“You need to create a positive connection with your bed!” The effects of exercise, stress and Netflix on your sleep, with The Sleep Scientist Dr Sophie Bostock

“When we are tired, we're very susceptible to sleep procrastination. So try and make decisions about sleep when you are not tired.”

 Ten weeks into their Her Spirit Challenge, Donna and Amy discuss how much their lives have changed!

The Sleep Scientist Dr Sophie Bostock joins Louise Minchin to share her expertise on how to sleep well.

In this episode:

• Amy has completed her first 10km run! How running for the first time after a two year break has changed her life
• How to deal with those tricky triathlon transitions
• How to cope with disrupted sleep
• How poor sleep affects men and women differently
• The surprising effect exercise can have on sleep
• Great tips for falling asleep and staying asleep

At Her Spirit we’re here for you.

We want to help you discover your potential, achieve your goals, ignite your fitness, find your community.

Head to herspirit.co.uk and sign up for our Core Membership, get access to our virtual classes, monthly challenges and expert advice. Plus, track your progress in our heath hub and find your very own cheerleading squad who will support you every step of the way.

Use the code HERSPIRITPOD3 and get three months completely FREE.

It’s time for You

Join us at herspirit.co.uk | Instagram | Facebook | Get the Her Spirit App

Transcript

Louise Minchin:

Hello, welcome back to the Her Spirit podcast. I am Louise Minchin and we are back for another update with Donna and Amy, who, if you've been following us over the last few weeks, have been doing a series of podcasts for us to tell us about their challenges. We know that Amy wanted to do a 10 k and she was aiming to do that. Donna wants to do her first sprint triathlon, and what's been really great about the last few weeks, 10 weeks or so, is to see the incredible advancements that they've both made. I've learned loads, we've had various experts along the way. We've got a brilliant one today. We have got a sleep scientist. She's called Dr. Sophie Bostock. She calls herself the sleep scientist. She has actually been on the podcast before, haven't you, Sophie? And she's utterly brilliant. I mean, we all know if you know anything about me I used to present BBC breakfast.

I used to get up at 3.40am. Sleep used to obsess me. It kind of still does, but not in the same way. So we've been following your journeys Donna and Amy, and we've seen lots of updates on the Her Spirit podcast, on the Instagram. We've seen lots of updates. Thank you so much for kind of being really honest with us actually over the last few weeks because I know that I've learned a lot and I know lots of people listening will as well. So I think we just have to start with the breaking news, the big news. Amy has done her 10 K and we're gonna give a round of applause. You're not gonna hear it, won't be on the podcast, but yay Amy. Well done. Just totally utterly brilliant. And I mean, how was it?

Amy:

Yes, I did the 10 K yesterday morning. It was really good. I had a really good run really good time. And yeah, it felt amazing.

Louise Minchin:

No wonder you're still buzzing because you can still, do you still feel the kind of adrenaline or how are you feeling today?

Amy:

A bit of adrenaline. My legs are aching like you wouldn't believe <laugh>. So but yeah, it was it was brilliant.

Louise Minchin:

Okay, we'll come back to how you did on the run because I know it was really super exciting for you. And also what I've loved about these podcasts over the last few weeks is you've both been doing your audio diaries, but let's listen first of your to yours, Amy.

Amy:

It's Tuesday, it's five days until I run 10k. I went out for my normal run this morning and it was just a really bad run. I always, for my first one of the week, my pacing was a bit all over the place and when I came back I think I was a bit dehydrated, which probably didn't help either. 

Hello, it's Thursday this morning. I did my last run before my 10 K and it felt a lot better than my run on Tuesday. So I'm feeling a bit more positive about that. I'm getting a bit nervous now, so I'm trying to plan everything, make sure I've got all my kit ready. So I'm organised for Sunday and I'm not rushing round this morning. I also had the most amazing message from Donna Fraser. Her voice in my ear during the Give Me 5 Challenge has got me through a lot of difficult runs over the last eight weeks. So I'm hoping that I can remember all that she has taught me and I will have a good run on Sunday. 

