Sleep Resources

The benefits of improving the quality of your sleep:

1. Improved immune system strength; means you are more robust and resistant.
2. Improve your mood and energy levels, so you don't need to rely on coffee and sugars to wake you up and keep you focused and productive.
3. With better sleep, you make better food choices because you have less food cravings
4. Optimising hormones for fat loss.
5. Staying in shape is more manageable.

Tracking

Tracking your sleep will help you notice what sleeping habits affect your sleep duration and quality the most.

The app I've used since 2014 is Sleep Cycle. One of the most useful features is the recording of noise, including shoring, which is good to know to help you optimise your sleeping positions, particular if for instance you need to adjust your pillows and head position to decrease snoring.

Another great features is how your can set a wake up time window or phase of 10, 15, 20 or 30mins. That way the app listens to you and uses that data to wake you while you are in the lighter phases of sleep, which is very useful in situations where stress reduction is a priority.

I tried a few other sleep apps when I first started tracking my sleep,
Sleep Cycle is one I stuck with because simple, yet effective.

Find Sleep Cycle App: IOS / Apple - UK Link / US Link or for Android

Home Lighting

Himalayan Salt Lamp, are great for reducing light levels as they can help induce sleep with their orange glow.
We have five in total, including two in the bedroom and living room. Link To View
Do not get the USB/LED versions; it’s best to purchase those that use incandescent bulbs, I prefer those that have a 15w bulb.

Automatic Lighting, I use timer switches to automate lighting in all areas of the house, which is a great way to make habits fail safe: these are great.

Under the kitchen cabinets, I have an RGB LED strip light set on the orange setting, it's like having a sunset in the kitchen.

The salt crystal lamps that we have dotted around the house serves as a great reminder to turn off or not use the main lights.

Reducing Blue Light Exposure

When you reduce your dusk / early evening blue light exposure, it will help to activate your natural sleep rhythm.
This means you will feel sleepy when it gets dark; this is one of the most important triggers to deep restorative sleep.

Here are my top tips for reducing blue light exposure:

I use Flux for my MacBook Pro / Windows

Set your iPhone to Night Shift, or adjust the Night Light to Sunset to Sunrise on Android. to reduce blue light-induced circadian disruption further.

Here's a browser extension that helps add Super Dark Mode

Reduce Sleep Interference.

There is something that only some consider regarding sleep quality. It interferes with your sleep patterns due to EMF, which stands for Electromagnetic Fields.

I'm talking about the electrical and magnetic frequencies from your mobile phone, wifi router, and cordless home phone ( as well as cell towers ).

Here are my basic tips:

1. Switch the mobile onto aeroplane mode 1 hour before bed and back on one hour after waking
2. Move any cordless phones away from the bedroom
3. Use a timer switch ( link above ) to turn your wifi router off during the night

Unfortunately, we are constantly surrounded by EMFs, so it's hard to get away from all EMFs all together,
however even a small reduction can have huge positive effects on your health.

It's well worth implementing my tips above if you are committed and determined to build a body you are proud of!