‘We’re built for sleep,’ according to the psychologist Aric Prather, yet many of us still struggle to overcome insomnia. He talks us through his ‘prescription’
any of us are hoping for a happier, healthier life in 2023. We may already be trying lifestyle changes , but for most of us the greatest gains to be had are in sleeping better. Regardless of your specific goal – whether it be to lose weight, reduce stress, get fitter, advance at work, or be a better friend or partner – it is hard to achieve anything when you have had insufficient sleep.
It may be that you have unwittingly formed bedtime habits that promote wakefulness, but before you can change your behaviour, you must become aware of it.Photograph: Iryna Imago/Getty Images/iStockphoto “It’s really about teaching people that one bad night won’t ruin your life,” says Prather. “We’re resilient, we’re built for sleep.”If you are struggling to sleep, it is tempting to “catch up” with a lie-in at the weekends or when you can, but this can backfire by further confusing our internal “drivers” of sleep, says Prather.
“Often people treat their brains and their bodies like laptops: ‘Well, turn it off!’” says Prather. “I wish it was that way … but we need to have an adequate transition.” If, after two hours of winding down, you are still wide awake, it may be that your routine is too stimulating. Prather recommends meditating before bed or listening to gentle music.“Sleep and your daytime experience are intimately intertwined,” says Prather.
If you are concerned about being seen to be shirking, or you feel you are just too busy to step away, Prather suggests reframing it as an investment in your health. “There’s just such a long history, at least in western culture, around the merits of productivity. You have to really make the case that by investing in sleep, it actually improves your productivity in the day.”
The threshold that Prather aims for with his clients is average sleep efficiency of at least 85% for adults aged up to 65, and about 80% for those over 65. “With insomnia, people say they’re tired, but they’re often not sleepy – they just feel bad and fatigued,” says Prather. “That feeling of sleepiness is rare. So that’s why pushing on that drive, that biological need, is so powerful … Then, as they get some success, it helps shift their mindset: ‘Oh, I can sleep. It’s not broken.’”
“Often, people will wake up in the middle of the night, feeling anxious, and it’s due to the fact that their airway was obstructed,” says Prather.
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