Hello, I am here and Weymouth ready for my 10K. It's a really nice day. That is where I'm running behind me. I'm really excited now looking forward to it. A bit nervous, but I'm going to have fun.

Louise Minchin:

Was it fun, Amy?

Amy:

It was, it was probably more fun than a lot of my runs that I do, so yeah, it was good.

Louise Minchin:

<Laugh>, Tell us about pacing, because you've had quite a few, you've been learning about pacing, haven't you? How was it for you on the actual day?

Amy:

Yeah, it worked out quite well. So the first sort of two, three kilometres of the run were around like a bumpy field, so it was quite difficult to run on. So that helped me to stay sort of slow down for the first, for the first couple of kilometres anyway. And then, yeah, my pacing was really good up until about six kilometres and then I think I pushed myself a little bit too much, but I got to the end in a good time. So yeah.

Louise Minchin:

Tell us about your time because it, I mean, it's a, it's a really good time. What were you expecting to do or hoping to do?

Amy:

I was expecting about an hour and 20, hoping to do an hour and 15.

Louise Minchin:

And you did

Amy:

Hour and 11. It's just brilliant. Yes, so really good.

Louise Minchin:

Everybody here's giving you massive round of applause and huge smiles on the podcast now. I just think, I just think it's absolutely wonderful. Now, you'd had a couple of dodgy days beforehand, but that message from Donna Fraser kind of really helped. Tell us what, what was that like getting that Brilliant?

Amy:

Obviously during the Give Me 5 Challenge, I've had Donna in my ear three times a week for the last eight weeks sort of encouraging me along and helping me train. Yeah, so to get a message from her was, yeah, was really lovely.

Louise Minchin:

Just a reminder for everybody who's listening Give Me 5 is Her Spirit's own version of Couch to 5k. And I know so many people have loved it and particularly I think it's her doing it. It's her voice, isn't it? And her encouragement, Amy, that makes a difference.

Amy:

Yeah, it's, it's brilliant. I mean, I went from not running for two years to running 10 K in 10 weeks, which yeah, is amazing.

Louise Minchin:

And how do you feel, how do you feel physically? Has it changed you?

Amy:

Yeah, definitely. I think the whole process over the last 10 weeks, I've got so much more energy. My body feels so much better and I think mentally I'm in such a better place as well.

Louise Minchin:

What do you say to people who might be listening thinking, oh gosh, you know, 10 K seems really difficult a long way away, you know, and that kind of position that you were when you first started, what will you say to them? 

Amy:

I think it's, it's like Mel and Holly keep on saying it's about consistency. So if you're consistent over the time and keep on trying, then I think, yeah, you can get there.

Louise Minchin:

I'm listening to you cause as you know, I'm still on my marathon journey, which is the 23rd of April <laugh> and I just, there are hard days. Okay, so Donna, I mean, what, what do you say to Amy cause you've been on this journey with her, you're doing a different journey, but what do you think?

Donna:

I've been so excited for Amy and when she was out doing a run, I was on my bike, so I was on my bike thinking about her and then my watch popped up and I could see it was a message from Amy and I knew at that point that she'd finished. So I was biking along and smiling thinking, yeah, she's done it. <Laugh>

Louise Minchin:

Oh well you've got your own challenges and we'll come to some of the things that you've been dealing with, but let's let's talk about, well I love the audio diaries and I wanna hear yours before we chat. Here we go.

Donna:

Hi everybody. So I'm hear in a hotel gym and I've just finished week four of Couch to Kilos and definitely feeling the benefit of doing this course. And I think consistency has been really good. And one thing that's really helped me is be to be able to use the playback and just do the sessions when I've got time around work.

