There are loads of hints and tips around that aid a restful nights sleep, however not a lot of information telling you what not to do before you go to bed. I had a bout of waking up in the middle of the night for no reason (that I could fathom) and I used to do at least two of these….

So, here you go, here are some tips for things you should NOT do before you go to bed.

1.Social Media!

I know from personal experience that this is a tough one. I generally scan my facebook pages before I go to sleep and when I wake up in the morning. You may be lucky and read only things that calm and relax you; however the reality is that you are reading things that are stimulating your brain. That one post that gets your mind whirring or worse sends you on a negative spin of ‘was she referring to me when she made that comment’ or ‘I must trawl through my posts as I must have said something to upset her/him’. I am sure you know the drill. Make sure that you do your ‘surfing’ before you go into your bedroom. Put the phone down and leave it there until morning.

2.TV

If like me you have a TV in your bedroom, you have a ritual of watching a program (or two) before you go to sleep. Just like social media, watching the TV also stimulates the brain. The bright light of the TV can affect the secretion of melatonin which is a hormone we use to aid quality sleep. I’ve started reading again at bed time if I know I need a good nights sleep.

3.Medication

Some medicines or supplements may interfere with quality sleep. If you have just started to take a medicine or supplement ask your doctor what time of day you need to take them as they may be interfering with your sleeping pattern. Always ask your doctor, never assume you know best – unless of course you are a doctor yourself.

4.Eating spicy, fatty or sugary foods

Eating spicy, sugary or fatty foods can trigger our stomach to respond with acid reflux. This can make you feel uncomfortable and cause a great deal of pain. Specialists say that you shouldn’t eat these types of foods at least two hours before bedtime; this allows for proper digestion.

5.Drinking alcohol or anything with caffeine

A difficult one if you are on a night out – although then we expect not to have a good nights sleep if it’s a once a week thing. We already know that caffeine is a stimulant, it will keep you awake – even decaffeinated coffee or tea has caffeine in it. Alcohol causes us to have a really bad nights sleep because after a night of indulgence our body begins to metabolise the alcohol which reduces the amount of REM sleep (the period where your sleep is most restorative). Have a nice glass of water instead.

6.Don’t go to bed on a fight

Stress is a huge cause of insomnia – if you are feeling stressed when you go to bed because of a bad day or an argument it elevates cortisol and other stress hormones which will impact your ability to fall asleep. You may also even ruminate over a conversation. If you can leave it until morning do it, if you can’t then use one of the ‘helpful thinking’ freebies on my website which may help you put things into perspective.

Look out for next months BLOG where I’ll give you some tips on building a positive sleeping routine.

With Love xxxx