Shine hosts Smart Psychology’s ‘Smarter Sleep’ Taster Talk.

Smarter Sleep at the Basement Resource Centre On Thursday 30^th July, The Basement Resource Centre, Shine hosted the first of our planned Taster Talks.  Counselling Psychologist Marianne Wall from the organisation ‘Smart Psychology’ gave an in-depth talk on Smarter Sleep.Sleep is an issue for everyone at some stage in their lives. What is the correct amount of sleep? What happens to the body while we are sleeping? Are there things we can do to aid a restful night’s sleep? If we are honest with ourselves we all can make small changes which would make a huge difference to the quality of sleep we get.  This is the message we got from Marianne who began by talking about natural sleep patterns and got us to think about why we need to sleep and how each person requires different amounts.Beauty sleep is called beauty sleep for a reason! It makes a huge difference to how we feel and how we look.  The body releases melatonin which helps regulate sleep and it is during sleep that our skin repairs.  A good night’s rest can also increase the production of collagen which is responsible for skin’s elasticity and tightness.We then explored the factors which we need to be aware of that impact on a restful night’s sleep.  Eating foods high in sugar and salt, watching TV and being online late at night can all have an impact on getting to sleep and staying asleep.  Marianne talked us through some smart tips to improve sleep such as removing technology from our bedroom, relaxing or unwinding before bed and making sure our bedroom is a pleasant comfortable place to rest.  Most importantly was to develop a good sleep pattern, to exercise daily and remember bed is for sleeping not worrying as these are key to improving your sleep.