Revive Root
Revive - Recharge yourself with resources for sleeping well, taking time off and unwinding
In a journal written by the Environmental Research and Public Health body, it is reported good sleep guarantees mental health and wellbeing. Furthermore, stress and sleep deprivation are associated with an increase in cardiovascular risk factors in individuals who don’t exercise. Its proven that resting boosts your immune system, sharpens your mind and recharges your body.
Sleep is an essential factor for wellbeing! |
The recommended number of hours sleep a night for adults is between 7 and 9 hours. So how can you rest your mind, get the sleep you deserve and wake up feeling refreshed?
Here are some top tips from Thrive Global
- Take a hot bath. This is proven to induce relaxation and encourage a good night’s sleep.
- Try a wind down routine, maybe some meditation or deep breathing exercises, what ever makes you feel relaxed.
- Switch off those devices at least an hour before bed.
- Have a regular sleep routine and stick to it.
- Think about your surroundings. A comfortable bed and relaxing bedroom can make all the difference
- Open the window! In a study from 2015, lower levels of CO2 in the bedroom led to better sleep and improved performance the next day.
Do you struggle with racing thoughts at night which stop you getting to sleep?
According to an article by Thrive Global
That voice is more vocal at night, according to Fiona Barwick, Ph.D., director of the Sleep & Circadian Health Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine’s Sleep Medicine Center, “because that’s when our emotional brain, with its negativity bias, gets unleashed, and our executive brain, which regulates our emotions and imposes reason, is offline.”
“It’s normal for adults to wake up several times during the night. But what wakes us up is not what keeps us up. What keeps us lying awake is our stress response — the fight-or-flight instinct that gets triggered when our ‘obnoxious roommate’ won’t keep quiet,”
How do you calm your mind at night?
A worry list
Simply keep a piece of paper and pen at the side of your bed. Before you sleep write down your thoughts and worries. This way you remove them from your mind and onto paper, helping to clear your head to get to sleep.
A gratitude journal
Before you go to bed write down 3 things in your life that are good or that you are grateful for, this could be anything at all. Gratitude is proven to induce a positive mental state helping you to fall asleep more easily. Research shows as little as two minutes of gratitude practice can help improve your mood.
Learn to unwind with meditation and mindfulness techniques
Mindfulness and meditation are great as part of your wind down routine helping to relieve stress that has built up during the day.
Don’t go to bed too early
Are you a night owl? Some people naturally feel sleepy later than others. If you go to bed too early you might find yourself lying awake. If so, get up and distract yourself for 20 minutes, try to find your own routine. If you do find yourself lying awake try the 4-7-8 breathing technique recommended by MySleep30
- Close your mouth
- Inhale for the count of four
- Hold your breath for a count of seven
- Exhale forcefully through your mouth (tongue against teeth) for a count of eight
- Repeat
It’s a little weird at first, but then it gets easy: 4. 7. 8. 4. 7. 8. 4. 7. 8. Repeat the cycle three more times, if you can. You might fall asleep in the middle of . . .
Ready for a break now?!
|
Want to learn more? Try these courses....
|
|
Excelsior MAT employees can also access an wellbeing online portal with a range of different courses and tips on wellbeing. Please contact HR for details. |
You can also try these recommended apps
Headspace
Be kind to your mind
|
Calm
Find your calm. Sleep more. Stress Less. Live better
|
Plum village
Guided mediations and relaxation
|
Smiling mind
Bring a balance to your life
|
My life meditation
A personalised mindfulness solution
|
Chill Panda
Learn to relax, manage your worries and improve your wellbeing
|
Meet our root advocate Beatrix Schmidt
Beatrix is a sleep coach, professional speaker and the author of The Sleep Deep Method®. Having struggled with insomnia and burning herself out in her mid-twenties, she spent the last 10 years researching sleep and learning that in order for us to sleep well at night, we need to look much deeper than just how tired we are and the number of hours we sleep. She believes that sleeping well at night is a skill that we can all develop.
She completed the Edinburgh Sleep Science Course, accredited by the Royal Society of Physicians and continues her research as a Senior Associate of the Royal Society of Medicine.
For the last over 6 years, Beatrix has been working with professionals to help them overcome insomnia and other sleep problems. She regularly presents workshops for organizations and to the public to raise awareness about sleep-related issues that affect so many professionals on a daily basis.
Please keep reading to find our more...
|