Sleep! it's so important and has such an impact on our day, whether it's been good or not.
Good sleep equals boundless productivity, the ability to engage with others, maintains healthy hormones and digestion, our mood and more.
When we have a bad nights sleep, we lack concentration, our digestion gets thrown off and our mood can go from bad to worse.
What's really unfortunate is that a lot of adults and children are chronically sleep-deprived, due to a continuation of the same sleeping habits that are inhibiting a decent nights sleep.
The NHS has reported that sleep deprivation may have the ability to damage children's brain development. Studies on children between five and twelve discovered the back and side regions of the brain, involved in planned movements, spatial reasoning, and attention had deep sleep brain patterning.
Evidence aside, we all know what it is like to experience prolonged tiredness and fatigue and how it affects our day to day life. This makes it even more important to ensure children are receiving the correct amount of sleep for them to develop their brains at this crucial stage in their lives. Not only are they unable to be curious learners, develop gross motor skills, but emotionally they will be all over the place, which affects the relationships we have too!
Regular yoga and mindfulness practice gives us the ability to calm the nervous system to allow us to relax enough into a deep sleep. This can also be incorporated into the evening routine before bed. When it comes to bedtime, a regular lead up for kids is important to allow them processing time for what's coming up.
A few tips to prepare and add into you nightly routine:
Turn off electricals 1hour to 30mins before bed at least turn WIFI off at night. (EMF'S disrupt our sleep)
relaxing breathing exercise like bumblebee breath, alternate nostril breathing or counting inhalations and exhalations
yoga poses for sleep- moon pose, twisting poses, pigeon pose, cat/cow (Kind Kids Patreon has a bedtime routine)
relaxation music - solfeggio or soothing sounds like chimes (this will involve using the internet if you haven't already got this kind of music on a CD. Try to keep it to only the music and turn the bright lighting away from child direction)
creating a special place- if your child is resistant to going to bed, then making the bedroom there pride and joy will encourage them to enjoy the idea of going to bed. Picking out special blankets, aromatherapy (choose child-safe), lighting, teddies. When the settings right, it makes it kind of exciting to go to bed.
If your children have a bath, then try adding Epsom salt into the bathtub, this has magnesium in it which helps release tension in the mind and body.
crystals hold energy, we can use them to set an intention like asking for safety and a better nights sleep. Perhaps allow your child to pick a night-time crystal or you can use- amethyst, tourmaline, rose quartz, celestite.
whilst the music is on, it is a good time to meditate, even just for 5 mins, just focusing on the breath or visualising a magical place. There are many children's mediation books and recordings out there for you to try! (you can also join Patreon for kind kids videos)
To help you along with this, I have created a checklist, that can be used each evening until it becomes routine. I recommend a 21 day period, this will allow enough time to get used to the routine and find what works best for you! Namaste
Georgia
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