Sleep: It's How We Should Be Spending A Third Of Our Time Every Day

 

Tips from Dr. Winters' book have been helpful
to many of my clients, and I've recommended
his book to my colleagues as well.

I was introduced to Dr. W. Chris Winter's book on sleep by a client who came to me with a history of insomnia she had suffered for decades. She wondered if this resource by a University of Virginia sleep specialist might be helpful, and asked me to coach her in working together at her problem.

I ordered the book and read much of it before our next session, at which she reported having already made great progress in being able to sleep better due to the help she got from Winter's book

Here are some of the key points:

1. Getting enough sleep has a profound affect on almost every aspect of our physical and emotional health. 

2. Some form of anxiety is a key underlying factor in preventing good sleep, including anxiety about not being able to sleep well. 

3. People who report having insomnia are often getting more sleep than they realize, and are often worrying about it far more than necessary. He recommends that we seek to simply rest. Sleep will come.

4. Since we require sleep for survival just as we require oxygen, water and food, our bodies are naturally designed to crave sleep. We don’t have to try to make that craving happen, but rather focus on addressing factors that interfere with good sleep, such as:

    a. too much caffeine

    b. too much food or physical exercise just before bedtime

    c. naps during the day (if you nap, keep it short and do it earlier, rather than later, in the day)

    d. over-reliance on sleep aids (Dr. Winter doesn’t recommend any regular use of such, period)

    e. too much light, noise, etc., in the bedroom (having TV or other media on, for example)

    f. inconsistent bedtimes

    g. shift work

5. Suggested plan for people with sleep difficulty:

    a. Determine a time you want to stick to for getting up every morning. 

    b. Based in that time, go to bed at a time that will allow for only 5 1/2 hours of sleep at first.

    c. Avoid naps, sleep aids and other things mentioned in point 4 above.

    d. Don’t deviate from the plan except for gradually going to bed earlier as your body begins to demand it. No sleeping in!

Feel free to post your own recommendations.