Why is sleep such a problem?
Sleep appears be at a premium these days, so rushed and crushed are our lives. I certainly find that many of my clients have trouble sleeping. Although most of them don’t come to the clinic with sleep as their primary focus, more often than not they have poor sleep in their symptom picture. Interestingly, they often cite fatigue as a key worry, but don’t seem to associate it with their low quality sleep.
It’s as if people genuinely don’t realise that they have to have regular blocks of peaceful slumber in order to feel energised and refreshed in the morning.
Recently, several new clients have been benefiting enormously from the simple expedient of going to bed at a sensible time. It seems that women in particular tend to pootle around until the early hours, possibly because this is time they can spend on their own without demands being made on them.
It is, however, not at all conducive to good health. Getting to bed and to sleep before midnight (and preferably far earlier) is definitely productive of a morning glow, as these clients have been experiencing. It costs nothing and doesn't even taste nasty – yet it can often be a real struggle to implement.
What’s more, clients who are finding their energy levels and overall wellbeing enhanced as a result of improved sleep are frequently appalled at the idea that they should continue to follow the healthy sleep pattern I’ve recommended, longer term. Lifestyle adjustments, one concludes, are sometimes harder for people to carry out than simply taking a remedy.
The sleep spa
Since problems with sleep have become so prominent recently, I was therefore not as surprised as I might have been at the notion of a Sleep Spa.
A sleep spa involves the sleep-deprived booking themselves in for a number of nights at a spa, where they are instructed in the basics of acquiring sufficient snoozing time to reactivate themselves.
Diet and exercise are considered, as well as stress-reduction techniques, with individualised programmes constructed around the results of a sleep monitor.
It may seem strange that people need help with re-learning how to do something they achieved so successfully from birth, but considering the huge range of factors working against good quality sleep these days, it’s not such a surprise to find that the Sleep Spa is becoming necessary.
