For those who struggle with sleep

anxiety
I’ve struggled with sleep for years. I go through fazes of waking up constantly throughout the night or not sleeping at all, to sleeping soundly. I’ve been going through a phase of not sleeping again so I thought I’d write up a post on a few things I do to help when I’m not sleeping so well.

Get in a routine | Try to wake up and go to sleep at the same time everyday, even on weekends if you can. Doing this will train your brain so it knows when it should be resting and when it should be awake. 

Relax | It’s impossible to sleep or get to sleep if you’re stressed, even if you don’t realise that you’re stressed. Before bed light your favourite candle and just chill, don’t do anything strenuous and don’t start over-thinking - easier said than done, I know. If you wake up during the night don’t sit and look at the clock, if you’re aware how long you’ve been awake you’ll become anxious which will make your body tense and make it harder to go back to sleep. If you’re awake for a while get up and do something that isn’t very active, read or take a bath for example and then try to go back to sleep.

Light/dark | Make sure you’re subject to enough sunlight during the day and avoid using artificial light during the evenings. A chemical in your body called melatonin regulates your sleeping pattern and is triggered by light. If you don’t get enough light during the day then you’ll feel sleepy and will want to nap but if you’re exposed to too much light at night you’ll be wide awake when you should be going to sleep. 

Avoid caffeine/alcohol | Avoid drinking caffeine before bed, if you really want a coffee or tea make sure its caffeine free. Also, cut down on caffeine during the day, it may have more of an effect on your body than you think it does. Avoid alcohol during the evening too. Although it does make you sleepy it affects the quality of your sleep so you won’t benefit from the sleep you do get.

Don’t take naps | If you have had a bad nights sleep avoid having an afternoon nap as much as possible as it will just throw your sleep schedule. If you must take a nap try to limit it to 30 minutes before mid afternoon, that way it won’t affect your brains sleep schedule.

Avoid backlit devices | Don’t use your phone, laptop, iPad even your e-reader if it’s backlit up to two hours before bed - this one is what I struggle with most. The light emitted from backlit devices stimulates your brain, in turn making you more awake instead of sleepy.

Environment | Make sure your room is dark, comfortable and the right temperature. You can’t sleep in a bright room or in an uncomfortable bed, and if you're room is too hot or too cold you won’t relax.

How do you avoid a bad nights sleep?


~ Jade xx

This Works deep sleep pillow talk | Review

deep sleep pillow spray

“Insomnia is the chronic inability to fall asleep or remain asleep for an adequate length of time.”

I struggle with sleep and I have done for a number of years. Most night’s I only get around three to four hours sleep which as you probably know, isn’t enough. I’ve tried a number of things in the past to help - even taking herbal remedies as to me ‘sleeping tablets’ are just a no-go - but nothing has seemed to work. I’d heard a lot about the This Works Deep Sleep range and so decided to test out their ‘Deep Sleep Pillow Spray’ and ‘Deep Sleep Stress Less Oil’. Both products are a blend of lavender and chamomile which gives a rich blend of relaxing oils which supposedly help to calm your senses so that you can sleep more easily. 

I ordered the ‘Deep Sleep Pillow Talk’ duo which comes in at £22. In the duo you receive a full sized version of the pillow spray (75ml) and a half size version of the oil (5ml). I ordered mine from ASOS so that I could benefit from my student discount but you can order it straight from the This Works website too, as well as other sites such as beauty-bay etc. £22 may seem like a lot for a pillow spray and an oil however This Works believe in using quality ingredients and don’t ‘water down’ the oils in their products which means you don’t need a lot for good pay off.

You can spray the pillow spray either on your pillow or duvet - I spray it on the top of my duvet as my head never stays on my pillow for long - about half an hour before you plan on going to sleep so that it has time to work into the fabric and isn’t too overwhelming. I normally use around 6-8 sprays to do this and then leave it whilst I brush my teeth and carry out my nighttime skin routine.

The oil comes in a small roller-ball which makes for easy application. The point is to either apply it to your wrists or on a tissue to inhale before sleep. I put it on my wrists as I tend to sleep with my hands close to my face and then it works throughout the night. 

I’ve been using the combination of both products for a few weeks now and I’ve noticed an improvement in my sleep. I’m still not at the stage of a ‘normal’ sleeping pattern but my sleeping has definitely improved although I do still wake up throughout the night and sometimes I still feel just as tired when I wake up because my quality of sleep isn’t that great. Though, these products don’t claim they’ll ‘cure’ sleeping problems it just states they’ll help, which I definitely agree with.

There are other products in the deep sleep also including a balm for lips, elbows and heels, a shower gel, a bath soak, a body oil, a cream and a candle which I would be interested in trying in the future also - they even have a pillow spray for babies, so they have all bases covered.



Have you tried any This Works products before?


~ Jade xx

Photography information

Canon 600D with 18-55mm lens, Canon 24mm lens or Sigma 70-300mm lens. Canon EOS M with 18-55mm lens or Canon 24mm lens. Any edited photos are edited using Photoshop CS6. Picture source is given for any photo used that is not directly ours.