Mindfulness
Sleep Hygiene
Sleep - one of the hidden heroes of good wellbeing. Like a balanced diet and regular exercise, sleep is often one of the first things we neglect when we feel stressed, when things get busy, when we're out of routine or when we're faced with change.
The way you feel while you're awake depends in part on what happens while you're sleeping. During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain your physical health.
From the perspective of emotional and cognitive functioning, studies show that a good night's sleep improves learning, be it perfecting your golf swing, learning a new instrument or studying. Sleep helps enhance your learning and problem-solving skills. Studies also show that sleep deficiency alters activity in some parts of the brain. If you're sleep deficient, you may have trouble being creative, making decisions, paying attention, solving problems, controlling your emotions and behaviour, and coping with change.
In our young people, sleep also helps support growth and development. Young people who are sleep deficient may have problems getting along with others. They may feel angry and impulsive, have mood swings, feel sad or depressed, or lack motivation. They also may have problems paying attention, and they may get lower grades and feel stressed.
Getting enough quality sleep at the right times helps you function well throughout the day. People who are sleep deficient are less productive at work and school. They take longer to finish tasks, have a slower reaction time, and make more mistakes.
To help you review your sleep practices, we have attached a sleep hygiene tips sheet. We have also attached the link for some really helpful podcasts on sleep.
The Importance of Sleep by Crappy to Happy
https://podcasts.apple.com/vg/podcast/the-importance-of-sleep/id1274672540?i=1000391392512
Sleep and Meditation by The Food Medic
Mindfulness and Sleep Quality Explained by Mindfully with Brett Kirk (Yes, Brett Kirk, the swan!)
Lori Parmley
Wellbeing Team - Social Worker
Try doing as many of these as possible to improve your sleep.
• Your brain loves working on a routine! If you have no standard bedtime, your brain doesn’t know when to ‘wind down’ and ‘switch off’ sometimes making it hard to get to sleep and wake-up. Try going to sleep at almost the same time each night and waking up around the same time each morning.
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