Sleep hygiene workshop

April 2019

Dr Nirja Beehuspoteea and Marcia Knight

• What is sleep?
Objectives
• Why do we sleep?
• How much sleep do we need?
• Why is sleep important?
• Why can it be hard to sleep?
• What is Sleep Hygiene?
• SLEEP HYGIENE
– Lifestyle skills
– Practical Skills
• Summary + Feedback
• Useful links and resources
 Goals:
- What are your current sleep difficulties impacting you?
- What would you like to change?
- How would your sleep be different?

We will be asking for feedback at the end of the session – please add
your goal or goals to this sheet and rate where you are at now out of ten.
 What is sleep?
• An extended bout of rest we experience on a daily basis,
where we are unconscious (unaware of what’s going on
around us) and our brain, nerves and muscles go into
“rest and recover”

• Sleep is an active period in which a lot of important

processing, restoration, and strengthening occurs.
What is the circadian rhythm?
Circadian rhythm = internal body clock
Melatonin is a hormone that occurs naturally in our
bodies during our circadian rhythm
 It is produced at night time to help us go to
sleep
 Light in the morning signals to our brains to
stop producing this hormone, meaning we
feel less sleepy
During adolescence, our circadian rhythm
naturally shifts to later on at night, meaning that
we find it hard to fall asleep earlier, and are
more sleepy in the morning.
 Why do we sleep?
• To process memories – organise and store memories of
the previous day

• To restore the body – replenish energy, grow muscle,

heal tissue, and synthesize hormones.

• To dream – no-one is yet sure why we dream!

 Why is sleep important?
• Good sleep = physical + mental wellbeing!
• The occasional night without sleep will make you feel tired
the next day, but it won't affect your health.
• However, after several sleepless nights, you will start to
find that you:
– feel tired all the time
– drop off during the day
– find it difficult to concentrate
– find it hard to make decisions
– start to feel low in mood
– start to worry about not being able to sleep
 Example exercise
• Josh, 15 has been spending a lot of time at home during the summer
holidays. He loves a lie-in and tends to wake up at about 11am-noon
everyday. He has breakfast, then comes back to his bedroom to do some
reading. He has convinced his parents to install a TV in his room and he
watches TV in the afternoons while lying in bed. He goes downstairs for
meals and occasionally to help his parents with chores but prefers staying
in his room as it gets boring downstairs. He can also text and ring his
friends upstairs without his little sister bothering him. He usually tries to
get to sleep at about 11pm-midnight but doesn’t manage to fall asleep
until 3 am most days. This has started to cause several arguments with his
mum. He ends up feeling more tired and grumpy every day, which again
causes more arguments. He wishes his mum could see his point of view.
• What could Josh do to help the situation?
What else can you think of?
 Why can it be hard
to sleep?
• The bedroom may be too noisy, messy, too hot or too cold
• The bed may be uncomfortable or too small
• Don't have a regular sleep routine
• Aren't getting enough exercise
• Eating too late - and finding it hard to get off to sleep
• Going to bed hungry - and wake up too early
• Cigarettes, alcohol and drinks containing caffeine, such as tea
and coffee
• Illness, pain, or a high temperature.
 More long term reasons
• Emotional problems
• Anxiety and worry
• Depression
• Thinking over and over about problems - usually
without getting anywhere with them
• Physical problems – illness or disability
• Medications that affect sleep
What is Sleep Hygiene?
• There have been lots of suggestions about what might help people
get good sleep.

• Different things work for different people.

• Often these ideas don’t work straight away; you have to try them
for a few nights first.
 Your Bedroom
Lighting:
• Make your room dark (use black out curtains)
• Too much light can disrupt melatonin
production needed for sleepiness

Technology:
• Turn off all screens + LED displays an hour
before bed
• Technology gives off ‘blue light’ and can
disrupt melatonin
• Noises from phones can be distracting and
tempting to look at when trying to get to sleep

Temperature:
• If you’re too hot or too cold, you won’t sleep
soundly. 16-18° C is ideal.
Relaxing:
• Make your room relaxing to you.
• Avoid treating your bedroom like an
extension of the rest of your house. That
means you shouldn’t use it for work,
watching TV etc.
• Save the bedroom for sleep
• A tidy room makes for a tidy mind… and a
restful night’s sleep!
• De-clutter your bedroom and make separate
“zones” for play, work and sleep.
 Your Bed

• Make sure that your mattress

supports you properly. 

