You deserve to rest

Learning about sleep and how important it is was an eye opener for me. Sorry about the wording but I couldn’t help myself, lol.

All jokes aside, I haven’t slept much for such a long time that I hadn’t thought about how it could be affecting me.

We all deserve to have a good night’s sleep; we all need to rest well to restore ourselves in different areas.

Prioritise sleep

I sleep in a lounge room so I needed to learn to sleep well. I thought I would dive into a deep sleep with a few changes.

However, the first week I talked on the phone till late, watched movies, ate late night snacks, checked my phone and did things that weren’t helpful. I don’t know why I did this, but I gave myself grace to realise that I’ve been through a lot. Mistakes may happen but I will get there.

Being in a shared space I wanted to make some bold changes to suit my needs and for once add my own choices.

Tips for you

• Give yourself time to intentionally stop and think about how you sleep and what could be better for you.

• Allow yourself grace to rest better, and know you are important.

• Consider: what do you like? What do you think are good ideas for your needs?

Create your own personal space:

I changed my curtains to a pink backdrop with different coloured sheer curtains along the front: an op shop purchase years earlier.

A quick trip to Bunnings to buy brackets, and while there I found some cool spiral shaped curtain rod ends in a bargain bin. I put them up myself, climbed on furniture using a drill, dropped screws, did a bit of yelling- but to see the end result made me feel strong and capable.

I had some lanterns, so I bought $3 fairy lights from Kmart to put in them, and placed them around the room for a mellow feel for early evening. Then I found a different doona cover in my linen cupboard.

Tips for you:

• Turn lights, phone and all technology off as early as you can.

• Use what you already have, budget for changes or visit your local op shop.

• Be creative, inventive and have fun as this is for you

Practise peace:

To wind down, I do some breathing exercises and I say a prayer, and then I imagine my bed is on the roof outside, that my bed feels so soft, cool and comfy and I can see all the beautiful stars.

And I go to sleep.

Tips for you:

• Avoid caffeine drinks before bed.

• Get some sunshine and exercise daily.

• Use your imagination to take you to your favourite peaceful place.

• Meditate, pray or do relaxed breathing.

Waking up is now easy. I open the curtains to let the sunshine in and I feel fresh, with no more brain fog or dull headaches, and more energy to exercise each day.