Donna:

So I'm here at the gym, I'm just about to get out the car and go and try my first cycle and run together. I've started to reflect and think there's only 27 days left now until Leek triathlon. I did actually book myself onto Ribble Valley Triathlon at the end of June. But no, Mel and Hall wanted me to set myself a challenge at the end of the 12 weeks. So I've now found that I'm booked onto two triathlons. So I've just done a 40 minute cycle followed by a five minute run for the first 30 seconds of the run. I could barely move my legs and I feel, I felt as if they needed oil in. I felt as though they were like blocks of wood or tin and I literally just could not run. It was a real struggle and a little bit of a shock. So I'm glad I've had that experience so I know what to expect or hopefully it'll get easier. And it's interesting cause I did see on the planner that Mel had only put five minutes run after the cycle for the first time. And I thought five minutes isn't very long. I completely understand now why you only put five minutes Mel and I want to thank you for that <laugh>.

Louise Minchin:

Oh, oh gosh. So that is so hard. I think people just think, oh, triathlon, they don't just think everybody thinks it's really impressive, but, you know, swim, bike, run. But until you've done that, Donna, what you've done, which is go from a hard bike session to a run session, you have no idea. I mean, I used when it first, when I first did it, I felt like my, I was running through deep wet sand. It's horrific, isn't it?

Donna:

It's awful. I actually sent Mel and Holly a picture of the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz because that's exactly how I felt that I needed oiling <laugh>.

Louise Minchin:

And I mean, to be honest with you, I don't think 30 seconds is bad. It's lasted a lot longer for me. So I think you're doing all right,

Donna:

But I could barely move in those 30 seconds. And when you're in a gym and there's people surrounding you, if I had been on my own, I might have felt different. Yeah, it's, it has got easier I must say it has got. 

Louise Minchin:

And tell me about Mel and Holly <laugh>, I love the way you call them Mel and Hot, by the way. That could be their new names now, moving your goal posts and bringing them forward.

Donna:

So I, I thought I was being super organised and when I heard I'd got on the podcast, I booked the first triathlon for the end of June Ribble Valley thinking, that's great, it gives me six months. But no, they weren't having any of that. It was, no, you need to do one at the end of 12 weeks. So I'm gonna be on doing two now, but hey ho <laugh> I'll be prepared. I'm sure.

Louise Minchin:

And do you feel ready?

Donna:

So on the weekend I did a 10 mile cycle and then I got off the bike and I ran a mile and a half. So that's the most I've done so far. And it, it was a struggle. The, the first part of the run was a struggle, but then as my joints eased up a little bit, it got a a lot easier. So it, my mind feels positive after the weekend.

Louise Minchin:

Well, I'm not a scientist, but I think it's to do with the, your blood circulation and your using different muscles. So that's all I just think is it's gonna, it will get better. I know this feels horrific, but it will get better. Anything else you're concerned about? For example, getting out of the swim to the bike. Are you okay with that?

Donna:

So on Friday evening, I went to East Lake Beginner's course along with Susie Bailey from Her Spirits also joining for her first triathlon. So we listened to all the dos and don'ts and we actually had a session in the pool as well. So I think that helped us because there were strong swimmers, not so strong swimmers. And if I'm honest, after all of our coaching and swimming lessons, I think we, we did, we did really well. Actually. I think it gave us a little bit of a boost, so it gives us a little bit of confidence.

Louise Minchin:

<Laugh> well done. I love that cheeky little smile. That's good, isn't it? You see, it's all about, you know, it's all about try, it's all about, you know, experiencing these things because you know, now you've done that, you'll have, you know, and like you say your coaching sessions what would I say? I would say don't, you don't necessarily have to practice actually putting all your different clothes on, but practice putting them all in the different piles and thinking, okay, so in the swim I'm gonna have that, and then I'm gonna put, you know, just put them in piles so that they're ready. So there's so much organisation in triathlon. Oh, I have to, I'm gonna do self publicity here. You got my book, haven't you? Chapter 14 of Dare to Try. I think it's chapter 14. You can correct me if I'm wrong. I wrote, which I thought was the most boring chapter, which was a list of everything to take. And every time I go to a triathlon, I get my book off the shelf, it's over there. And look at chapter 14 because there's just, honestly the list is enormous and I just thought it was really boring, but actually it's, it's sort of brilliant. And you'll have your own, you know, you'll probably add lipstick to your list. I don't have my lipstick on mine <laugh>.

