The Covid-19 response has led to unprecedented changes in all aspects of our daily life, including negative impacts on a good night’s sleep.
A pre-pandemic survey by ResMed showed that 41% of Aussies reported that they were not getting enough sleep. These figures are rapidly increasing as the new ‘home office’ blurs boundaries between work and home, completely disrupting our usual routines. Stay-at-home restrictions leave us struggling to adapt to a ‘new normal’ of working, playing and learning from home. Add the increased consumption of caffeine and alcohol throughout the day, excessive screen time, increased stress/anxiety about the new health and economic challenges facing our world - and quality sleep has never been so vulnerable.
While sleep might seem like the last thing we need to worry about right now, experts say that good sleep is absolutely critical for our physical, mental and emotional health and well-being.
Quality sleep:
- Strengthens your immune system
- Improves mood and your ability to deal with stress, and
- Helps you to stay mentally sharp
Getting Better Sleep
Whether your sleep issues are the result of chronic conditions like sleep apnoea or insomnia - or you have seen a lockdown related onset - getting support from a sleep health expert could be the key to getting your sleep back on track.
Home Support
Lockdown restrictions have forced a change in traditional business models for customer support industries. Sleep health experts, ResSleep WA, have used this challenge as an opportunity to overhaul the medical model of sleep medicine to create a user-centric approach that will let you start your journey to a good night’s sleep from the comfort of your own home. Getting expert help on your own terms has never been so easy, with virtual consults and sleep health products delivered to your door. Now, accessing expert sleep help is just a click away.
Tips for a good night's sleep
Sleeping issues can come from a number of different sources. Below are a few tips that you can start today to make improvements in your sleep. If you seem to be doing all the right things and sleep still eludes you, don’t give up. Book a virtual consult with a sleep coach who can help you take the next step.
1) Routine is king: our bodies and minds are incredibly trainable. Make sure you are going to bed and getting up at the same time each day and that you have a bedtime/ wind-down routine that starts at least 30 minutes before bed. You can even use your phone’s alarm or fitness tracker to set alerts to start your wind-down time. But let’s be clear, wind-down doesn’t mean frantically finish off everything on your ‘to do’ list, or binge-watch Netflix. Instead, have a cool shower, pop on a meditation track or do some pleasure reading. Help to trigger your brain to know that it’s time to start getting ready for sleep.
2) Make your bedroom your sanctuary: while it can be tempting to check your email from bed with a cup of coffee, the bedroom should be off limits for work, or anything else that will get your mind going rather than helping you to drift off. Make sure your room is cool, dark, quiet and stress-free. Where that isn’t possible, look at investing in a good eye mask, ear plugs, weighted blanket or a white noise app on your phone to help create the right environment to promote relaxation.
3) The importance of light: your sleep / wake cycle is controlled by light. When and what type of light you are exposed to throughout the day can have a big impact on your ability to sleep at night. Make sure you are getting some natural light during the day. Head outside for a walk around the block; open your blinds to make sure you don’t sit in the dark all day.
By this point we’ve probably all heard the warnings about the impact of blue light from TVs, phones and tablets, but still continued to binge-watch our favourite show well into the evening. If you aren’t willing or able to put down your device, look at getting blue light blocking glasses to make sure that your last minute, nightly emails don’t impact your ability to drift off.
For more tips from the experts, information on our collection of sleep health products, or to book your virtual consult - head to https://www.placeofdreams.com.au/
