Sleep. We all know we need it. We all know how much better we feel when we’ve had enough of it. And yet sometimes, the harder we try to sleep, the more elusive it becomes.

Rather than concentrating only on bedtime itself, I like to think about preparing the whole sensory system for sleep.

Your brain is constantly taking in information through your senses - what you can see, hear, smell, taste and feel, as well as what your body is physically doing. So if we want to encourage rest, it makes sense to look at the messages we’re sending it.

In this first part of my 6 Senses Approach to Better Sleep, I’m starting with sight, hearing and taste.

1. SIGHT - give your eyes permission to switch off

Your bedroom ideally needs to look like a place where your brain can stop working.

One of the biggest culprits here is blue light from phones, tablets and other devices. If you can, make the bedroom - and particularly the bed - a device-free zone.

And look at what else is within your eye line.

Is there clutter waiting to be sorted? A pile of work? A clock you keep checking every ten minutes when you can’t sleep?

None of those things says rest.

Calming colours can help create a more peaceful environment too. Blues, greens and soft neutrals tend to feel much quieter visually than bright, stimulating colours.

Then, once you’re actually in bed, give your eyes something physical to do.

Allow the eyelids to become heavy. You can even imagine having another set of eyelids underneath the first and gently closing those too.

It sounds slightly odd - but that feeling of heaviness can become a lovely little cue that says, we’re finished for today.

2. HEARING - silence isn’t right for everyone

Some people need absolute silence to sleep.

Others find silence almost too quiet.

There isn’t a correct answer here - it’s about finding the sound environment that allows your nervous system to settle.

You might prefer:

• white noise
• quiet spa music
• a guided meditation or relaxation
• or simply silence.

And don’t forget the noisiest thing in the room may actually be the voice inside your own head.

If your brain has decided that 2am is the ideal time to revisit something embarrassing you said in 1997, give it something deliberately boring and repetitive instead.

Repeat an affirmation or prayer.

Slowly work through the alphabet.

Count.

The aim isn’t to force yourself to sleep. It’s simply to give your mind somewhere gentle and predictable to rest rather than letting it gallop off into tomorrow’s to-do list.

3. TASTE - think about what you’re putting into your body

What we eat and drink during the day can become part of our night-time routine too.

Caffeine is an obvious one. Some people are much more sensitive to it than others, but if sleep is difficult, experiment with avoiding caffeine after lunchtime - or even altogether for a while - and notice whether it makes a difference.

Alcohol can be deceptive because it may make you feel sleepy initially, but it isn’t necessarily a friend to good-quality sleep.

Sugar and spicy foods later in the day may also be worth reconsidering if you’re struggling.

Instead, try making your evening drink part of the ritual.

A warm herbal tea - perhaps chamomile or a night-time blend - can become another little message to your brain:

the day is ending now.

And if you genuinely are hungry before bed, a small handful of nuts can be a useful choice; nuts contain nutrients including magnesium, and some varieties naturally contain melatonin.

It’s not about creating the “perfect” bedtime

Please don’t turn all of this into another list of things you have to get right.

The purpose is almost the opposite.

Start noticing what helps you soften.

Maybe it’s putting the phone down earlier.

Maybe it’s clearing the bedroom chair that has somehow become home to seventeen items of clothing.

Maybe it’s the same piece of relaxing music each night and a mug of something warm.

Little repeated cues can begin to create a transition between doing and resting.

And in Part 2, I’ll move on to the remaining three senses: smell, touch and the kinesthetic sense - our sense of movement and the body itself.

Because sometimes the route to a quieter mind begins with the body.

Sleep well

Love, Julia 🤍