Kerry-Anne Allerston
Sleep? I’ve heard the word before. Maybe in a movie or a song even. But what is it? I’ve been an insomniac for so long that I’m used to not getting much of it and I’m surprisingly functional on an hour here and there. I know your body is supposed to do a lot of its healing while you’re asleep, so how am I even a real human with all my parts intact?
While you’re in dreamland your brain clears away waste, your muscles and tissue repair themselves, your immune system gets to work and your memories are sorted and stored. It’s all pretty important stuff. I’m a bit nervous about what I’ll be like in a decade or two, but for now I’m feeling good and I don’t look massively exhausted either.
Well, my friends tell me I don’t anyway and I’ll have to take their word for it. I’d love to be one of those people who can have an afternoon nap or fall asleep the second their head hits the pillow, but maybe that’s on the cards for my next life. Or maybe there’s a miracle cure coming my way any day now. I’m definitely not ruling that out.
I’ll try almost anything if it means I get to sleep for longer than an hour at bedtime. Sleeping tablets every night never seemed like the ideal solution when I was younger and they aren’t generally recommended as a long-term answer, but these days I do take them more often because I’d rather get some decent sleep every now and then than battle through another sleepless night. I’ve also been on the CBD train for quite a while and I think I’ve collected just about every sleepy tea ever made. I mix and match whatever I’m trying that evening with sleep stories, guided meditations and some dolphins that sing to me from inside my phone. You can even add ocean waves, rainfall or different coloured noise over the top. Technology is wild.
