The Sleep Newsletter #8

Good Afternoon !

And a hearty welcome to our lucky 92 new subscribers!

If you want to sleep better, look no further.

You’ve come to the right place.

Every fortnight, you’ll get nuggets of WISDOM to help you improve your sleep.

Why?

Because this is the Sleep Newsletter. We’re like Costco, we serve you only the best samples of sleep information.

If you missed our last edition, we spoke about how sunlight helps you sleep (really), a shocking sleep fact and more!

In Today’s Edition:

• ☁ ‘The Special V’ Sleep Hack

• 🚗 Don’t under sleep and drive

• 🎁 Our ‘Skin-saver’ Giveaway

Alright, let’s get down to business.

The sleep hack for this week has a unique name.

I like to refer to it as the ‘The Special V’.

And no, I’m not talking about valium.

Or any other inappropriate word that entered your mind.

Don’t think I didn’t notice that…

I’m talking about visualisation.

We all do it.

Some of us visualise nailing that job presentation. Or visualise asking out our crush or winning the lottery.

Me?

I think of a world where everyone sleeps better and feels healthier.

Lame, I know.

But visualisation is a very powerful tool that can help you fall asleep faster.

Too often, our minds are a ball of stress.

We live frantic, fast paced lives.

Being able to distract yourself once your head hits the pillowcase is a genuine skill.

And it’s something you can learn and get better at.

Take it from experience.

If I have two bad nights of sleep in a row, you best believe on the third night I’m on a mission.

My sole focus will be thinking about a peaceful experience when I go to bed.

And it ALWAYS seems to work.

I was curious this week and did some research. I wasn’t shocked to learn visualisation is proven to help your sleep.

So first:

1. I’ll give you the proof, so you know I’m not talking nonsense (hey, when have I ever done that?)

And second:

2. I’ll give you some techniques on how to visualise and what to visualise on.

1. The Proof

RMIT University (Melbourne represent!) conducted a study where students had virtual reality headsets to sleep with.

It played visualisations of all different kinds of things, including their own brainwaves.

After 10 minutes, all the students had a significant drop in “pre-sleep cognitive arousal”.

It proved that their minds were quieter and ready for sleep.

Funnily enough, one of the students said they were distracted by work stress, until the visualisation brought them out of it.

Here’s the study.

2. Techniques

Let me be perfectly clear with you.

To make this a consistent habit is HARD.

But here are some tricks I use to help me visualise when I go to bed.

1. If something is on your mind, take 5 minutes to write it down. Write about what is bothering you, why it’s bothering you and the potential solutions. It’s amazing how much better you’ll feel in the moment & reading it the next morning (it’s like your plan of attack);

2. Create your ‘ritual’ of tasks before bed. For me, I place my sleep mask over my forehead, put my nasal tap on and read for 10 minutes;

3. Once I’m ready for bed, the sleep mask goes over my eyes and my head hits the pillow. The sleep mask over my eyes tells my brain it’s time to visualise

I’m not going to tell you what I visualise about (trust me, it’s incredibly relaxing!).

Because everyone’s different in what they find relaxing and what will work for them.

But here’s a guide to help you out:

1. Peaceful Imagery: Think about a serene place or moment that relaxes you. A beach, by the lake, lying by a big tree etc. I find this one most effective.

2. Muscle Relaxation Visualisation: Think about each muscle group in your body. Start from your toes and move up to your head. Ease tension in each muscle group;

3. Breath Visualisation: Visualise your breath as a soothing and rhythmic wave. As you inhale, imagine the wave gently coming in, and as you exhale, visualise it receding;

4. Peaceful Walk: Picture yourself taking a peaceful walk through nature. Think about your surroundings, the scent of the air and the gentle breeze

5. Cloud Watching: Visualise fluffy clouds drifting by. As each cloud passes, let go of any thoughts or worries, making your mind clearer and more relaxed.

There are plenty more, but these are a good start.

The best thing about this hack is you can get started tonight!

Email me to let me know how you go: [email protected] 

We like to have fun here at the Sleep Newsletter.

Most of my content is riddled with humour.

But our interesting sleep fact today is serious, and there ain’t nothing funny about it.

If you are ever in the scenario where you are contemplating driving after little sleep, listen up.

Driving after less than 5 hours of sleep is the equivalent to drink driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.1%.

And over 20% of all road side crashes are due to fatigued driving.

Driving under fatigue is literally one of the worst decisions you can make.

It’s incredibly dangerous for your well being and the safety of others.

So, if you’ve had an all-nighter or a big night, consider taking an Uber the next day instead.

That extra cost could be life changing.

Another week, another giveaway.

Don’t say I don’t spoil you guys!

This team, we’ve teamed up with Loyal Crush for a ‘Skin-saver giveaway’.

All the details to enter are on our Instagram below:

Follow the requirements to enter for your chance to win some pretty awesome prizes!

That’s all for this week.

Until next time 💤

-jim (Founder of COZO)