Exhaustion is one of the top 3 complaints I hear from midlifers.

Not surprisingly as there’s a lot to fit in this phase of life. By the time work, children, aging parents, errands have all been taken care of, there’s not always much time for self care and sleep. We all know we obviously need sleep, but really, how important is it?

In my experience it’s vitally important. Whether my patients and clients come with the goal of reducing anxiety or pain, losing weight or feeling more energetic through a challenging phase, how much and how well they are sleeping gives much away about their overall health and state of mind. What’s more is that for women, disturbed sleep (not just with hot flushes) can be a sign of perimenopause and if it isn’t resolved can continue for very many years, impacting their hormones even more.

We could try all the nutrition, mindset and yoga in the world, yet would get limited results if we don't get decent sleep. Without this foundation in place, our body literally can’t repair itself and an array of symptoms appear from hormonal imbalances, headaches and low libido to difficulty focusing, chronic exhaustion or burnout. But before (or as well as) reaching for the sleeping pills or HRT, you might want to know how you can help resolve the problem.

Here's 10 tips to check on for a sound nights' sleep:

1. Check the room temperature - 19 degrees is the ideal.

2. Plan the 7-9 hours you need - the iphone has a bedtime app to help you count back. Then plan what time you need to start your wind-down ritual.

3. Limit screen time prior to bedtime for at least 1 hour, longer if you struggle to actually get to sleep. The blue light disrupts melatonin release.

4. Get to bed with the first wave of fatigue if you’ve a tendency to be a night owl like me! Once you miss the cues you’ll get a second wave and regret it the next day.

5. Have a simple bedtime ritual eg. wash and apply favourite cream, 15 mins reading, a minute gratitude once your head hits the pillow. Know how long this takes.

6. Avoid any use of a screen in bed except for a kindle with a night-time mode which has less blue light. Put your phone to bed and avoid TV, or at least only occasional use in the bedroom.

7. Books are definitely best, though decide a clear time to stop, even if it’s a good bit!

8. Consider having a journal by your bed to dump repetitive thoughts that keep spinning around in your head.

9. If you do wake up, avoid turning on lights and ideally use a self guided breathing technique (ie. ideally no phone, apps, lights or books) to help fall back to sleep.

10. Have water by your bed for the next morning. Hydration is a whole other topic, but essentially hydrating optimally in the day helps avoid drinking lots in the evening and hence needing to get up to go to the loo. If you always wake up thirsty it’s a sign that something needs to be addressed - usually either your breathing or hydration. However it can even be a sign of diabetes so shouldn’t be ignored.
    

A two minute sleep health check in:

Here’s 5 questions to ask yourself:

• Did you sleep well last night?

• If not, why not?

• Are both the quality and quantity of your sleep usually optimal?

• Which ONE change from the above tips might improve the way you feel or sleep?

• WHEN are you going to implement it? The firm decision to change is the first step, and much more effective than trying 3 different strategies half heartedly.

There’s immense power in making the decision to up level an area of your health or life. The best thing about an up level in the quality or quantity of your sleep is that is will flow over to every area of your health, life, relationships and performance. There’s isn’t a supplement or medication in the world that is THAT powerful!

Ready to dive in deeper? I can help support your health, hormones, happiness and performance in various ways:

Start with a free 3 minute BREATHE WELL audio to help sleep better, reduce snoring and feel less thirsty in the morning. Instant access HERE.

If you’re ready for deeper support, here’s some current services and programmes:

1. The Hormone and Energy Reset - an online group / private coaching blend for women - open now HERE for 2024 start

2. A Private Coaching Kickstart for men, women and teenagers. Special offer HERE for Autumn 2023

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sally Dibden is a Health, Life and Performance Coach to driven achievers around the globe.  She is the founder of The Wellbeing Consultants™ and HER Space™, a community dedicated to women’s health and performance. She also runs her Physiotherapy and Yoga and Pilates Clinic in France where she lives with her family near Geneva. Sally specialises in supporting and empowering dynamic women to optimise their energy, health, hormones and performance. Her ethos being that optimal success and happiness in whatever leadership role - whether that be as an entrepreneur, busy professional or executive, teacher or parent, comes from optimal holistic health. Sally has worked with thousands of patients and clients over her 25 year career as a therapist and understands the tendency of high achievers to stretch themselves. She helps her clients reach their full potential with mind body balance not burnout, enabling them to enjoy and sustain their energy for all their ambitious goals.