The hotly anticipated grand stretch has finally arrived, but rising temperatures and brighter evenings can sometimes lead to restless nights. To help us get our eight hours, SiEST Sleep founder Síne Dunne joined Laura Fox on RTÉ 2FM to share her snooze-inducing tips.
What causes poor sleep?
According to Síne, a racing mind is often blamed for a bad night's rest, particularly among parents and 'high performers'.
Circadian disruption (your ability to fall asleep at the right time) is another culprit, as well as alcohol and caffeine, followed by sleep pressure (the urge to sleep) imbalance and hormone imbalance.
Given that so many factors are at play, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for the country's tired souls. Instead, Síne insists that getting to the bottom of your individual issues is essential to finding the cure, adding that good sleep is "less about the duration and more about the quality".
Sleep hygiene
"Sleep hygiene is basically skincare for your brain," Síne jokes. "Say you just spent all your time doing cleanser, moisturiser, toner - but you ate really bad food all the time. Sleep hygiene is the surface level, basic things that can help a lot of people."
Good sleep hygiene involves improving the environment of your sleep space, whether that be the temperature of the room, how comfortable your mattress is, or how quiet your surroundings are.
Another thing to note is what you're putting into your body during the day that may be disrupting your nights, things like caffeine, alcohol, or even certain medications*.
Building sleep pressure
Building up sleep pressure (the urge to fall asleep) is essential to a good night's rest. Exercise and movement throughout the day will help, as well as getting outside into daylight, and eating nutritious foods.
"If you're drinking loads of coffee or loads of alcohol at the end of the night, it's not going to help you," she states.
Lying in bed on the weekends can sometimes add to 'Sunday Blues' as the sleep cycle is out of whack, leading to increased feelings of anxiety.
Ultimately, Síne's top tips include "being really aware of your environment, being really aware of how good sleep starts in the day - it doesn't start the moment you hit the pillow and try to get to sleep - and then, if you're noticing that you have to really catch up on sleep at the weekends, is there anything you can do during the week to get an extra hour."
Tips for falling asleep
If white noise machines, blackout curtains, and earplugs aren't helping you to nod off, it may be time to try some breathing exercises, journaling, or meditation.
If you can't fall asleep due to a racing mind, try to breathe in through your nose for four seconds, hold the breath for seven, then exhale through your mouth for eight.
If you can't cool down, you should have a warm shower about 90 minutes before bed as this will cool your internal core temperature. Another tip is to cool your feet down when you're in bed.
If you're not feeling tired, look at the caffeine you're taking during the day, try to move more during the day, and make sure you're getting sunlight during the day.
Read more: Breathing exercises to help with stress and anxiety
Signs of poor sleep
Aside from feeling tired, signs that you're deprived of quality sleep include your mood, the types of food you're craving, and the weakening of your immune system.
"You will go for sugary foods, more carbohydrate-led foods, fattier foods if you are sleep deprived," she explains, adding that your ability to 'bounce back' from small infections is depleted.
"Even after two nights of poor sleep, you do have an impact on your emotions, and on your brain, on your memory recall," she says. "Most people are walking around and they're not getting enough sleep, they're not getting enough quality sleep, so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the impact of poor sleep."
While most people try to push through with strong cups of coffee, Síne says that, in the long run, this won't do you any favours.
Ideally, everyone should be taking their sleep seriously, given the knock-on effect it has on our mind and body.
Napping
"I think naps are so underrated", says the SiESt founder, noting that a recent Harvard study has shown that napping can be incredibly helpful when balancing out a poor night's sleep.
This will be of particular importance to those who do shift work and, of course, parents to young children.
"Parents are absolutely sleep deprived for up to 10 years, so how are they surviving? Naps can be a really well to complement it."
When to seek help
If a lack of sleep is impacting your ability to do your job, your relationships or your health, it's important to get help.
If you're having poor sleep for three or more nights a week for three months, it's probaby time to seek some assistance.
"No over-the-counter medication will help you on that," she says, "so go to your GP."
*Be sure to speak with your GP if you have concerns surrounding the medications you are taking.
