
How can you give yourself the best chance of a good night’s sleep?
By Nigel Pritchard. Published 2022-05-09
BOLD-WellbeingTheBoldAge continues its discussion on sleep
Did you wake up this morning on the right side of the bed after a restful night’s sleep? We all know, from experience, that a good night’s sleep improves our sense of mental wellbeing, improves motivation and supports that much needed get up and go feeling. Meanwhile, not getting enough sleep means that we limit the natural recovery systems of our bodies to repair life’s stresses and strains, which in turn can negatively impact our immune, hormonal, and cardiovascular systems. Furthermore, studies have shown a lack of sleep can play havoc with our eating, making us feel emptier and in need of higher calorific foods.And for those of us who thought sleep was overrated and a bit boring, I include myself in that cohort, then bear in mind that the sleep economy was worth some US $432 billion in 2019 according to Statista and is expected to grow to $585 billion by 2024. So, plenty of people are obviously taking sleep seriously.So, how do we put ourselves in the best possible place to get a good night’s sleep and then how do we efficiently travel to the land of nod? Here are five things, plus a bonus for you to consider, before we talk of an interesting method to get off to sleep used by the US military.
- Consider your caffeine intake
- Hot Cocoa
- Warm milk
- Avoid an alcoholic or sugary nightcap
- Bonus idea – choose cherries
- Relax the muscles in your face, including your tongue, jaw and the muscles around your eyes.
- Drop your shoulders as low as they’ll go before relaxing your upper and lower arm on one side, and then the other.
- Breathe out, relax your chest and then, finally, relax your legs, starting with your thighs and moving to your lower legs.
- Once you’ve relaxed your body for ten seconds, you must attempt to clear your mind of all thoughts. In the book ‘Relax and Win’ Championship Performance, several ideas were put forward for this. The ones we like are: Picture yourself lying in a canoe on a calm lake with nothing but blue sky above you; or repeat the words ‘don’t think, don’t think, don’t think’ in your mind for ten seconds
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