The Power Of Sleep at Space NK
My sleep patterns are a mystery to me. On days when I have been running around to a gazillion meetings, and even fit in a pilates session, I will lie awake all night even though I feel physically exhausted. And yet on a duvet day where I have done nothing except lie on the sofa marathoning a whole season of my latest favourite TV show, I'll feel incredibly sleepy by 10pm and be out like a light. What does it all mean? And what effect does poor sleep have on my skin and the ageing process? Furthermore, what the hell are dreams, and why can they be incredibly stressful when sleep is supposed to be about resting and restoring the body? Luckily, Space NK had lined up a sleep workshop as part of their Spring Series of events.
The workshop was held in their Discovery Space, a brand new area at Space NK's Knightbridge store. It used to be a spa, but is now a light, airy room ready to be used for lots of exciting events!
On arrival we were given a glass of champagne, and then lots of delicious canapes were brought round. Things were supposed to kick off at 6.30pm, but one of the speakers was an hour late. To make up for it the champagne glasses kept getting filled... many times over. We were all having a good chat, but then we realised that we would actually need to be able to focus on the speakers. Finally, the panel were introduced and we got started.
Sunday Times journalist (and writer of How To Change The World), John-Paul Flintoff chaired the panel that also included Sunday Times beauty journalist Edwina Ings-Chambers, a lovely sleep specialist nurse whose name I didn't catch, and the amazing Ian Wallace, a psychologist and dream expert.
They asked us to talk to the person next to us about any particular issues we have with sleep, and then we called them out. Not surprisingly, the same problems were coming up - not enough sleep, poor quality of sleep, feeling tired in the day (especially the afternoon), and lots of pondering about how much our modern lifestyles and technology affect our sleep.
The panel were so helpful, and of course were able to answer everything. The nurse explained to us that our primative ancestors slept standing up in their caves, and we haven't really evolved to find laying down sleeping on a soft bed to be the best thing (though, personally I find this a better option). She said that cave dwellers slept lightly in order to protect themselves from intruding beasts, and that they adopted a pattern of sleeping in short bursts throughout the night that suited them well. Therefore, we shouldn't worry if we don't sleep right through. Apparently we feel tired in the afternoon because our more recent ancestors in rural times slept when it was dark and woke up when it was light, so they'd go to bed at 4pm in winter and wake up at 8am. The key thing about our ancestors in any era was that they had darkness in order to sleep, and we need to make our bedrooms as dark as possible, and as cool in temperature as we can. We need to stop watching TV or looking at our laptops at least two hours before bedtime or the flickering light disturbs our brain's ability to get into sleep mode.
Ian was so fascinating, I could have talked to him all night. He told us about the ten most common dreams; being chased, teeth falling out, etc. One of them is about needing the loo, and one woman put her hand up and then went into hilarious detail about a dream she had where she was desperate to go to the loo, but nowhere she found felt good enough. This is the polite description of her dream... blame it on the pre-talk champagne, but we all learnt a bit too much about this lady! I cornered Ian after the talk and told him about one of my own dreams, which I won't bore you with, don't worry. But we had a lengthy chat about different sleep phenomena. What amazed me is that Ian says dreams don't 'happen to you', you create them, even the twisted, messed-up ones. This is to help you develop as a person by making you think through your 'issues'. Every morning I awake from stressful dream I'll feel like I've had the worst quality sleep ever, but Ian assured me that even during a nightmare the body is still full rested. Tell that to my thumping heart when I wake up at 3am after a chase dream. Not surprisingly, our dreams are representative of our innermost desires, ambitions and frustrations. You just need to take time to work them out and apply what you have learnt in your waking life.
After the panel discussion we were treated to lots of sleep-inducing treats, including a back and shoulder massage from Aromatherapy Associates and warm milk and cookies. Everyone left with a goody bag filled with night-beauty treats, helpful as we'd had lots of advice from Edwina in the science of beauty sleep, and the best products to use. Thanks Space NK for an amazing, informative event!