Thanks for the great feedback to my last message about sleep - loads of people asked me for more info so here we go!

As I said in the previous email the first thing is to try to get into a restful sleep in the first place and the two main ways we do this are by;

1) Avoiding any type of screen in the 30 minutes before bed - the one exception to this is the paper-style kindle/e-readers, i.e. the ones that aren’t back-lit.

2) Establish nasal breathing as per the previous email - here's a video of how to do that.

On top of these two things you can also do the following:

3) When you get in to bed focus on breathing through your nose, place your hands on your belly and focus on breathing into your hands. Breathe deeply, if thoughts come in to your head that's fine but let them go and bring your focus back to your breathing. You'll soon nod off.

4) Don't drink caffeinated drinks after midday - if you think about it logically this makes perfect sense. We all know caffeine is a stimulant and in the latter part of the day we should be winding down not perking ourselves up!

5) If you like hot drinks try a herbal tea in the evening instead. Teas which promote relaxation are chamomile - there's lots of different flavours - and Tulsi. Valerian is supposed to be good but I can't recommend that as it made me really dizzy when I tried it - I think my already low blood pressure went through the floor.

6) If you’re a stress-head - write things down. If you have an issue playing on your mind try writing it out and possibly a plan of action for how to tackle the issue when you're not trying to sleep. If you've got a list of jobs as long as your arm, again write it down so you can focus on your breathing and not trying to remember the list!

7) Don't eat a huge dinner just before going to bed - if you need something to eat because you're hungry from training or getting in from work late then have a snack which will help you sleep. Foods such as banana, eggs, chicken, tuna and oats will help so something like a banana omelette or a bowl of porridge would be good.

8) If you are chronically stressed i.e. you have an on-going issue in your life that is really upsetting/worrying you then you will need to look at ways of addressing this issue in your waking life but these tips will still help.

9) Don't have any bright lights in your room, you don't necessarily need total darkness but a bright alarm clock display or similar will affect your ability to sleep restfully.

10) Don't sleep with your phone close to you - if it's your alarm that's fine but put it on aeroplane or do not disturb mode and keep it on the other side of the room.

These things won’t necessarily work on the first night but after a week of practice you should notice a difference in your ability to drop off.

All of these will also help if you drop off OK but wake up through the night however there is ONE golden rule to follow if you do wake up in the night....

11) Absolutely, 1000%, DO NOT look at a screen - I'm always seeing people complaining on Facebook that they can't sleep! That may be so but checking social media is the last thing that's going to help the situation!!

Then do the following...

12) Go back to belly breathing focus and you should drop back off. Only get up for the loo if you are absolutely desperate and if you do - don't put any lights on and DO NOT look at your phone!!

13) If you've woken early and got less than an hour left in bed - instead of lying there stressing you might as well get up and use the time to do something useful. Don't just lie there checking Facebook, get up and meditate, prep some food, train, do some chores. Basically use the time productively so that you can then have more chill time later and if you've got a list as long as your arm start doing stuff on it.

I'd love to hear how you get on if you try any of these.

Fran 'no longer waking up for a wee' Checkley