Sometimes despite having a great, clean bedtime routine you may still be having a lot of trouble sleeping, which could be impacting you on a day-to-day basis. Many people suffer from poor sleep – either falling asleep or staying asleep – and there are many things that can both cause and contribute to it

• Anxiety, stress and other mental health conditions
• Medications and drugs including alcohol, caffeine, steroids and stimulants
• Poor bedtime routine and sleep hygiene
• Physical conditions like sleep apnoea or pain

If this sounds like you, it may be time to think about getting some extra help. There are many physical, emotional and mental factors that can interfere with getting a good night sleep. If you think that stress or anxiety is the main source of your poor sleep and it’s impacting your ability to function in the day, it may be worth checking in with a doctor and considering referral to a psychologist or counsellor to unpack this further. A Mental Health Care Plan with your GP lets you access medicare rebates for up to 20 psychology sessions a year. 

A doctor can also help organise investigations for any underlying health issues like a sleep study to look for sleep apnoea, review any medications you’re taking and give you further advice on re-establishing good sleep patterns. 

 

Videos and educational resources for sleep: 

For a really quick and easy to read fact sheet about sleep and sleep hygeine have a read here 

The Australian Sleep Health Foundation has a HUGE amount of information of sleep, and various sleep conditions and topics 

Professor Matthew Walker is the  Founder and Director of the Centre for Human Sleep Science. 
Watch his TED-Talks on Sleep is Your Superpower  and 6 Tips for Better Sleep 

 

 

 

Meditation and Mindfulness Apps 

 

 

 Headspace offers awesome sleep content, including great sleep meditations  

 Listen to one of their sleep meditations below

 

 

 

 

Smiling Mind is an Aussie app for mindfulness and meditation, with a great sleep section . Starry Night is one of my favourite wind down meditations, have a listen below 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insight Timer is another great free app which focuses on meditations for sleep, anxiety and stress