Sleep | Why anxiety is worse at night ?

It is a very challenging time for all of us right now, especially when, all day long, everywhere we look, we are bombarded with news about the Corona virus and the more we hear, the more difficult it is to get to sleep at night.

But corona virus is not the only thing keeping us up at night, we are experiencing more of an imbalance between work and our personal lives. When we don’t get a break from work — when we’re “always on” — it takes a toll on our mental and physical health. Anxiety can increase when we’re over-committed or just over-worked.

As sleep expert Mathew Walker says in his book ‘Why we sleep’

“The insidious impact of sleep loss on health runs much deeper. Every major system, tissue and organ of your body suffers when sleep becomes short. No aspect of your health can retreat at the sign of sleep loss and escape unharmed.’

We know for a fact that sleep deprivation is harmful to all the major physiological systems of the human body and when it comes to fighting this insidious virus, we need every bit of strength to fight back, but it is really hard to relax and switch off when our minds are filled with worry and anxiety and it is having those tools to hand at night before bed that will help every night to calm both mind and body and become a moment to enjoy and relax into rather than dread and fear.

In our opinion, there has never been a more important time to start to teach yourself a great bedtime routine if you are struggling, as sleep is known as the best healer and if you have lost control of your sleep rhythm there is nothing like tonight to make a few adjustments to your night time routine that could not only help you nod off and stay that way through the night, but good bedtime habits may also help you minimise your anxiety and stress.

So here are our tips for anxiety free sleep:

Come in and change clothes into something soft and inviting (homebody ideally!) ( a good idea anyway bearing in mind we want to leave the world outside, outside!)
Not too heavy an evening meal and try not to eat too late.
Drink only a small cup of camomile tea after 7pm.
Clear the bedroom of phones and ipads and computers.
Have a warm soapy bath or a warm soapy shower.
Apply lovely oils, moisturiser après bath and ideally try to squeeze in a mask while you are relaxing.
If you get hungry after dinner stay away from fruit – it makes you uncomfortable and is no good for our teeth!
Take yourself off to a quiet space with your phone and go for a guided meditation - We like Headspace or Eat Breathe, think and the beauty is you can just do as little as a few minutes but as long as your mind doesn’t wander it is time well spent and will clear your thoughts as you head towards the bedroom.

We also suggest a notepad or diary by the bed to use as a gratitude notepad: We love the idea of making a list of all the things in life we are grateful for. It could be anything, but positivity breeds positivity – give it a go!

Have a bedside light that can be made very dim, and unoffensive, but will allow you to read and every night read a book that captures your mind. We personally prefer a physical book, but if not, a kindle with backlight will work. There will be a point, maybe after one or two pages, when the eyelids start to feel heavy – drop the book and turn over and go to sleep – tada!!

Ahh but we could never forgot the key ingredient to this amazing routine and that is stepping into your Homebody pyjamas.

Once you put on our incredibly soft sustainably sourced fabrics, the body and mind just melt into relaxation and that is an incredible feeling. The reason is, our fabric adjust to the body temperature so that through the night our sleepwear will keep the body at an even temperature, even if we are not.

Night night