Anyway, well done. And Couch to Kilos. Oh, just yeah, briefly. On your saddle, we had long discussion last podcast about all sorts of interesting things, didn't we? Saddles getting yourself a pair of cycling shorts also perhaps to put on your undercarriage. How have you done?

Donna:

I'm, I'm prepared. I haven't bought a new saddle though yet, so I've, I probably need to look at that, but I think because I'm practicing more, I'm getting a little bit more comfortable on the bike.

Louise Minchin:

Yeah. And I would I mean you'd, you know, I'd go shorts at first because they're probably, are they gonna be less expensive? Possibly, are you definitely gonna need new shorts or cycling shorts? Anyway. Absolutely brilliant. So I just wanted to remind you all Donna and Amy have been posting throughout their journeys all about their progress, their challenges, their successes regularly on Instagram at Her Spirit UK. Go and say hello. And also I think what's become really obvious here, you've mentioned, haven't you, Donna, other people from Her Spirit having a support group, having how I'm gonna call her a Mel <laugh> guiding you along and the Her Spirit app and all amazing things. It's really, really helpful. So do get involved. There's so much advice there. Now, one of the things I mentioned at the top of this podcast is about sleep. And I know, I know it's very important, Donna, how do you sleep?

Donna:

I'm better now that I'm on HRT I, I'm, I won't say I'm there completely, but I'm better than I was probably 12 to 18 months ago.

Louise Minchin:

So that's dealing with menopausal symptoms with hormone replacement therapy. Amy, how about you?

Amy:

I sleep quite well. I go to sleep really easily. I've got a five year old who wakes up quite frequently in the night. So I do struggle to get back to sleep once I've been up with her. But yeah, normally, okay,

Louise Minchin:

Well, I mean, I think disruptive sleep is really very exhausting. Let's speak to an expert, Dr. Sophie Bostock, the sleep scientist, Sophie you've been so sweet, smiling along to all their their successes and it's been, it's been such fun to be part of their journeys. Let's start with disrupted sleep. I mean, how much of an impact does that have on us?

Dr Sophie Bostock:

Oh, look, we all know that we can feel a bit wretched the next day. I think it's really important to keep things in perspective, though many of us, you know, if you have small children, if you have hormonal fluctuations, if it's just noisy or your partner snores, there's all sorts of reasons that your sleep can be disrupted. And the occasional poor night's sleep now and again, you know, yes, it might make you feel a bit irritable the next day, but it's not gonna have any long-term impacts. So don't worry about it too much, just go about your day as normal. And rest assured that after one bad night's sleep, if you do nothing the following night, your sleep will actually be deeper to compensate. And I think one of the ways that we we go wrong is that we actually become more anxious after a bad night's sleep.

And we think, oh, I better change something up. I'll go to bed early when your body's not actually ready for rest. And if you get into bed before your body clock is ready for, for tuning out, then actually it can mean that you are just lying there waiting to sleep and getting frustrated, which can kickstart a bit of a negative cycle. So the first thing I'd say is don't be overly worried about the occasional bad night sleep. It hits us all. Be kind to yourself, be aware that you're a bit more emotional, maybe going to find it a little bit less easy to remember things. And yeah, take it easy.

Louise Minchin:

Do you find a difference between the way women report their sleep and men report sleep or the way they do sleep? Do you see what I mean? Is there kind of, are there differences?

