Respect your circadian rhythm. We all have a ‘window’ in which we should go to sleep and it is more difficult to get to sleep if we miss that window.

If you find yourself laying in bed, unable to sleep for more than 30 minutes you should get up and leave the room, then return to bed when you feel sleepy.

You might be looking forward to your weekend sleep in as a way to recover from your accumulated lost sleep during the week. New research from researchers at the University of Colorado (2019) suggest that this may not be the best approach.

“The key take-home message from this study is that weekend recovery or catch-up sleep does not appear to be an effective countermeasure strategy to reverse sleep loss induced disruptions of metabolism,'' says Dr. Kenneth Wright, Jr.

The best way to recover from your ‘sleep debt’ is to go to bed earlier and wake up at your normal time.

According to Michael Crupain, co-author of “What to Eat When”, your circadian rhythm is set by the sun and should eat in line with that. Put simply, eat when the sun is up and fast when it is not.

As a consequence of modern life, it is likely that you are overexposed to relatively high levels of artificial blue light. Blue light interferes with your natural circadian rhythm which negatively affects the quality of your sleep.

Your mind needs time to unwind and relax into sleep with natural light only - not the blue light from screens. Turn off your laptop and television at least 45 minutes before your bedtime and avoid scrolling through Instagram or checking emails on your phone (although, most smartphones have a blue light filter setting. Try turning this on 1-2 hours before bedtime). If you must use screens prior to sleeping, you could try blue light blocking goggles. These cut out most of the detrimental light rays.

Core body temperature has a lot to do with quality of sleep. When you fall asleep, your body temperature drops to conserve energy. In a hot bedroom, your body will struggle to reach and maintain the optimal temperature for sleep, resulting in impaired sleep quality.

According to The Sleep Council, the ideal temperature for sleep is about 16-18°C (60-65°F).

“Hot, cold and draughty rooms can seriously impact on your sleep. Your body heat peaks in the evening and then drops to its lowest levels when you’re asleep, so a cool 16-18°C (60-65°F) is thought to be an ideal temperature in a bedroom. Temperatures over 24°C (71°F) are likely to cause restlessness, while a cold room of about 12°C (53°F) will make it difficult to drop off.”

Why keep it dark?
Exposure to even low levels of light have been shown to affect sleep quality and disrupt sleep cycles.

According to the National Sleep Foundation:
“Artificial light after dark can send wake-up messages to the brain, suppressing the production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin and making it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.”

Dr. W. Davis ran medical studies which trialled the use of magnesium chloride on 200 patients. The results were that sleep was induced rapidly and the sleep was uninterrupted. Daytime fatigue disappeared. An unexpected bonus was that anxiety and stress diminished!

Magnesium relaxes our muscles and nervous system, helping us to 'wind down'. Magnesium also lowers cortisol (the 'stress hormone' that keeps us up at night) and raises melatonin levels (our 'body clock' regulator).

The Magnesium Pro Sleep Lotion is a TGA Listed Product (ARTG 318335)
(Which means we're allowed to tell you the following things)

Traditionally used in Western herbal medicine to:

• Assist mind relaxation.
• Calm and relax the nervous system.
• Induce sleep.
• Relieve sleeplessness.
• Reduce time to fall asleep.
• Relieve disturbed/restless sleep.
• Relieve skin inflammation and irritation.