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Morning ladies, so hands up who's suffering from lack of sleep & no matter what you do you just can't turn your mind off (me!), have trouble dropping off to sleep no matter how much you try to relax/read before bedtime or have no problem falling asleep but wake up at silly o'clock when your mind pings back on & can't get back off to sleep no matter how tired you are (me!).

Well as you've probably gathered I've really been suffering from lack of sleep & have on many an occasion been surviving on 4 hours a night. I think the more ladies I speak to the more it becomes clear that yes it's definitely a woman thing - whereas men seem to have the ability to be able to turn their minds off & fall asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow & again should they have to get up in the night for a loo break! Us ladies on the other hand seem to experience more problems.

Of course a lot of this is due to the fact we're always multi-tasking, thinking & remembering what everyone in the household needs to do/remember the next day, let along the 101 things on our 'to do' lists. On top of this I also think it becomes more of an issue as we get older & start to hit peri-menopause.

So in the interests of sharing & helping anyone else suffering from lack of sleep, I thought I'd share what seems to be working for me. Starting with a room spray I've previously featured, which has really helped. Made from 12 essential oils this calming & soothing spray is simply sprayed into the 4 corners on your bedroom before sleep & helps calm & soothe your mind for a better night's sleep. In fact even hubby who was a little sceptical to say the list has agreed it helps.

Wellbeing Pod Essential Oil Diffuser

Having had success with the room spray & after reading a review on the above essential oil diffuser I recently decided to treat myself with a discount code to the above pod. Obviously it's similar to the room spray in terms of essential oils helping to soothe but if you want something a little more intense & longer-lasting than the room spray then this is for you. This mains powered oil diffuser has definitely made a bigger difference to my sleep than the room spray so it's definitely worth a shot & at worst you'll have a great smelling room! I just add 5 drops of essential oil to the water container & pop the pod on around an hour before I want to turn my bedside light off & set to timer for a total of 3 hours (although you can have it set to continuous or just for an hour should you wish).

Essential Oil Blends

I also took advantage of the discount code to treat myself to the above essential oils (one for sleep, one to de-stress, one for happiness & one to boost your energy) but you can use your own essential oils in the pod as well. I use the sleep one of an evening & then the others as & when & they all smell divine. You can even add a few drops when soaking in the bath.

Comfort Support Standard Pillow

Another couple of recent changes we've made to our bedroom include memory foam pillows, which I was really wary of. I just thought they'd be too hard & thick, especially as I like to lie right on the lower edge but I must admit I wouldn't be without them now. In fact when we're away we always comment on how much we miss our pillows & find it harder to get to sleep.

marks and Spencer pure cotton floral matelasse bedding

Pure Cotton Floral Matelasse Bedding Set *

You may also recall from a previous post last year that we changed all our bedding to 100% cotton, which of course helps regulate body temperature, which if you're suffering with hot flushes will certainly help. I absolutely love this set & wouldn't hesitate in recommending, it always looks great & if you're being lazy like me, it doesn't need ironing, so win win!

Silk Chemise

If you're struggling with regulating your body temperature then another thing to try is making sure your nightwear is either 100% cotton or 100% silk as both these fabrics will help keep your body temperature even & may help with some of those hot flushes.

The final thing I've found really helps is something I learnt at pilates when our instructor gave us a gong bath. Now don't worry it's not some communal bathing ritual but is in fact meditation to the playing of Tibetan singing bowls.

If I tell you that I've never been able to meditate - as the moment I try to close my mind I instantly start thinking of anything & everything but seriously these Tibetan singing bowls are something else. I actually can't put it into words how much I love them, but I just find the vibrations from the bowls so calming & peaceful. In fact I immediately downloaded an app after my first session & now have a few albums downloaded on my phone. Needless to say hubby thought I was bonkers when he came home that night & I told him we were going to listen to a gong bath whilst falling asleep but we both had the most peaceful & solid nights sleep that he was convinced after just one night. So now when we remember we'll listen to one of the sound baths off the app whist falling asleep. If you're interested then this is the app that we use & you can either subscribe or just access the bits that are free.

Like I said these are just the bits I've found through trial & error to help with my sleep & whilst I might still have some bad nights, generally I've found the above things have all helped but if you have any other tricks then I'd love to hear.

Back to today & it's our son's 20th birthday so we're off out for a special celebratory lunch before celebrating with family later in the day.