Dr Sophie Bostock:

It's actually really fascinating. So if you look at the statistics, women have more fragmented sleep, they complain more about their sleep they're more likely to suffer from insomnia. So on average looking across the general population around one in four women will report insomnia, whereas one in six will, men will report insomnia. So that's a chronic difficulty sleeping. But when you actually get men and women into the lab and you plug electrodes onto their brain, it actually seems that women tend to have deeper sleep than men. And this is a real kind of mystery actually. So although we perceive that we have less good sleep when you actually look at the objective data, we seem to sleep pretty well.

Louise Minchin:

<Laugh>, I, I, you see, I'd argue that as well. I'd say that I sleep much less than my husband, but you're probably right. Okay. Tell us what we can do, because there's so much chat these days, isn't there around sleep hygiene and do you have like a top five thing list of things we should do?

Dr Sophie Bostock:

Whew. Top five, top 10. I mean, there's so many ways that you can make subtle, subtle changes that will improve your sleep and I'm, I'm kind of a bit intrigued as to whether Amy and Donna have noticed any improvements in their sleep since they started more training. Do, am I allowed to ask that? And you can be completely honest because actually doing more exercise can be a blessing and a curse. So hopefully regular exercise is going to improve the depth of your sleep. Cause one of the reasons that we sleep is for growth and recovery. And if you're putting your body through more strain, the chances are your sleep should be a bit deeper as a result, which is great. But if you take it too far, if you overtrain, you can actually up the sympathetic nervous system that kind of fight or flight. And some people can actually find that their sleep is more disrupted. So I am intrigued as to whether you've noticed any differences.

Louise Minchin:

Donna, you go first.

Donna:

So I, I would say that I feel that I'm falling asleep really quickly. I think soon as my head, hits a pillow within, you know, five minutes or so. I'm like, I'm out. Where before it probably took me a little while to get to sleep. So I think I'm definitely tireder, I would say on an evening.

Dr Sophie Bostock:

Brilliant. That and that totally makes sense. So there's, so what exercise does we, as we expend more energy, we build up more of this chemical in the brain called adenosine that makes you feel drowsy. And effectively the more activity you do during the day, the more builds up. So by the time you get to bedtime, hopefully you've built up this more of a sleep pressure and many people will find it easier to fall asleep. So great science backs you up, Donna. That's, that's going well. I'm glad. What about you Amy?

Amy:

I mean like Donna, I do tend to go straight to sleep when I go to bed and I do tend to sleep quite well. And I think when I am waking up in the night, I think I'm getting back to sleep quicker than I was. I think obviously exercise as well, I think helps to de-stress me a bit as well. So I think I have less worrying.

Dr Sophie Bostock:

That is a really good point. And I was gonna say that for most people who wake up during the night, I mean it's very natural to wake up during the night. We sleep in cycles and typically every 70 to 120 minutes there will be a period of lighter sleep. And so if you get woken by noise or perhaps a change in temperature or hormones, it's very normal to wake up. And the real challenge is falling back to sleep again as, as quickly as possible. And it's usually stress that actually interferes with falling back to sleep. So stress when it kind of, when you turn up that stress dial, the level of arousal in the brain and body is elevated <laugh>. And, and so when you wake up you don't just wake, you kind of wake up bing and you're just, you know, wide awake. This is a very common problem.

And so anything that you can do to de-stress during the day, and particularly in that last kind of hour or so before you get into bed, is going to help to dial down that stress response and make it easier to fall back to sleep. So exercise is one of those wonderful things that improves endorphins, reduces the stress response, but there are lots of other things as well. Relaxation techniques. If you're doing loads of exercise, you know, a regular yoga practice is awesome. I did my yoga instructor course before Christmas and I'm a, a real proponent of regular stretching. I think particularly for runners. And cyclists, you know, wherever you are potentially straining muscles, yoga's really gonna help. But also just a warm bath. We were talking just before the podcast about the joys of ice baths. That's all very well for muscle recovery, but actually before bed, a warm bath is very soothing.

