioned in my previous blog I have tried many times in the past and on the whole it really helped. The only time in the past this hasn't worked for me is when for some reason my mind was so insanely active that I just couldn't over ride it to concentrate on what they were telling me to focus on. 

These are usually nights where my stress levels are really pumping and my anxiety is heightened like last night. 

Some of you will know exactly what I mean, the nights I am worried about someone breaking in, listening for the slightest noise,  wondering If that weird thing the dog did earlier is a sign of a health problem I should get checked... which always ends in me googling every symptom under the sun for a couple of hours, wondering if I should change my Pyjamas because if there is a fire in the house, I don't want the firemen to find me stood outside in a mini the mouse PJ set. You know, the usual stuff 🙄

But as I said on a whole guided meditation really helps me. 

⭐9/10 Would recommend. 

So that's my review of the sleep tips, If you struggle with sleep like I do then just know you are not alone and I would highly recommend giving some or even all of these a try. 

I hope you have the best weekend, full of the best sleep and dreams about being on a beautiful sandy beach, sipping Pinocaladas. 

Much Love & Speak Soon