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Benefits of Journalling For Better Sleep…

March 13, 2019realadmin_adminEducation

Benefits of journalling or drawing before bed…

Last week I discussed the top tips for improving sleep quality. One of the tips I mentioned was to try journalling or drawing before bed. This week I wanted to dive a little deeper into the benefits of writing down your thoughts or doodling on a piece of paper before your head hits the pillow.

Why does writing at bedtime help you get to sleep?

Throughout the day, we have all these things cycling through our head. Some of them seem to continue to cycle. There’s something about the act of writing — physically writing something on paper — that tends to offload it a little bit, or help us hit the pause button on it. The outcome seems to be that you decrease cognitive arousal, and that you decrease rumination and worry. If you decrease those two things, it makes sense that you’re going to fall asleep faster, because having stuff on your mind is one of the main barriers to falling asleep at night.

Journalling can reduce stress, calm the mind, and help recognise detrimental sleep habits. If you’re not sleeping well, discovering why may be as easy as writing in your sleep diary.

Benefits of this include:

Recognise habits. Writing down thoughts, worries, and sleep quality (including dreams, length of sleep, how many times you are restless) can help you to recognise habits and patterns in your sleep that need some work. For example, if you wake at night, it might be time to play around with bedroom temperature, cut out afternoon caffeine or stop looking at phone/lap top/tv screens in bed.

Reduce stress. When we’re anxious, Cortisol – a stimulant – is released into our bloodstream. It’s like having a shot of espresso before sleeping. Journalling an hour before bed can reduce the anxiety and worries that keep us up at night. 

Release outcomes. Journalling can help release issues keeping us awake. For example, let’s say you have a meeting the next day. Write down what might happen and how you’ll deal with anything negative. This provides a plan of action to release the worry, rather than dwelling on any potential problems and having it interfere with sleep.

Improve gratefulness. Writing down things you’re grateful for before sleeping can have a massively positive impact on your health. Improved physical and psychological health, enhanced empathy, reduced aggression, improved self esteem and mental strength, and lastly, better sleep! Writing in a gratitude journal improves sleep, according to a 2011 study published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being. Spend just 15 minutes jotting down a few grateful sentiments before bed, and you may sleep better and longer.

Never tried journalling before and aren’t sure exactly what to write about? The Tiny Buddha website has some interesting ideas and prompts to help get the ball rolling. Here are just a few:

  • Write about where you are in life
  • Start a dialogue with your inner child by writing in your subdominant hand
  • Start a journal of self portraits
  • Maintain a log of successes
  • Keep a log or playlist of your favourite songs
  • Write about something that’s bothering you in the third person

If you’re serious about wanting improved quality of sleep, I can’t recommend highly enough the process of journalling or drawing before bed. It has helped me to drift off easily each night and sleep almost right up to my alarm. Happy days! Or should i say, HAPPY NIGHTS!

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The 3 most effective stress management strategies The 3 most effective stress management strategies

Stress is not just emotional but it can also be physical. There comes a point where your physical body can be just stressed and tired. So here are 3 of the most effective ways to manage emotional stress as well as physical stress anyone can use. 

1. MEDITATION. At first meditation seems daunting and pointless to some. However it can be an awesome way to give your body both a mental and physical reset from day to day life. Having a crazy day at work just to get home to an even busier family life can be strenuous on the body and mind. So taking 5-10 minutes to just find a quite place where you can just sit relax and breathe. You don’t have to be an expert at MEDITATION to give it a go and feel real benefits just from a few minutes. 
2. SLEEP. Getting a good nights rest sounds so simple but it could be the difference between you being or not being stressed. In the world today we are always go go go and sometimes it’s hard for people to stop their day early to get to bed at a reasonable hour, but SLEEP is an integral part of stress management for everyone. So to put it simply focusing on getting a good 7-8 hours of straight sleep can help anyone manage their levels of both physical and emotional stress. 
3. WALKING OUTSIDE. Just the act of being OUTSIDE during the day or even at night can calm a persons stress. Add in the benefits of WALKING and you have the ultimate stress reliever. Having a long stressful day? Head OUTSIDE and get some fresh air.

Finding time in your day for at least one of these strategies might just change your attitude for the rest of the day. Becoming less stressed is always a positive and their is no harm in trying 1 if not all 3 of these strategies during your day. 

Coach Kyle 😁💪🏽
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🍇The importance of adding plant matter to your 🍇The importance of adding plant matter to your meals🥬

Fruits and vegetables pose many health benefits and play a crucial role to living a healthy lifestyle. It is essential that we are adding plant matter to all of our meals because;

🍆They provide colour and texture and make the food we are eating more appealing.
🥦Fruits and vegetables are convenient and are quick and easy to eat.
🍉Plant matter contains high amounts of fibre which helps keep us fuller for longer and keeps our digestive system happy.
🍌Fruits and vegetables are naturally low in calories which is of more benefit to us as they are nutritionally rich but low in calories.
🌱Plant matter foods contain high amounts of vitamins and minerals which help us stay energised and feel good.
✅Eating the right amount of fruits and vegetables can help to reduce your risk of lifestyle diseases.

So start of by adding some greens first to your meals with some fruits in between should help in increasing your plant matter intake and watch you start reaping the benefits.

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LEGEND OF THE WEEK Congratulations to this super LEGEND OF THE WEEK

Congratulations to this super star 🌟 Joanna B! 
Joanna joined our community a little under 3 months ago, armed with some big strength goals; including performing a bodyweight chin up. This has been the jumping off point for her training plan in which she completes:
3x PT 🏋🏻‍♀️
2-3x Sweat 🏃🏻‍♀️
Having never lifted a weight before coming to RFT, in the last week Joanna performed a:
• 50kg back squat for 8 reps
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In under 3 months! This is largely due to her get in and get after it mentality; her determination and curiosity about what her body can do is unmatched and makes her a genuine delight to train.

Aside from that, Joanna brings such a warm and kind energy into the gym that is appreciated by all the staff and members, and makes us proud to have you as part of our gym, so thank you Joanna!
And congratulations to this Legend! 🌟🏋🏼‍♀️🤩
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Morning’s at RFT 🙌🏼
Coach B xx
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