And what it does is it helps to actually cool your core body temperature because you push your blood flow to the extremities when you're in a warm bath or shower. And the consequence is that your core, your kind of central body temperature starts to cool. And in order to get into a deep sleep, we need our core body temperature to cool. So anyone who does intensive exercise before getting into bed may well find that it's harder to fall asleep. And part of that is simply because of that increase in body temperature, we've gotta be able to cool down to get into and stay in a deep sleep. 

Louise Minchin:

It's all so fascinating. I'm the only person I ask Holly, Mel, this you two Donna and Amy, I'm struck you both go to sleep really quickly. I seem to take ages to get to sleep.

Dr Sophie Bostock:

Well, this is one of the the myths around sleep. Actually. If you fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow, this is very often a sign of sleep deprivation. If you are falling asleep within five minutes of getting into bed, the chances are actually could probably benefit from a bit more sleep. So if you are kind of sat next to someone like that, you can just feel a little bit smug that actually maybe they are a bit short on sleep, anything from kind of 15, 20 minutes to fall asleep, really normal. If it's taking regularly more than half an hour, then you might wanna kind of look at at your sleep habits. And one thing is don't get into bed until you are sleepy tired. When you actually feel your eyelids getting heavy, perhaps a little bit itchy, you know, that's a cue that actually your body is ready for bed.

What we want is to have a really positive mental association between our beds and sleep. So if you get into bed at a time when you're really not sleepy, your brain actually starts to associate your bed as a place of being awake. So when you do wake up during the night, you kind of sit there wide awake. So one of the recommendations for people who with a, a chronic sleep problem is only to get into bed when you're sleepy, tired, only to use your bed for sleep and sex and nothing else. No work, no emails, e even reading, some people are kind of like, oh, read outside of the bed. I, I think reading is is absolutely fine if you're just using it to drop off. But basically if you are not sleepy, get out of bed. And just, you know, create that positive connection.

Louise Minchin:

That's so interesting Amy. And, and Donna, can I ask you a question, Amy, do you have like a set bedtime? Is there a particular time you go to bed? Is it kind of like a routine?

Amy:

I normally go to bed quite early, so normally I go to bed about nine cause we're normally up about half five, six. So yeah, I normally go, it's normally about, yeah, nine half nine.

Louise Minchin:

And what about you Donna?

Donna:

So mine can be any time from half past 10 to quarter past 11, I would say.

Louise Minchin:

Yeah, there, I mean I think there's a, you know, I mean I'm later than both of you. Is it important, Sophie, that we keep to a sort of similar time going to bed?

Dr Sophie Bostock:

I mean, routine is great for sleep. Mostly we talk about anchoring your wake time as the kind of core behaviour. So what that does is it helps all of your internal body clocks your circadian rhythms to work together. And so if you're waking up at the same time every day, your brain actually starts to anticipate the time that you're gonna wake up and you get this lovely burst of cortisol, which is an energising hormone even before you wake up. And so you wake up before that alarm feeling full of energy. But when you have a very haphazard rhythm, the brain can't do that, can't anticipate what's gonna happen next, and that's when you're more likely to feel kind of more groggy in the morning. You don't feel hungry at mealtimes, you perhaps struggle to fall asleep. So definitely wake up time, keep that as regular as possible.

But I would say while you might wanna wind down at the same time each evening, in an ideal world, don't feel bad if you are not completely sleepy at the same time each day because it really does depend on what we've done. If you've had a heavy training load that day, chances are you might feel a bit sleepy a bit earlier. If you had a very mentally or emotionally challenging day, you might find yourself getting tired earlier. Whereas actually, if you've had a bit of a yeah day, you might not feel tired. And that's where, you know, tune into your body, see how you feel give yourself a little bit of a leeway. Our body clocks can transition by about an hour every 24 hours. So either side of a kind of hour's window is completely normal to kind of shuffle your sleep a little bit.

