I’ve had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with Sarah Hopkins from Sarah Hopkins Health & Wellbeing who works as a private and corporate Holistic Health Coach. Sarah has completed the entire C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coach (HLC) program, and now coaches people not only in Perth but also clients globally via Skype. Personally something she has taught me is the power of proper sleep hygiene, and by implementing the changes she has recommended to me I can honestly say my health has shifted quite significantly in the right direction.

Given my personal experience with improving my sleep hygiene I thought it would be great to have her give a guest blog on this topic.

Firstly Sarah could you give us a run-down of what the Holistic Lifestyle Coach Program through the C.H.E.K Institute involves

I was initially attracted to the C.H.E.K curriculum when I read “How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy” by Paul Chek. I credit this book with many profound improvements in my personal health. This eventually inspired me to help others achieve their health goals too. The Holistic Lifestyle Coaching program resonated with me above all others, as it seemed to be the only authentic holistic approach to long-term health. This quote below by Paul Chek really sums up the value of this education to the health practitioner and their client: C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coaches are specialists in overall stress reduction and wellness promotion through lifestyle and nutritional strategies. Many therapists offer various forms of treatment regarding an injury or complaint, but rarely get to the cause of the problem. C.H.E.K Practitioners and Holistic Lifestyle Coaches seek to address the cause, not the effect.

Can you share with us what are some of the key dysfunctions you see consistently with poor sleep habits clinically with your clients?

Sleep is something that I find needs attention with nearly every single client I see and making some simple changes can have profound impacts back to overall health and vitality. Most people are not allowing their body adequate time to produce the hormones necessary for optimum physiological repair. I believe this is why most people wake up feeling fatigued and tired. Every single health condition that I deal with has some link back to poorly regulated sleep hormone production. Usually there are some simple lifestyle modifications that can improve their condition.

Something I recall you telling me was that the bedroom should be a sacred space, could you please explain this further for the readers

Many of our modern technological devices are wreaking havoc with our body’s ability to sleep well. Ipads, tablets, iPhones and laptops all stimulate cortisol, which suppresses melatonin production (the hormone we need for healthy sleep). Many people watch TV in the bedroom but also work, browse the Internet and even read using these devices. Ideally the bedroom should be well darkened, with little electricity and no electronic devices. For optimal health I recommend keeping the bedroom as a place to sleep and have sex only.