Sleep & Wellbeing: Self-care tips for World Mental Health Day
Sleep is an essential process of life, and without it, we wouldn’t function properly. Sleep is not only essential for rest and recovery, but eating, breathing, processing and preparing for the days ahead. Sleep is crucial to restore our brains at the end of each day and ultimately vital for our mental and physcial wellbeing.
Here at Fable and Eve, we know how important it is make sure we are getting the right amount of quality sleep, to allowing the body and mind to relax and recharge. Poor quality sleep over a sustained period of time can lead to mental and physical fatigue and exhaustion. Our mind is a wonderful thing and does a phenomenal job at keeping us functioning and we know by now that we should take just as much care of our mental health as we do our physical health.
The theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day is ‘make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority’. Ahead of World Mental Health Day, the Fable and Eve team want to share our top three self-care tips to adopt before bedtime, to boost your quality of sleep and help you on your wellbeing journey:
- Write a gratitude list
Often when we are going through a busy or stressful period, our sleep cycles unfortunately get the brunt of it. Just before you get into bed, write down the things you achieved that day. What went well and what you feel grateful for. Doing this can help detox the mind and reduce anxious thoughts, giving you a greater sense of happiness and peace ahead of your night’s sleep, ready to wake up and face tomorrow.
2. Relax all your muscles
Taking a warm bath or shower before cosying up into a warm bed is said to help our muscles (including the brain) relax and feel sleepy, tricking our minds and bodies into falling asleep. The same goes for a hot, non-caffeinated drink like chamomile or honey and lemon, which are great to drink an hour or so before bed.
3. Switch off the mind
We often struggle to fall asleep when our minds are in overdrive. Reading a book can help distract your minds from any worries you may have. Yoga and meditation are also credited to improve sleep by stretching away any built-up tension. Regulating breathing patterns through the 4-7-8 breathing technique is also said to promote calmness and relaxation which can help you drift into a peaceful night’s sleep.
