Sleep Tips

From The Woman Who Sleeps For No More Than 4.5 Hours  

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Yesterday I met a woman who sleeps for 4.5-5 hours a night. She runs a cafe single handed all year round in a busy tourist area. She serves breakfast from 6am and finishes clearing up after the dinner shift at around 11pm/12am. By the time she gets home and ready for bed it is nearly 1am; she then wakes at 5am to open up the shop.  

This woman doesn’t look tired, she is a picture of health..how is this possible?  

Let me tell you.  Firstly, let’s get one thing straight, for the average person like you and me this isn’t an adequate amount of sleep – but only because we have not yet achieved the discipline that this lady has. She grew up in a farming community where waking at 5-6am was a normal part of her childhood – therefore her body is programmed to wake with the sun. Living in a village with limited electricity, her usual bedtime as a young girl was 8/9pm, although she told me she rarely fell asleep before 10pm.  She toiled the fields with her parents as a youngster and has always worked very hard with just enough food for energy.  

When people ask me for sleep tips I always start with a speech on routine, and this lady personifies the reason why. These long working days and strict diet has been a life’s routine for this special lady, she has never deviated from this program. As such, her sleep has always been deep and of good quality. When her head hits that pillow her body grabs all the sleep it can because it knows full well that in 4.5-5 hours it needs to be up working again. The likelihood is that she gets 3 solid 90 minute cycles of sleep per night, this, supplemented with a diet full of organic fruits and vegetables, no smoking or alcohol is enough for her body to be sufficiently restored.  

Many people sleep for up to 8 or 9 hours per night, yet their sleep is full of waking periods and lacks quality and deep REM sleep. Better to sleep deeply for 5 hours than sleep lightly for 7 or 8. As I left the cafe I asked the lady if she could give me any sleep tips to share with my clients, she answered, quite simply, “ work hard, eat well , be happy for what you have not unhappy for what you don’t have”. 

My book ‘Six Steps to Sleep Now’ comes complete with a free ‘Ultimate Sleep Diet Plan’ to promote even better sleep. 

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