Louise Minchin:

Mm-Hmm and final thing I suppose is, you know, there's that whole thing, isn't there? You mentioned Amy waking up in the night. We know that Holly's a bit of a waker up in the nighter. I am as well cause there is, I think there must be a sort of critical moment. Sometimes you can wake up and go straight back to sleep, can’t you? And sometimes your, your brain starts doing the buzzing. So is there anything we can do in that moment to make a difference, do you think?

Dr Sophie Bostock:

Okay, so before the buzzing takes hold, just do a little check in with yourself. You know, do you need the toilet? Do you just need to kind of cool down a little bit? Do you need a sip of water? Make sure you're comfortable and then say to yourself the word ‘the’ two seconds later, say it again, ‘the’.

Louise Minchin:

You're sending me to sleep, Sophie. It's perfect.

Dr Sophie Bostock:

This is a very effective thought blocker. <Laugh>. Well it only works if you're really quite groggy already, but it's so much less interesting than counting sheep. If you're a little bit more awake, then my personal recommendation is for a, a little bit of slow breathing. So what I found, I'm generally a really good sleeper, but if I have anything stressful, I don't know, kind of a big race the next day or going on TV or something then I might wake up during the night and then I have to just say to myself to just keep it, keep it calm, concentrate on my breathing, and I breathe in for count of one and out for count of two, breathe in through the nose for one holes and out for a count of two. And what happens is when we breathe in, our heart rate sort of speeds up a little bit.

When we breathe out, our heart rate slows down a little bit. So if you breathe out a little bit more slowly than you breathe in, you automatically gradually slow the heart rate down. And if you just do a couple of rounds of that either then maybe add one each time. So I'll breathe in for two out for three in for three out for four, and then a moment that you feel like that's a bit of a struggle, just come back to one and two. And I found a couple of rounds of that. And honestly, then the alarm goes off and that, that's it. So, so yeah, slow your breath down, distract yourself.

Louise Minchin:

The one thing I'm gonna take away from this podcast is ‘the, the’ , I mean, it's just so boring, isn't it? Absolutely brilliant. That's great. Oh, brilliant. Listen thank you so much.

Dr Sophie Bostock:

It’s not great podcast.

Louise Minchin:

No, no. Do you know what the most brilliant thing about It's utterly memorable for its boringness, it's perfect <laugh>. I, although sheep are now out the window, but in a nice way. Right before we go, I just, it's all about community here on Her Spirit and you too. Amy and Donna have just been so brilliant. I know there's lots of people that you've inspired along the way and Sophie we're gonna play you some of the her spirit community's suggestions for how to sleep. And I'd love your reaction afterwards.

Community Messages:

My thing that helps me get some real restful sleep is a bit of white noise and I like to listen to sounds of the ocean, some natural waves crashing through and I can feel like I'm at the beach, but also helps my mind to switch off and helps me to sleep, which has not been too bad recently.

Community Messages:

My top tip is never ever look at your phone. The light from your phone interacts with your brain or something like this and then it just makes you completely wired. Second tip, but is always listen to an audiobook. Try to keep your eyes closed. So try to keep the light down. Try not to read too much if you, if you do want to engage your brain, try listening to something that's, that's quite useful. Then I always find listening to calming meditation helps me feel rested and relaxed. I use Calm and Headspace and I think they're amazing.

Community Messages:

So 90% of the time I make sure I'm in bed by 10.30pm. I have a read for 20 minutes or so, try and keep off my phone, try and keep any stress outta my head for a couple of hours before I go to bed. I have a 20 minute walk with the dogs in the dark or before I go to sleep I have the window wide open, blackout curtains, not too many heavy covers and just just generally keep the same routine most evenings of the week.

