SLEEP!!!!

Sleep.....

I have been called a sleep criminal by my wonderful mentor Ross on a number of occasions. He says it with a wicked glint in his eye and when I enquired as to why had labeled me such he said quite simply "you fear not getting enough sleep so much that you hog every hour of sleep you do get and therefore you NEVER get enough sleep"

Point taken.

So I have always been like this, its something that harks back to when I was little and sleep was actually my only refuge from a family of origin that was not a particularly joyous one. So I slept. A lot.

However I am now a grown woman and I am in a wonderful nourishing safe and abundant family and therefore I decided it was time to readdress my sleeping philosophy, because as with everything in life, there is a time when certain behaviours work for you however, when they reach their use by date you would be wise to change your tactics

So, I started by looking at my sleep dynamic and how I set myself up for sleep.

1. I would stay on my phone right up until I slept.

2. I was having at least 2 cups of coffee per day

3. I was exercising (weights mostly) and having no yin exercise at all, no yoga, no meditation. And for my constitution this is absolutely a must for good sleep.

4. NO MAGNESIUM - game changer, if you aren't on any go get some its literally a miracle mineral in my opinion.

5. No downtime before bed, no calming rituals, meditations etc

6. Watching adrenaline inducing TV shows, Game of Thrones anyone?

7. Room was too hot! Phone next to my bed, basically sleeping environment wasn't working for me.

So given all of the above I made some changes. I didn't switch my phone off altogether and there are days I forget to not look at it however I'm working towards having it turned off from 6pm every single night and all day sunday weekly. I am also on a high level of magnesium and its been brilliant for my sleep I cannot express how much so.

I have at least 45 mins of tranquil time before bed and I am meditating most days which is also a game changer for me and not just for sleep.

Sleep is important for us its when our unconscious works on somatic/mental/emotional holding patterns and psychologically its when our souls repair. Its also when our physical bodies heal and repair. For so many reasons its important. So if you aren't getting enough (and you don't have a baby) then try the above and see if it can work for you too. If you do have a baby I will do a post soon on how to nurture yourself in what can be an incredibly demanding period of your life.

So until my next post - happy sleeping!