Sleep: Adequate quantity and quality of sleep are essential for physical and mental wellbeing. It is recommended that adults obtain 7-9 hours sleep per night- unfortunately up to one third of adults in the UK receive less than six hours of sleep per night.

Your sleep can be improved by: having a consistent bed time and getting up time; getting outside and seeing natural day light within the first two hours waking (this is even more important in the dark winter months and cloudy/rainy days); getting 20-30 minutes of exercise most days (avoid vigorous exercise in the two hours before bed); avoiding caffeine in the late afternoon or evening (including tea, even green tea, and fizzy drinks); turning the lights down or off 60- 90 minutes before you start heading to bed, avoiding brights lights like phones when possible, doing something relaxing like having a warm shower/bath or even some meditations 1-2 hours before bed.

If your are still struggling with sleep despite following this advice you may find the following links helpful:

https://patient.info/mental-health/insomnia-poor-sleep

https://www.lanarkshiremindmatters.scot.nhs.uk/how-we-can-help-you/daylight-and-sleepio-courses/

BBC Radio 4 - Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley, Sleep Well - with Michael Mosley, Sleep Well - Episode 1: Breathe

Book/audiobook: “Overcoming Insomnia and Sleep Problems” by Colin A. Espie the creator of the Sleepio program above. He is Glaswegian, worked at The University of Glasgow for many years and is now Professor of Sleep Medicine at the University of Oxford.