Community Messages:

My top tips for sleep personally are to go to bed and get up at the same time or a very similar time each day, even at the weekend. So my body is used to a routine, no caffeine after one o'clock as a general rule for me. So I know that I haven't got caffeine in my system to keep me awake. I also like to journal journal my thoughts brush away any negativity and go to bed with some more positive thoughts. Also do some deep breathing. So to sort of calm my body down when I go to bed. And I'm also really fond of a nice bath.

Community Messages:

I try not to have a phone in my bedroom. I think the phone is a massive temptation, especially if it buzzes on alert. So I always have my phone on silent pretty much all of the time. Yeah, I have an old-fashioned, just a normal alarm clock. Keep the phone downstairs and always sleep a lot better.

Louise Minchin:

Well Sophie, I mean you've given us some great advice, but those pretty good tips, aren't they? What would you pick out for us?

Dr Sophie Bostock:

Absolutely, I think they're great. I think, you know, we talked about routine. I think those, those ideas for stress reduction, I think a lot of people do find it helpful to listen to something. I would recommend if you are listening to stories, to music before Bed, do set a timer just simply so that you do allow your auditory system time to relax overnight as well. White noise is maybe a little bit different. It can be used to mask other sounds. So if you want low level white noise as a background noise, that can be helpful. I have to admit, I've, I've come across a number of people recently who struggled with tinnitus, which is that ringing in your ears that you can get. And some people actually experience that going through menopause and something like white noise can be very helpful or just, yeah, gentle sounds of the ocean to so that you're not in complete silence. Cause actually people can find that quite difficult. But overall great tips

Louise Minchin:

And the phones bin them!

Dr Sophie Bostock:

The phones, everyone knows this. The more tired we are, the less self-control we have. And so, you know, make that decision when you are not tired. And this is where routine is really helpful cause if you know that at nine o'clock every night you're gonna switch your phone off, let it charge you in the kitchen or something, not in your bedroom, then you are in that routine and you don't have to make a conscious choice. The problem comes when we are already tired and we can't be bothered to stop. This is what, why Netflix does that automatically playing the next episode thing. It it just, you know, when we are tired, we're very susceptible to sleep procrastination. So try and make the decisions about sleep when you are not tired.

Louise Minchin:

Absolutely brilliant advice, isn't it Amy and Donna, so before we go whizz forward next week, what, what's your plans, Amy? Are you gonna, you know, is it marathons next? What's it gonna be?

Amy:

So I am booked on to do a half marathon in October.

Louise Minchin:

<Laugh>. I love you for that. That's amazing Amy

Amy: 

So I've, I've got seven months to train this time rather than 10 weeks. 

Louise Minchin:

How do you feel?

Amy:

Yeah, I'm excited now. I'm a bit more positive after it yesterday as well. So yeah, looking forward to the training.

Louise Minchin:

Listen, massive, massive congratulations. We will of course keep following you and we're gonna speak to you next week anyway for our final one. Donna, what about you?

Donna:

So just continuing to pick up the cycling and running together. So that's my focus as well as keeping the strength classes going and hopefully some swimming as well.

Louise Minchin:

And fast forward to how many weeks is it now before the Sprint tri?

Donna:

It's the 26th of March, so it's fast approaching.

Louise Minchin:

Donna. Well done. Amy, you're just, honestly, it's been so brilliant to see you and see the change in you as well. Well done guys. Thank you so much. I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Thank you so much for listening. Dr. Sophie Boston, her website will be in the show notes. She's got so many brilliant pointers for all of us. Just two weeks to go for Donna and Amy. I do love the Good luck messages. Now for the half marathon that Amy has signed up to, which I'm just in awe of. If you want to challenge yourself for 2023, you can of course find regular updates, reminders of all our different challenges we've got going on and some great advice and encouragement at herspirit.co.uk or on the Her Spirit app. And thank you so much for listening everyone. I'm Louise Minchin. The next episode of the Her Spirit podcast will arrive in two weeks time. Who knows what everyone would've, would've done by them. Thank you. Take Care. See you soon.