I've mentioned in past posts that I have a terrible time sleeping, this is partly due to the fact that I work what are known as sleeping nights, so I'll go to work do my shift and then go to sleep at work, I'm then on call throughout the night and I generally get woken up most nights atleast once or twice, then at 6:30am I get up and work another couple of hours in the morning.
This has had an impact on how well I sleep (although I want to make it clear I love my job), I'm lucky if I go to sleep before midnight pretty much every night, and I never sleep throughout the night (I tend to wake up every few hours). I've had to develop a good night time routine to get me settled before bed, otherwise I can literally lie awake for HOURS!
1. I cleanse my skin - generally I try to do this as soon as I've finished working or when I'm home. I love makeup but I feel much more comfortable with bare skin.
2. I will then spray my pillows with Lavender pillow spray and the top of my quilt, I've tried many over the years, the Boots own one and one from This Works are the best I've found so far. I also light a candle normally (only when I'm not at work) and switch the fairy lights near my bed on. Dimmer lights help your body wind down and get ready for sleep.
3. I will brush my teeth then either have a shower or bath, I always try to have a bath as I find this most relaxing, but it tends to depend on how late it is, I love to go to bed feeling clean and fresh. I then will dry and apply moisturiser to my body and put on my pj's.
4. I get in bed and I listen to my hypnotherapy. A vital part of my daily routine. It keeps me on track.
5. I will have a quick check of facebook and twitter, and then usually will encourage myself to read, I don't always read but it tends to depend on how active my mind is, sometimes I need to be distracted from my stresses and worries.
6. Finally I'll put on my Ocean Waves sounds, this is also known as natural white noise, it has been used for many years to help sleep, one of my old teachers once told me they'd listen to the static on the radio every night before they went to sleep because it helped them 'tune' out. This really does work and there are thousands of different types out there, along with things like wildlife sounds, birds, rainforest, and wind. I will normally fall asleep with this on and it just plays until it stops, however sometimes I will listen for about half an hour and be settled enough to turn it off myself.
This may seem like quite a drawn out process, and you're probably thinking no wonder you're not asleep until midnight, but this is what works for me, it doesn't happen like clockwork every night, but if I have a few really bad nights sleep this is what I do to get myself settled and back into what a 'normal' sleeping pattern is for me.
Thanks for reading!
Hannah -ox
