A guide to a good night's sleep.

Sleeping peacefully by creating a routine.

Something I have seen and heard a lot about lately is people who are struggling with their sleep.

Not only getting to sleep, but staying asleep. Who hasn’t woken at 2am unable to go back to sleep?

Given that I've heard this issue echoed a LOT I thought it was pertinent to share some sleep tips.

🌄Good sleep patterns start with good morning routines. As Runners, we all get up early in the morning, when it is still dark. Ideally, once the sun rises, it is ideal to get those rays of sunshine on our bodies. This signals to our body to breakdown the sleep hormone melatonin and prepare for the day.

☕️ Before heading out the door for your run session, have your travel mug set up and ready to go. Instead of filling it with coffee, try just a slice of lemon. Lemon water helps increase your urine production, helping you fend off bloating and offers detox benefits. Delaying that first coffee hit allows your body’s natural cortisol peak to occur naturally without the caffeine hit.

📄At the other end of the day, preparation is obviously also extremely important. There are a few tips and trick which you may find assist you to settle into a restful slumber and it starts with dinner!

🥗Make sure you eat your dinner early enough that you have at least 2 hours before bedtime. Try to eat a smaller portion at dinner. We don't need a big meal at night. Allow your food to be digested before heading to bed.

☕As the sun descends in the late afternoon, cease the drinking of caffeine. My personal preferred time is 2pm. I then switch to herbal only teas that won’t affect my body like caffeine does.

🍷 Alcohol negatively affects sleep, so sobering up before sleep (or consuming only one standard drink per evening) will have a positive effect.

🧖🏻‍♀‍Create an evening ritual, using calming and soothing essential oils to help promote restfulness. You may choose to diffuse lavender or vetiver or add a drop of these to a bath or moisturiser before bed. Creating these signals for sleep can be a powerful way of supporting a restorative sleep every night.

💡With only candle and firelight to see by for thousands of years, our bodies have evolved to see yellow light as a sign to wind down and rest. This is why using devices, watching TV etc can be so detrimental as the blue light is similar to bright daylight and our bodies get confused. If you MUST use technology in the evenings, try to change the light settings to be more warm or use blue light blocking glasses.

A bedtime routine of yoga is calming, relaxing and cathartic. I highly recommend winding down with a quick bedtime session with Yoga with Adriene. She has sessions beginning at a short 7 minutes, so there is no excuse to wind down and meditate with Adriene each night.

📝Before heading to bed write down everything that is in your head. Get it all out and onto paper and leave it there. Who wakes up at night and thinks about, oh I have to do this or that, I’ve got to go there tomorrow? Freeing your mind of “stuff” promotes a restful night’s sleep.

📖Using your gratitude journal first thing in the morning and last thing at night allows us to focus on positives every morning and every night. If we always look for the good, the bad will slowly fade away.

🚿Showering before bed can support better rest as the temperature drop when you leave the warmth of the shower indicates to your body that it is time to sleep.

😴Whatever you choose to do, the important thing is to create a bedtime routine. This signals to the body that you are winding down and preparing for sleep.

If you have any tips for sleeping, please share with us in the comments., I’d love to have your input.

Happy sleeping everyone.