Stress Awareness Month
As April is Stress Awareness Month, this is the perfect time to talk about why sleep is so important. When you are stressed, sleep is one of the first things to be affected.
With all of the stress and anxiety surrounding the world right now, you are not alone if your sleep is being impacted.
In an ideal world, you would wake up in the morning feeling energised, confident and calm. And incredibly motivated and ready for the day ahead. For most of us, it’s just a dream and we actually wake up feeling sluggish, lethargic and exhausted because of poor sleep (and the role that stress has been playing in this).
But there is a solution to help you sleep better and it doesn’t involve medications or counting sheep!
Why does Sleep Matter ?
First of all, why does sleep matter so much? Having a healthy sleep is so important on so many levels.
Lack of sleep can be dangerous to your health, which is why it’s necessary that you pay close attention to and protect your sleep on a daily basis.
I will point out 6 benefits of good sleep to you.
Sleep boosts self-esteem
Sleep helps boost immunity
Good sleep can ease stress and anxiety
Sleep help boost productivity
Sleep addresses unresolved matters in your life.
1. Sleep boosts self-esteem
We always feel better after a good night’s sleep and that’s because sleep boosts self-esteem. The less sleep you get, the more sensitive you’re likely to feel. But when you sleep well, you’re much more resilient and happier.
2. Healthy sleep helps boost immunity
Good sleep is essential for immunity. Sleep makes the immune system stronger so you may get sick more often if you sleep poorly. Your brain does some serious detoxing while you sleep. The liver enters peak detox between 1-3 am and your lungs are known to repair themselves in the early hours of the morning too. Even the brain detoxes while you’re asleep!
3. Good sleep can ease stress and anxiety
Sleeping problems and poor sleep quality are often related to mental health issues, including anxiety. Getting a good night's sleep may be an important part of releasing stress and anxiety.
This is because sleep entails far more than just rest. In addition to having greater energy and attention after a good sleep, you could also feel more optimistic about life.
4. Sleep help boost productivity
When you get the right amount and kind of sleep, you wake up feeling rejuvenated and energetic. While you sleep, your brain builds and maintains the networks necessary for memory development and retention. This can enhance productivity, learning and problem-solving abilities, which is a key component of achieving top performance at work.
5. Sleep addresses unresolved matters in your life.
There’s another plus point that you may not have thought too. Sleep helps to address unresolved issues in your life and one of those is around desires. During the day, your desires are transformed into metaphorical objects during your dreams. Instead of cheating on your partner in real life and acting out your imagination, you can gain satisfaction through your dreams. With a good sleep cycle, you’re far less likely to cheat as you won’t need to act on your desires.
How are Sleep and Stress Connected?
Stress and anxiety are some of the biggest reasons for sleeping poorly. If you’re dealing with traumas or panic, a good night’s sleep is always going to feel elusive. No doubt you’ve experienced nights where you can’t stop thinking!
Now more than ever, everything that happens in the world and within your own life can affect your sleep schedule. With the current events in Ukraine, many of us are feeling much more stressed and cannot sleep, even if we’re not directly affected by the war.
Working on the reasons why this is happening can help you to sleep better. My combined approach to fixing your sleep issues means we can do this holistically. We can change your thought patterns and encourage relaxation and calm (more on this later!).
Stress isn’t always emotional. One of the reasons why people can’t sleep is because of exposure to blue light from phones, tablets, computers and televisions, which can block the production of the hormone melatonin. This hormone is very necessary for a good sleep so it’s important to reduce blue light exposure by wearing blue light-blocking glasses 2 hours before you go to sleep.
How Can Hypnotherapy Help You Sleep Better?
With hypnotherapy, sleep is the first thing we look to “fix” as it is so important.
No matter how badly you have been sleeping until now, we can train your brain to sleep well!
If stress and anxiety are stopping you from sleeping, hypnotherapy can provide the tools to change your thoughts and develop habits that promote sleep. During hypnosis, your brain is much more receptive to positive suggestions that can help you to fall asleep quickly and easily.
It’s powerful for changing the relationship between your mind and sleep. Once your hypnotherapy session is over, you’ll be in a position to sleep much better.
A Combined Approach To Sleeping Better
My combined approach includes hypnotherapy, solution-focused psychotherapy, Reiki, and NLP, all of which are brilliant for improving sleep (and many other things!).
These approaches lead you into a lovely relaxed state in which balance can be reclaimed and your body is open to positive suggestions.
If you want to get a taste of this, I have recorded a sleep tape (which all of my clients receive) to regulate your sleep patterns, reduce your stress levels and boost your confidence. If you’d like to receive it, send me an email. I won’t charge you for it.
If you know you would benefit from looking at your sleep on a deeper level, feel free to book a consultation to see how we can bring your sleep back into balance.
Take care!
Best wishes.
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