Do you get enough sleep? Do you know how poor sleep can be affecting you?
March sees 2 sleep awareness events - World Sleep Day (#WorldSleepDay), which in 2025 is March 14 and Sleep Awareness Week, which runs from March 9th to 15th, 2025. Both events aim to raise the awareness of the importance of good quality sleep.
But what do we mean by "good quality sleep"? It's not just having 7-8 hours in bed every night. It's how much of that time is actually spent sleeping. If it takes you ages to drop off, if your mind continues to buzz, if you regularly wake up throughout the night and then maybe struggle to get back to sleep then you're not getting a quality sleep. If this is a regular sleep pattern for you, then it's probably doing you harm mentally and physically.
In 2025, the theme for World Sleep Day is Make Sleep Health A Priority. So, ignore Bon Jovi's "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" song and prioritise your sleep health now!
What are the effects of poor sleep?
The purpose of sleep is to refresh your body and cleanse your mind, repair and rejuvenate cells, consolidate memories and process emotions. When we have poor sleep, we're not refreshed the next day. This can affect us in a whole range of ways including:
Tiredness
Inability to make decisions
Reducing attention span / inability to focus
Lack of productivity
Reduction in reaction time and alertness
Forgetting things
And that's just in the short-term. Long term effects of regular poor sleep can include risk of:
Heart disease
Strokes
Diabetes
Dementia
Alzheimer's
If you have poor sleep more than 3 times a week and the symptoms have lasted longer than 3 months, you could be suffering from chronic insomnia and should seek advice from your doctor. Chronic insomnia can lead to fatigue, mood swings, cognitive difficulties and depression, leading to time off work.
Sleep is as important as eating well and exercising to maintain a healthy mind and body yet treatment of common sleep disorders such as chronic insomnia are some of the most neglected medical conditions. Events such as World Sleep Day and Sleep Awareness Week are needed to educate us on the importance of good quality sleep and how it impacts our lives.
What can I do to sleep better?
The National Sleep Foundation recommends the following daily routine:
Spend time in natural daylight
Exercise regularly - aim for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week for a deeper sleep
Eat meals at regular times each day
Avoid heavy meals, nicotine, caffeine and alcohol before bed
Use a consistent, relaxing wind-down routine each night
Put phones and other devices away an hour before bed and sleep in a quiet, cool and dark room
You could also try meditation or a nice relaxing massage, aromatherapy or reflexology with me at Body & Sole Therapy. These can all help improve your sleep as well as providing some relaxing me-time. You can check out the availability and book yourself in using this link:
Sleep well!