• Generally, you should replace

your mattress every 10 years to get
the best support and comfort.
 Your Lifestyle
• Maintain a regular bedtime routine and
sleep pattern
- Try not to nap during the day
- Include weekends in your routine

• Avoid drinking alcohol or caffeine before

bed.
– Stop drinking tea or coffee by mid-
afternoon.
– If you want a hot drink in the evening, try
something milky or herbal (check there's
no caffeine in it).
– It can take 6 hours for half the caffeine
in your system to wear off (National
Sleep Foundation)
Try not to drink too much before bed
and go to the toilet as part of your
routine
 This avoids waking in the night and
disrupting your sleep cycle.

Keep a sleep diary for a week. 

 You can look back and notice when
you have or had not had a good
night’s sleep, and make links
between what you have done that
day and how this might be impacting
your sleep.
 Then you can start to do more of
what helps, and less of what
doesn’t.
 Your Diet
• Try to combine a protein food with a
low to medium glycaemic index
carbohydrate
• Avoid stimulants like caffeine and
cigarettes.
• Avoid sedatives, such as sleeping pills
and alcohol, to help you sleep.
• Don’t buy melatonin supplements
online.
 Your Exercise Routine
• It’s believed that exercising close to bedtime
can disturb sleep.
• Exercise before bed can feel like it might tire
you out, but can actually make you more alert,
meaning it is harder to get to sleep
 Gentle yoga exercises before bed may help to relax
you, but won’t be too energetic
 Exercising earlier in the day can mean that you
sleep better at night, with moderate aerobic
exercise helpful for getting to sleep (such as
walking)
Amy is 16 and is currently revising for GCSEs. She is finding it quite
stressful and keeps worrying that she is not working hard enough and
that she might fail her exams. She keeps thinking about what will
happen if she fails, and she is worried about letting her parents down.

During the day, she tends not to think about it because she has so
much to do, but when she lies in bed trying to fall asleep, all the worry
comes back and she finds it difficult not to think about this. She keeps
tossing and turning in bed and ends up spending the whole night
sleeping in fits and starts, waking up really tired the next morning.
This affects her concentration at school which makes her worry even
more.

What could be helpful for Amy?

 Soothing skills for in the
moment
• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Breathing exercises
• Thought banishing through speaking out loud
• Problem solving
 Progressive muscle relaxation
• This technique helps you to
notice the difference in sensation
between being tensed and
relaxed.
• Try this before bed or when you
are feeling stressed.
• Practice this, slowly moving up
your entire body.
• Try it out!
 Breathing exercises
Breathing slowly helps slow our heart rate.
This prepares your body for sleep by making sure you
are not overly stimulated.
There are a few different exercises you can try:
 Square breathing
 Colour breathing
 Balloon breathing
 Speaking out loud
We can use speaking out loud to override any
thoughts we have when trying to sleep.
This technique can help us to banish these
unwanted thoughts; we can even use this
technique to solve any problems that are
keeping us from sleeping well.
Imagine you are trying to count in your head,
and also say the alphabet out loud – you cant
do both.
 Worry time and problem solving
Having dedicated time each day to focus and try to
problem solve our thoughts and worries can help us clear
our minds.
If you find yourself worrying when you go to bed, write
down your worries, and an action plan to solve these for
tomorrow, then think:
“I cannot do any more right now to solve my worries,
I will leave them until the morning.”
Getting our thoughts onto paper can sometimes help us
feel like we are in more control, as they aren’t going round
and round in our heads but are fixed on a page.
 Problem solving

Think about the main problem you want to

address, or the biggest worry that is stopping you
from sleeping.
 Think of as many solutions as you can –
break these down into step (these can even
be things that seem ridiculous!)
 Pick the solution that you think is most
suitable to start with
 What will you need to do, bring with you, and
what could get in the way?
 It can be helpful to have a plan for if things
don’t go how you think they will
 Try it out! How did it go?
 Helpful resources
 Getselfhelp.co.uk
 Sleepcouncil.org.uk
 Relax meditation app – sister app Relax Melodies allows
you to build soundscapes
 CAMHS sleep hygiene booklet
 Headspace – Offers guided meditation to combat stress,
anxiety, and sleep. Sign up and the first 10 sessions are free
 Pzizz app – uses a mixture of soundscapes, voiceovers and
personalised alarms to help you drift to sleep and wake up
feeling refreshed.
 Smiling mind app – mindfulness app broken down into
modules by age range
 Thank you

Any questions?

- Please fill in the feedback form

- Add your goal at the bottom and rate out of ten