Audacious Health

I don’t know about everyone else, but I have had some difficulty with sleep in the last week.  Sleep is a topic we’ve often mentioned – why – because it is so important.  A lack of sleep negatively affects your wellbeing, and with a less than ideal mental and physical state, it starts to negatively impact other areas in our lives - like forgetting things, doing things slower than normal, etc.  

So, during winter, we suggest that you maintain good digestive health, maintain exercise and keep up good sleep habits so that you wake well rested and energized for the day.

Below are some of the things we have found that make a difference for getting good sleep during Winter.

•Keep hydrated throughout the day.  Keep the water up and switch your caffeinated beverages for herbal tea.

•Find a winter fitness routine that works for you.  Getting up early for an early morning jog during winter can be harder – it’s darker and colder.  Choose a different time or do some other exercise at home in the morning.  Remember, physical activity is important for getting restorative sleep at night.

•Don’t exercise too close to bedtime and have your night shower at least an hour before you go to bed.

•Eat earlier during winter.  Avoid eating close to bedtime – a full tummy can keep tossing and turning.

•Moisturise before going to bed.

•Meditate, listen to relaxing music or read a book before going to bed.

•When in bed to go to sleep, visualize yourself having a good night’s rest and the time you want to wake.  Instead of thinking about any of the day’s worries, allow yourself to reflect on the things you are grateful for and if you are mind is restless, count sheep backwards from 100.

•Aim to go to bed to sleep at the same time each night, when you are tired.

•Have a dark, quiet and electronic free bedroom environment with a comfortable temperature.

 

Well.  Winter is here and I’ll not go on about the cold.  Needless to say warming, nourishing foods are the go.  Rest is recommended.  Chinese Medicine says wearing a singlet (camisole for the feminine fashionistas) will help to keep your kidneys warm and it’s what my Mum always said so it must be true.

 

But what about the emotional aspects of Winter?  Shorter days, less warmth and less sunlight can create a challenging situation….   In the world of TCM (Traditional Chines Medicine) and acupuncture we see more people with sadness, “the blues” and receiving a diagnosis of depression from their doctor in Winter.

 

Well before our modern understanding of conditions such as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Chinese Medicine identified a disturbance in the Kidney energy due to Winter cold effected out mood.

 

Whilst we don’t have long, wet winters here (leave that for England) we do have a life that is often centred around outdoor activities.  In short we love to be out in the sun having fun and cold short days don't help in that regard.

 

So here are our top 5 tips for starting a Winter day

 

1.     Resist the urge to sleep in; get up and be active– activity on waking helps set you up for the day.

2.     Hydrate – In winter we still need to hydrate with quality fluids after waking.  Soup for breakfast?

3.     Sunshine.  There might be less of it but it’s important to get out in the sun in the morning (as soon as possible after waking) to keep your sleep cycle synced up.

4.     Eat a healthy breakfast.  So important in Winter.

5.     Implement self care early.  Meditate, exercise do whatever you do to help yourself first so it doesn't get missed in a short Winter day.

Fearless..  Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) provides interesting insights into emotions.  

A little background..

TCM identifies emotions as very real energies that have a place in the human body and are capable of causing a variety of physical and mental conditions when out of balance.

This might seem quite at odds with the Western science view of emotions but recent studies have shown that the brain doesn't have a monopoly on memory and emotions - other organs do have the capability to "remember" and "feel".  Interesting stuff...

Back to fearlessness.  TCM sees the kidney as the "home" of fear with the emotion of fear effecting the kidneys and challenges to the kidney energy tending us towards fear.

Looking after the kidneys may support us with processing the emotion of fear:

Not too revolutionary I suppose to say that looking after ourselves can help support our mental and emotional health but sometimes the simple advice is the best..

  

Sleep is one of those bodily functions like digestion, elimination or healing that is often taken for granted ... until there is a disturbance in the process.  The importance of sleep becomes very clear, very quickly when it stops working..

Whilst modern science doesn't fully understand the role of sleep; more and more studies are showing the links between healthy sleep and general health.  

Health sleep has been associated with factors such as:

Chinese medicine has always valued sleep.  Disturbances in sleep in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) were viewed in romantic terms such as being caused by Shen (Heart/Mind) Disturbance and Liver Fire Disturbing the Mind.  All these concepts are very helpful in clinic and acupuncture certainly has a place in helping with sleep disturbance.

7 Tips for better sleep..