Small tips that can make a huge difference to how you sleep.

Dr. Nerina shares her small tips that can make a huge difference in how you sleep. She explains how these simple yet effective tips are so important but are easy to forget.

Tip One: Eat breakfast every day within half an hour of rising.

Not when you get to work or on your commute, it’s within that first half an hour of waking up. Especially if you wake up and your nervous system is nervous, you’re already thinking about what you have to do that day. Eating within half an hour of rising stabilises your blood levels, it tells your body you’re not living in famine, that your body and mind are safe, so that later on in the night you produce melatonin so you can sleep. We only produce the sleep melatonin when we feel safe.

Tip Two: Cut back on caffeine.

Ideally, no caffeine before you’ve eaten. A lot of people that don’t eat breakfast, need their cup of tea or coffee first thing in the morning. So they are artificially putting stimulates into the body which is going to stop them producing melatonin later on in the day. Don’t use caffeine as a substitute. If you start to feel hungry in the afternoon, have a small snack like 8 almonds and 2 dates. Ideally no caffeine after 3 pm.

Tip Three: Be well hydrated.

Drink at least 2 litres of water during the day. The human body is 70-80% water so in order for our sleep biochemistry to function optimally and for our brains to function, it needs to be well hydrated. That means every cell in the body needs to be in an optimal state of hydration to enable amazing sleep. Drink 2 litres throughout the day, not all at once.

Fourth Tip: Get to bed earlier 3-4 nights a week.

The 90-minute phrase of sleep before midnight is extremely powerful, it heels the body on every level, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. You don’t need to be in bed fast asleep, just in bed around 10 pm and resting. This prepares your physiology to function in a different way so you have more access to deep sleep.

Fifth Tip: Have a healthier relationship with technology.

Within the hour you get into bed, withdraw from technology. Ideally not watching TV in bed or in another room, not falling asleep in front of the TV and not watching TV while you’re on 3 or 4 other devices at the same time. Ideally, your bedroom would be a sanctuary, free of technology, and not checking devices during the night. It’s normal to wake up during the night but what you don’t want to be doing is waking up, checking the time, calculating the time, looking at emails, and actually, all the decisions you make during the day will impact on your sleep. During the day, making the effort to get away from technology, every hour-hour and a half and have a few minutes where you’re not looking at phones or your laptops. Taking technology-free breaks in the day will impact on how much deep sleep you get a night.