Sleep is your friend.  No this isn’t a trick from Freddy Krueger.  Sleep really is your friend.  It is the relaxing and restorative time for our bodies from the physically strenuous and stress filled moments we endure in our day.

Many things get in the way of actual restful sleep, things like anxiety, stress, pain, worries, and some other external stimuli.  This is where we can make a differnce in our habits and feelings about our friend sleep.  Sleep hygiene or sleep habits are ways to change your routine for better, restful, and longer hours of sleep.  Take a look at the pdf attached for basic habit forming ideas for our sleep hygiene. http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/docs/Info-sleep%20hygiene.pdf

Beyond this information, meditation is another great way to help with sleep habits, stress management, and much more.  There is a great app called simple habit, https://www.simplehabit.com/. This guided meditaiton app has been useful with my restless nights, and also a great way to calm anxiety before bed and even through my day.  There a variety of subjects to choose from, for free or the paid subscription of course.  A great tool for meditation even if you don’t think you can meditate.

Of course, there is always massage! Massage helps with the physical stress and also can help with the production of dopamine and lower cortisol levels.  Massage can vary for each person’s way of relaxation.  There have been times that someone will fall asleep during a deep tissue or on the other hand with a light touch swedish massage, however you may relax.

Hope you have better sleep with this information or at least pass it on to someone who may need it.