New Year, new sleep pattern?

I've been travelling around, visiting relatives and friends and so haven't been able to post here in a week.
Several days I've found it tricky to find time to do the sleep exercises in McKenna's book, and we've slept in a tiny bed, a hotel bed and in a room where our kids also slept (on blow up mattresses on the floor.) We've been in the black countryside night and in a city centre with traffic roaring past all night. 

How has my sleep fared with all that? It's been variable. Some nights I've slept well, others not so great. I do notice that late nights can mean more disrupted sleep for me. One day we had a large meal at lunchtime and in spite of not feeling hungry I ate again later on. That was a mistake: I was awake in the night with stomach pains. Paul McKenna does say that what you eat can make a difference to how you sleep, and I agree. Rich food is not for me, and I am usually fairly careful, but this time of year there's so much on offer that it's easy to eat food you later regret. McKenna also suggests avoiding or limiting alcohol while you follow his program, because it also has an adverse effect on sleep. Luckily that's easy for me, even at this time of year.

With so many variations in our sleep environment, I can say for sure that I sleep better if I am not too hot, though being too cold can also wake me up. Again, McKenna says getting the temperature right is important, and for some people small adjustments are all that are needed.

Some evenings I missed out doing any of the exercises. It's hard to tell how much difference that made to be honest, since it was usually when we'd just arrived somewhere new, and sleeping in a different bed for the first time can affect sleep. But I have noticed a couple of times that doing one of the exercises in I Can Make You Sleep just before I switch out the light does seem to aid restful sleep. I think in general just taking time to relax at bedtime is really important for me. One thing I have done every night is listen to the CD that accompanies I Can Make You Sleep. The one night I didn't do that I woke after a couple of hours. So I guess I still have a while to go before sleeping peacefully all night long becomes second nature to me.

As there's not so much to write about just now, I will probably update this blog only every few days now.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

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