An insomiac's guide to sleeping soundly

Sleep - love it or loathe it, it's way more important than we tend to think. For some of us, a restful night's snoozing comes naturally, but for others it can feel like a minefield. Recently, whilst reading a Women's Health article on 'clean sleep', I was inspired to start paying more attention to my own habits.

As someone who has dealt with insomnia in the past, I know all too well how important sleep really is. It's definitely one of those things that you only realise are important when they're gone. Back when my sleeping problems were at their worst, I did a great deal of research into how to deal with the issue, and eventually did manage to improve my sleep quality massively. It took time and effort, but through the methods that follow, I went from getting around 4 hours of sleep (on a good day) to peacefully sleeping for 7 or more hours most nights. I've listed my methods in reverse order of their usefulness (in my opinion), so if you want to try a few but not all of them, I'd start with the ones at the bottom.

5. Self-hypnosis

Ok, I'll admit this does seem a bit out-there, and a few years ago I would've laughed at this suggestion too. Having said that, a few years ago I didn't really understand hypnosis. Ultimately, despite its connotations, hypnosis is not much more than a very deep state of relaxation. Whilst having hypnotherapy for a phobia, I was taught how to carry out self-hypnosis, and to this day it remains my tool of choice when I'm either very stressed or struggling to sleep. I would really recommend going in with an open mind and researching this further if you're having issues with with relaxation.

4. Prepare for the morning

If there's one thing that's bound to make sleeping more difficult, it's worrying about the million things you need to do in the morning. I find it so useful to make sure I'm fully prepared in advance. I'm not a morning person at all, so as well as aiding my sleep, it makes for a much less stressful morning. Make a list of the things you tend to worry about most in the mornings; this could be what to wear, what to have for breakfast or things to remember for work. Try to prepare as much as possible before going to sleep - write reminders, prepare breakfast in advance etc.

3. Bath/shower at night

Whether it's best to shower in the morning or at night has always been up for debate. Of course, there's arguments for each side, however if you're a troublesome sleeper I would argue the night-time option is more beneficial. Personally, a relaxing bath before bed really settles me down and prepares me for sleep. I always prefer a bath, but I don't think the method is actually that important, just go for whichever suits you. It's definitely the act of washing off the day and feeling fresh before bed that helps me snooze more soundly.

2. Declutter

The space in which you sleep is way more important than you may realise. For me at least, messy room = messy mind, 100%. It's quite a hard thing to describe, but it's as though all that clutter in the room represents the jumble of thoughts in my mind. Linking in to point 4, clutter can also cause stress more practically; you're more likely to be kept awake worrying where something is if your space isn't organised.

1. Technology cleanse

If I had to choose which technique alone is best when it comes to getting more quality sleep, I would go for this one every time. As far as I'm concerned, technology (especially social media) before bed is almost always a terrible idea. There's loads of opinions out there on exactly how long before bed you should put the tech down, but I try to stick to an hour, or even half an hour; I think this is an effective yet doable time-scale.

In conjunction with these methods, try to keep your sleep schedule pretty regular. It's also really useful to figure out roughly how many hours of sleep you need per night; both too little and too much can have a detrimental effect. Hopefully some of these methods can be useful, but remember that if you're really struggling with you sleeping it's important to go to your GP. Problems with sleep aren't always, but can be a result of an underlying condition like depression or anxiety.

Sweet dreams!

Hypnosis: My experience

Anyone who knows me well enough will be aware of my fear of planes; with my biggest phobias being heights and  confined spaces I guess it's understandable. Strangely I haven't always had this fear, however when all my anxiety issues started, it slowly became more and more of a problem. Ultimately, I became so scared of both flying and simply being out of the country that I felt there was no way I could set foot on a plane.

As a family who regularly went on holidays together, it was a huge problem. In the stage where I could still force myself to go, I felt awful the entire time - just incredibly anxious. One of the last holidays I went on was to Tenerife; I really wanted to enjoy it but it was so difficult. I knew that all of the anxiety stemmed from the flying, but it seemed to plague me constantly, even in completely unrelated ways. I was convinced something terrible was going to happen.

After Tenerife I decided I couldn't do it again. I was gutted but knew I couldn't stand to put myself through so much anxiety. It had got to the point where I would dread going on holiday in the weeks and months beforehand, instead of being excited. However, my Mam came home one day and said she had been talking to someone who'd suggested hypnotherapy. As quite an alternative therapy, I'd never really considered it before, but after researching and hearing about all the phobias it has seemingly cured and the smokers who have quit after a 60 minute session, I was intrigued.

I found a hypnotherapist nearby and booked my first session. On the day I didn't know what to expect, but still felt hopeful. Being a huge Derren Brown fan, I really do believe hypnosis can be a powerful tool. The first appointment was just an assessment; deciding what I hoped to get out of the therapy and how that could be done. The second session was the first time I would actually experience hypnosis. As I was led into the office and sat down on a big, comfy chair I was so nervous. The therapist put one of those little clips on my finger (I think they measure heart rate) and said this was so she could tell when I'd gone into hypnosis. Once I'd got comfortable, she put some calm music on in the background and started speaking. Honestly, to start with I was sat there trying not to laugh - it felt so awkward. I really struggled to relax and keep my eyes closed, but eventually I started feeling calmer. 

Fuelled by eccentric stage performers, I think there's a misconception that hypnosis is this really weird, mystical thing - I guess this is why so many people don't believe it's even real. In reality, it's just a very deeply relaxed state of mind, which allows you to delve into your subconscious and 'rewire' things. However scared I was beforehand, it really isn't frightening at all. From what I've heard, everyone experiences hypnosis in a different way. For me I felt completely normal, but just incredibly relaxed. I noticed a slight tingling feeling in my feet and kind of felt as though I was sinking into the chair, but apart from that I didn't feel anything weird at all. I was completely aware of my surroundings and everything that was being said to me. One thing that shocked me, though, is that at the end of the session the hypnotherapist asked me how long I thought I'd been there, to which I answered 10 minutes. In reality, I'd been there for an hour - apparently it's quite common for time to seemingly move a lot faster when under hypnosis.

If I remember rightly, I had two follow up sessions. In one of these I was taught how to carry out self-hypnosis. This was absolutely fascinating and definitely the most valuable thing I got from the experience. This is a technique I still often use today, sometimes to calm myself but usually just because I enjoy it - it's incredibly relaxing and leaves you feeling so refreshed. It's actually really easy to learn, and I've got quite good at it now; I can immediately recognise when it's working as I get that tell-tale tingling in my feet.

If I cut to the chase, ultimately hypnotherapy did not 'cure' my phobia of flying. Afterwards, I did feel very positive and got on a plane to go to Austria. I was absolutely fine on the way there, even relaxed enough to take pictures whilst landing. Unfortunately, on the flight home the anxiety all came flooding back, which was really disappointing. However despite not achieving my original goal,  I'm definitely glad I tried hypnotherapy, even just for the experience and knowledge of self-hypnosis, which has been so useful to me.