Tag Archives: sleep

I healed my sleep

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Last night, as I was going to bed, I was sitting with my phone thinking “no, you can’t look at your phone, else you can’t sleep”. Then another voice said “don’t worry about that, you’ve healed your sleep, so go ahead, look at your phone if you want to”. This made me stop and think back a little. When did I start healing my sleep? I remember starting it and realised it was only about 6 months ago, that I said to my coach: I am tired of having sleep issues and believing that I will always have sleep issues. We then worked on my belief system around sleep and very soon after, I had changed my perspective on sleep to “I love sleep and it comes easily to me”.

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5 steps to avoid drowsiness after lunch!

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Do you know the feeling, when you get really tired after lunch? You’ve just had a big lunch, feeling really good about yourself and you are ready to face an afternoon full of delicious work challenges.

And then it hits you! You get tired, your eyes start closing and you may even be a little grumpy.

Do you know that feeling?

Why does this happen? Well, the short story is that you body is digesting the food you ate and most likely you are experiencing a sugar crash. There can be other causes, such as just plain tired if you haven’t slept well in a while or something else that is nagging at your life.

But no matter the cause, what do you do in these situations?

I used to (I still sometimes) grab the first sugary treat I could find and down it with some coffee! I am sure some of you do or have done that too!

Unfortunately this is the worst thing you can do! If you are experiencing a sugar crash, then adding more sugar is like adding insult to injury.

But what can you do instead? Here are 5 suggestions.

1 – Avoid refined sugar. If you are experiencing a sugar crash, then avoiding sugar for lunch, will avoid the crash! Easy, no? 😉

2 – If you are still experiencing this classic fatigue, even without sugar, then maybe it is a different kind of sugar. CARBS! Carbohydrates are also a type of sugar and will also lead to sugar crashes! This one is hard to avoid, since the most common quick lunch is a sandwich! Try to avoid eating bread and have a salad instead!

3 – If you are already avoiding these two foods but you are still getting tired after lunch, then try to have a nap! Sometimes we are just tired and a 20 min nap can work wonders. So if you are in a position to take a nap, then do it! Even nodding off in a conference room at the office can work. A trick to avoid falling deeply asleep is to hold your keys in your hand. When your body is falling a sleep you will drop the keys and hopefully the noise will wake you up. At this point you should get up and feel more energized. Do a few stretches and you are good to go!

4 – Talking about stretches: a good way to get over the nagging sleepiness in the afternoon is to move! Do some stretches, go for a walk or take a fitness class! Your body will feel more energized afterwards! I promise you. So even if this is the last thing you want to do, give yourself a kick in the butt and off you go!

5 – If none of these things work, then try talking to someone. Maybe you just need a different perspective and change of pace or a friendly conversation with someone. People can give you so much energy, it is amazing. Try it!

So, what do you think? Can you try some of these? Do you have other ideas?

 

 

This article was also published on healthylux.com. I am a passionate contributor to HealthyLux.

http://www.healthylux.com/five-actions-avoid-drowsiness-lunch/

Health Expert Series 7

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Welcome to the 7th edition of my Health Series! The reason I am doing this series is because I truly believe in something we call Bio-Individuality. What works for one person, may not work for another and the trick (and the hard part) is finding out what works for YOU!

We all have different views on what health means and how we obtain it! And we should! We are all different and all need something different. Health is something that affects us all and we should all have an opinion on it.

For this edition I have interviewed another local health coach; Holistic Sleep Strategist & Coach, Christine. Some of you may know her? If not, you should! Here is what she thinks about this subject!!

Name, age, occupation: Christine Hansen, 33, Holistic Sleep Strategist & Coach

 

What does health mean to you?

For me health has so many different facets but here is some of what comes to mind straight away.
Health means that you are respecting and taking care of your mind and body equally. In those areas I also make a difference between self(health)care, which would be a healthy diet, exercise, supplements and so on, and self care, which is taking time out, meditating, having fun etc.

On top of that you are ideally not only healthy enough to just being able to keep symptoms of illness or disease at bay but able to actually have a great immune system that will make it difficult for symptoms to even appear.

Most of us live very close to the edge of being just about healthy enough as to not being ill. But very few of us are truly as balanced and strong as we are physically and mentally capable off.

 

How do you achieve this level of healthy?

First of all you need to understand that it will take time and a priority towards health. Which can be challenging in a world where very often material or financial topics take precedence.

I am by no means perfect either but I am being mindful when choosing which foods I eat, by carving out time for exercise and meditation and by having left a job that was not fulfilling to now doing something that I am passionate about and that makes me happy.

 

Why is it important to be and live healthily?

Most of us have difficulties prioritizing ourselves, so saying that you will feel better as a person is often not motivational enough. We are taught to not put ourselves first but those around us. So what I like to remind my clients and myself of is that you cannot pour from an empty cup. You have to be strong, happy and well balanced in order to serve other at your best.

 

Why are you an expert?

A lot of people know that sleep is important yet very few have really looked at its science or at its importance holistically throughout the different stages in our lives. Through my education and experience I can definitely call myself an expert and not an amateur in the sleep department.

 

What is your top health tip?

Get enough sleep! Your body needs you to rest and sleep enough in order to repair itself physically and mentally. So sacrificing your sleep will come and haunt you along the road. And if you are struggling with sleep then you know where to find me 🙂

 

 

So, what did you think? Great, right?

Thank you so much Christine! I completely agree that most of us are healthy just to point where we are not ill, but are we truly healthy? Probably, me included! What does it take for us to be really healthy and happy? What is one thing you can do today to get you closer to becoming truly healthy? Just one step? Let us know in the comments below!