The five principles of good sleep health - By Colin A Espie.

You know that a good night's sleep is good for you. When you sleep well, you feel better and have more energy. But getting a good night's sleep is more than something nice to have.

 Did you know it is essential to your health and wellbeing?

 As Colin A Espie wrote in his article, our physical bodies need four essential elements to survive:

• Oxygen to breathe, 
• Water to hydrate, 
• Food for nourishment,
• Sleep to function. 

 So many of us will ensure we have good fresh air each day, proper hydration and proper nutrition. But we don't focus on our sleep. Why is that?

 I bet the answer is different for each person.

 Let's look at the five principles he proposes for good sleep health. See if you can't identify which principle you need to look closely at to improve your sleep.

Principle #1: Value your Sleep

Do you value your sleep? If sleep is one of the essential physiological ingredients we need to live our lives, shouldn't we value it as much as other things in our lives? Sleep plays a significant role in so many aspects of our lives. Once we realize how important sleep is to our daily function (both physically and mentally), it is easier to value our sleep.

Principle # 2: Prioritize your sleep

What does it mean to prioritize our sleep? It is not just good thoughts and great intentions. It is taking ACTION to make sure we get to bed on time. When we remember that the purpose of sleep is to deliver health, wellbeing and the ability to function in the day, it becomes much easier to prioritize our sleep.

Principle # 3:  Personalize your sleep.

Each person will need a different amount of sleep to function optimally. Also, each person will have a bedtime hour. It all depends on if you are a night owl or an early bird. It also depends on what time you need to wake up in the morning. If you have to get to work by a particular hour, you need to personalize your sleep to get enough hours for your body. It's all trial and error. By trying different routines, you will feel what works best for you. 

Principle # 4: Trust your sleep.

Once you've figured out the amount of sleep and the best sleep window for you, then it's time to trust your sleep. Remember that sleep is a natural process, and our bodies are biologically wired to sleep when we give it all the right conditions. A "good sleeper" doesn't worry about sleep. He knows it will come once he gets into bed.  

Principle # 5: Protect your sleep.

Once you have your sleep figured out, it's vital to protect it. You can do this by shielding yourself from things that can cause some disruption in your sleep. We know we can shield ourselves from everything, but focus on the things we can control in our life at this moment. Create boundaries and communicate those boundaries with the people in your life, so they know you are protecting your sleep.

Want to know more about how you can apply these five principles in your own life?

 I would love to chat with you.   

 These five ideas are straightforward to understand. But just because we know them, it doesn't mean we know how to apply them to the unique nature of our lives.

That is the reason why I have created the Optimal Sleep Assessment. It is a free 20-minute session in which we can figure out which of these five is the biggest struggle and what you can do to get better sleep. Because in the end, it is not about understanding the importance of getting a good night's sleep but instead getting restorative healing sleep.

Sign up today for your free Optimal Sleep Assessment. The sooner you do it, the sooner you will sleep better and wake up more refreshed.