Top 10 Tips to a great nights sleep

We all know we need a good nights sleep to perform optimally at work, in sports and in our relationships. Preferably 8 hours a night. Why? Sleep is the body's time to repair its internal organs and tissues. Make new skin cells and allow our brain time to process and make sense of the days events.

In our busy modern lives where deadlines loom and mobile phones are always on, sleep deprivation has become the norm. To almost epic proportions.

So how exactly do we achieve a good nights rest?

Here is my top ten tips to help you sleep better:

1. Wind down before bed. An hour before you intend to go to bed start winding down.

2. Switch off your mobile phone, computer, tablet, emails and Facebook page an hour before you go to sleep. Set a timer at 7pm and turn off your mobile or set to Do Not Disturb.

3. Turn off the television.

4. Have a bath.

5. Read a book unrelated to your work.

6. Meditate. Find a quiet place, sit down comfortably and meditate. Focus on your breath. Take equal in and out breaths. Try a light meditation- image breathing in beautiful white light. And exhaling darkness.

7. Do Yoga. Join a Hatha Yoga class with a teacher you like. Find a class that spends the first 5-10 minuets of class doing pranayama- yoga breathing exercises. I love pranayama and always teach it in my Yoga classes all styles from Dynamic Hatha to Gentle Yoga at all levels. All my clients tell me they sleep well after their yoga class.

8. Learn to let go. Life's too short to hold grudges. And most people appreciate it if you give them a second chance.

9. Avoid caffeine and chocolate. Cutting down on or reducing these stimulates will help regulate your sleep and help you drop off to a deeper, more relaxing slumber.

10. Try not to eat a heavy meal too close to bed time. Give your body a chance to digest before you hit the hay. That way your body can properly rest while asleep and not on digest your meal.

Remember practice makes perfect! Follow the 10 simple steps outlined above and get into a healthy wind down routine before bedtime. And stick to it.

Good luck and let me know how you get on in the comments below.