Body Intelligence Health Challenge Week 4

The Challenge - Week 4

Congratulations on making it to week 4.  The skills you have learnt are setting you up for a life of good health.  This week we are focusing on sleep.  Yes - that elusive thing that some of us wish we could get more of and some of us wish we didn’t have to have so much.  So the key to sleep is the quality, not necessarily the quantity.  Most research will tell you that you need about 8 hours of sleep per night, however, I have seen a lot of people who survive and thrive on much less.  So, I think it is an individual thing.  I do know however, the quality of your sleep is really important.  And, if you are waking at night, consistently at a particular time, take note and figure out why.

Tune in

This week it is time to tune in to your sleeping pattern.  Take notice of the quality of your sleep and the how you feel.  We spend a third of our life sleeping, the body heals, repairs and detoxifies during sleep and improving sleep quality combats fatigue and many health conditions. Here’s how;  

• At night - tune in to how you feel when you go to bed at night.  Are you still feeling ok and just ready to sleep......or are you completely knackered and cannot keep your eyes open.  Are you still feeling in a good frame of mind, or are you moody and irritated.
• During the night - do you wake up during the night.  If so, what time?  Take particular note of the time as this will give you clues into what part of your body is under stress.
• In the morning - how do you feel when you wake up?  Is your energy good.  Do you still feel tired.  How long does it take to wake up?  What do you have to do or take to get you going?

Tune up

Your challenge this week is to give yourself some extra assistance to get into a deep and restful sleep.  In an ideal world we would all have a little “ritual” we could do before going to sleep, and if you think about it, there probably are things you already do, like clean your teeth, shower, cup of tea etc.  So your challenge this week is to create a regular sleep ritual including one or more of the following;

• Establish a regular bedtime routine & regular sleep-wake schedule
• Best quality of sleep is achieved when going to bed before 11.00pm (10pm even  better)
• Both deep sleep time & growth hormone release can be maximized by following consistent bedtime
• Avoid watching TV while in bed
• Avoid having mobile phones & electrical appliances within one meter of your bed
• Herbal tea at night - you can obtain “sleep” teas from your health food store
•  Abdominal Breathing - we learnt this one last week and I believe it is the single easiest thing you can do for helping you rest, relax, rejuvenate and sleep.  Just try it.  When you get into bed, lie on your back and breathe.

Remember - it’s all about the little things that we can do every day that make a big difference to how we feel.

Happy snoozing!

Jac

This document has been prepared for the Body Intelligence 30 Health Challenge by Jacqueline Edser and is to be used in this context only.  The information provided is not meant to substitute professional assessment or medical diagnostics and treatment.

Comments

[VJ]

Jac I love this challenge. The problem I have with sleeping is the regular wake up at between 1 and 2am. And it usually coincides with a toilet call. I tend to drink a bit of water before hitting the sack which is no doubt the problem but for some reason I have this idea/fear that without some decent water in take before bed dehydration will set in during the course of the night and early morning. I'm not sure if this is a mistaken idea/fear but I'd like to some how balance the pre sleep water intake so to avoid the early morning toilet call.

[Jac Edser]

VJ - nice question! So - firstly I would like to know how much water you actually drink during the day. In TCM speak - that time of night is generally to do with the gall bladder and liver. Sometimes, when there is a toxicity in the body, you naturally want to drink more to dilute it. So, maybe we need to look at ways to support your liver and detoxification systems.

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I always use laptop and mobiles phone before sleeping but from today I will stop using it and follow your Tune up tips to sleep well.