Sleep Habits

Jerriko i just re-read your post and would recomend getting something like sleepbot as i had similar issues to you and its helped me a lot

Adder wrote: Yes your right Reliah, the King is on two seperate frames, but we have the little hook thing connecting them so a it tends to behave like a single unit. Its also really easy to move the bed if you move houses!!!! Sorry for the confusion. I hadn't seen sleep numbers, looks interesting thanks.

I appreciate that. No worries about the late reply, I didn't see it until now anyway.. that's how good I am at following even my own threads...

I think mindset contributes a lot to sleep, and not just in the obvious "if you're stressed it's harder to sleep" way. Two years ago I went to China for 5 weeks to study, and my sleeping style immediately changed. Before China: slept in a kind of semi-fetal position- on my side/belly with one leg jacked up to my chest and my hands kept tight to my body. Lots of turning over and adjusting. During China: slept on my back with my limbs splayed out. Didn't move during sleep (as evidenced by my lack of crazy morning hair!)

It was weird. Once I returned to the U.S my sleeping style reverted to how it was before. My thought is that your mindset has an unconscious affect on what your body prefers. At home I could run away from problems- and it was easy to find ways to remain my comfort zone and not do anything about what was stressing me. In China I had to be more confident in order to thrive, or else I literally wouldn't eat, have company, and overall accomplish what needed to get done. I think those different mindsets (evasive versus confrontational) affected how I slept. Slightly off-topic, but I think it's interesting food for thought.

Some of these I find are absolutely true for me and some don't seem to have much effect on me at all. I guess it just depends on the individual person.

Particularly useful
4. Don't eat dinner right before bed - this is something that I've always thought to be very important. You need time to digest!
6. Go to the toilet
7. Not too hot, not too cold - if I go to sleep either to hot or too cold I can pretty much guarantee that I will wake up during the night.
8. Get up straight away - I always find that the sooner I get up after waking, the easier it is and the more alert I am for the rest of the day.

No noticeable effect
1. Avoid chocolate the night before - last night I ate a mountain of chocolate just after I got into bed and moments before going to sleep. I also often drink hot chocolate right before bed. It certainly doesn't seem to have a detrimental effect and I actually usually seem to sleep better and wake up feeling more rested if I have chocolate before bed.
8. Keep the window open - not the sort of thing you try very often in the UK, unless you want to freeze! When I do have the window open in summer I usually sleep less well anyway.
9. Keep your sleep consistent - my sleep is wildly erratic, in terms of how long I sleep for and between what hours I get the sleep. As long as I get over 8 hours it doesn't seem to matter how much I get or what time I go to bed.