Getting a good night’s sleep is key for mental and emotional health. Around 7 hours is required for most people to have an optimal time asleep.
Sleep is the time that the brain can integrate the memories of the day, as well as regulate the emotions that the day evoked. The less you sleep, the more these emotions will be challenged during your waking day.
The sleep cycle stage of REM (rapid eye movement) compartmentalises memory and emotions. Dreams are the chance for the brain to process emotions within the nervous system, without the resistance you would have if you were awake.
You will also have less stress during the day if you have enough sleep. Having a healthy sleeping routine also allows your stress and sleep hormones cortisol and melatonin to regulate. Stress from cortisol is produced to wake you up and melatonin puts you to sleep. If you are sleepy during the day, you will require a kick of cortisol stress to respond to any challenge you may be facing, such as a work deadline. It is natural to feel stressed when you first wake up as this is when your cortisol is at its highest. Stress should then reduce on a sliding scale during the day and melatonin levels start to increase towards night time.
This is why light management is key to mental health. The light that your eyes perceive regulates the circadian rhythm and so your cortisol and melatonin levels. To reduce stress, set your phone display to filter out blue light before sunrise and after sunset (this is an automated setting on most phones). Ideally, also get visuals on the rising sun and the setting sun to optimise your circadian rhythm (UK weather dependent of course!).
Tips for Sleep:
- Manage Light. Signal melatonin by blacking out all light in the bedroom. This includes natural and artificial light. Have blackout curtains and blinds if possible and ban phones in the bedroom. Ideally get an alarm clock that is light sensitive and is not emitting light at all times.
- Cool your body temperature for sleep. Keep your room cool and grab a fresh pillow if you have heated it up while lying in bed. Having a warm bath with epsom salt before bed also creates a drop in body temperature as you cool down which signals your body to sleep. The epsom salt contains magnesium for muscle relaxation.
- Breathe. If you can’t get to sleep, your oxygen level is probably low. Make the effort to do breathwork and take deep breaths. To initiate sleep you can also do a double breath and sigh technique. Breathing in twice and then breathing out once in a sigh recreates the natural ‘settling down for sleep’ breathing pattern of mammals. The first breath in opens the alveoli air sacs of the lungs and the second breath in allows them to fill. The sigh out allows the letting go of tension, setting the body up for sleep. During the night breathing naturally changes to pump CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) around the spine and brain and acts as an energy reset for your day.
