If you can’t sleep, blame evolution

With many of my clients that I work with, there is a direct correlation between stress, depression and anxiety and poor sleep. This little article explains one of the reasons we suffer poor sleep. It’s not the whole cause and with our modern understanding of how the brain works, we also know that when our brains are dealing with a lot of emotional ‘stuff’, particularly when we go off to sleep in the first 20-25% of a normal nights sleep (known as REM sleep or Rapid Eye Movement sleep), our brains have an alarm to make us up if we over do this REM time. Otherwise we will use up too much of our energy (our brain uses up to 10 time the normal energy when we are relaxing and in a REM state).

If you are struggling with insomnia or poor sleeping habits then please contact me, the results are really amazing and life-changing.
Mark Jones Hypnotherapy

Stress is pretty much one big buzzkill for sleep — as anyone who’s spent a sleepless night thinking about a big exam or presentation can attest.

In this video, sleep expert and adviser Els Van Der Helm, explains that restlessness is actually an evolutionary leftover from the way your brain might have reacted many, many years ago.

“When your brain is stressed, it thinks you’re in physical danger,” according to Van Der Helm. “It thinks that there might be a lion around the corner.”

And that’s why sleep becomes low on the priority list, she says. “Your brain just wants to survive.”

The brain’s survival reaction keeps your body in light sleep or keeps it fully awake as a way to protect itself — even though in reality you know that looming presentation is probably not going to jump in bed with you and eat you at 3 a.m.

The body reacts in a similar way on the first night you sleep somewhere you’ve never slept before, Van Der Helm adds. Recent studies have shown that part of your brain actually stays awake as a lookout mechanism to protect you from potential threats.

So much for a relaxing night away from home.

Here’s what you can do to quiet your brain

Despite the thousands of years of evolution working against your stressed-out brain trying to catch a few winks, you can tell your brain otherwise.

Van Der Helm says the trick to falling asleep when you are stressed is relaxing to make your brain feel safe again.

Here are a few more evidence-backed tips to help you relax and slumber off, no matter what deadlines loom:

1. Smell some lavender.
2. Practice yoga, progressive relaxation or meditation.
3. Write down any negative thoughts and physically throw them away (the trick helps clear your mind).
4. Take a few deep breaths to activate the body’s naturally-calming parasympathetic system.
5. Consider seeing a sleep specialist who might recommend cognitive behavioural therapy or other techniques to address insomnia.

The original article from the Huffington Post can be read here.