Sleep Well

“Though sleep is called our best friend, it is a friend who often keeps us waiting”Jules Verne If you’re reading this, then you already know how exhausting and frustrating it can be when you can’t sleep. And you’re not alone: one in three people have some kind of sleep problem, and often those problems change at different life stages and for various reasons: anxious teenagers, partying twenty-somethings, sleep-deprived new parents, the overstretched ‘sandwich generation’… and then there’s your hormonally changing fifties to contend with. It’s well documented that a lack of sleep can damage both your mental and physical health, but sleeping pills aren’t always the answer. So what is? We’ve gathered a wide range of sleep experts to explore dozens of options to find the best natural sleep solutions…

MATT HAIG Matt is the bestselling author of Reasons To Stay Alive, and wants us to fall in love with sleep again.  Find Matt on page 9 SUZY READING A psychologist, yoga teacher and author, Suzy’s books include The Self-Care Revolution.  Find Suzy on page 36 DR NEIL STANLEY Sleep expert Neil has 37 years’ experience, and has written a book, How To Sleep Well.  Find Neil on page 28 ANNA BLACK Anna Black teaches mindfulness workshops and is the author of five books on mindfulness. Find Anna on page 46 PROF. ALICE GREGORY Alice is a Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, where she is co-head of the Goldsmiths Sleep Lab.  Find Alice on page 19 DR NERINA RAMLAKHAN Nerina runs sleep programmes at Nightingale Hospital, and is the sleep…

Before 1879, when Thomas Edison came up with the first practical incandescent light bulb, all lighting had been fuelled by gas and oil. The light bulb, heavily promoted via the Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company, literally set the world alight. The bulbs were practical – small and cheap and safe – and emitted just the right amount of light, and began to take off in homes and businesses throughout the world. Human beings had, finally, conquered the night. The dark – the source of so many of our primal fears – could now be negated at the flick of a switch. And now, as our evenings could stay lighter for longer, people increasingly started going to bed later. This didn’t worry Edison at all. Indeed, he saw it…

Until the early 20th century, when we became able to measure brain activity with electroencephalography (EEG), it was believed that during sleep the brain shut down and rested from the activity of the day. However, the reality is very different, and in fact the brain can be more active when we are asleep than when we are awake. Whether we’re awake or asleep depends on activity in specific areas of the brain. The part of the brain that promotes wakefulness also inhibits the part that promotes sleep activity, and vice versa. The shift between the different areas is caused by internal factors such as the circadian rhythm and the release of hormones, and is usually self-regulating. The drive to sleep increases the longer we’re awake, and as we sleep it…

NON-REM SLEEP (NREM) As you move through these three stages, activity in the brain gets slower and slower and your brain’s neurones fire in greater and greater synchrony. Stage 1 N-REM People woken from this stage often believe they have been awake. They don't remember falling asleep. It’s during this phase that we experience hypnic jerks – involuntary twitches. Stage 2 N-REM This makes up the majority of our sleep. Dreaming is less common than in deeper stages and the sleeper is easily awakened. Stage 3 N-REM or short wave sleep (SWS) This is the deepest stage of non-REM sleep. EEG readings show high-amplitude slow oscillations in electrical activity (there are big differences between the peaks and troughs of the graph), reflecting the fact that many neurones in the brain…

1 REM SLEEP BOOSTS CREATIVITY During REM sleep the concentration of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine is twice what it would be when awake. This promotes the altering of connections between neurones, facilitating new links between disparate pieces of information. The Beatles’ classic song Yesterday and the book Frankenstein are said to be products of sleep. 2 DREAMS PERVADE OUR SLEEP The idea that dreams only occur in REM sleep simply isn’t true. We actually have dreams throughout all stages of sleep and even when we’re awake, as daydreams. However, it’s fair to say that dreams are more common in REM than non-REM sleep as well as being more vivid, emotional and bizarre. 3 SLEEP DEPRIVATION IS AN ANTIDEPRESSANT Sleep deprivation leads to a sort of semi-euphoric state and has been used…