BOOK REVIEW: The Sleep Book: How to Sleep Well Every Night by Dr Guy Meadows. (Orion Books)

by Madeleine Sara

Sleep specialist, Dr. Guy Meadows’ pioneering methods at The Sleep School clinic, have been an unparalleled success. Having spent well over 12,000 hours working with more than 2,000 insomniacs in one-to-one clinics, workshops and retreat environments, Dr. Meadows has condensed the essential ideas into this single volume.

Apparently, a third of the population sleep badly. Dr. Meadows’ Sleep Book is therefore, described as a revolutionary five-week plan that means that you don't have to be one of them. Of course, if you are one, then the advice contained in his book may very well help you towards resolving it; whether it's a few restless nights or chronic insomnia.

Using a combination of Mindfulness and a new A C T therapy technique, Dr. Meadows has discovered the secret is not so much in what you do, but how you learn to manage your attitudes towards what you do. Indeed, he explains that the more frustrated you become; this only serves to push sleep further away.

Most people who have trouble sleeping, tend to invest a huge amount of money, time and effort into trying to fix the problem without much success. However, this remedy for insomnia book, is regarded as highly effective and 100% chemical-free in providing the solution.

Dr. Meadows explains that chemicals responsible for managing sleep also manage our mental health. A poor night’s sleep lowers our mood. The more we lose our quality sleep, chronically, the worse our anxiety and depression.

Poor sleep affects the pre-frontal cortex responsible for the high order functions: cognition, speech, memory, problem-solving, attention, concentration, plus balance and pain levels. It also disrupts 2digestion, affecting hormones responsible for appetite and fullness. Indeed, poor sleep increases hunger levels and reduces our ability to regulate food intake.

Dr. Meadows encourages suffers to maintain a positive outlook, in order to say goodbye to the vicious cycle of sleepless nights. His philosophy is one of allowing nature to resume what it does best, which is to enable you to sleep well and thereby, restore your quality of life, for ever. To be clear, however, he is not apportioning blame, merely explaining the unhelpful behavioural patterns we all adopt, in our attempts to cope under difficult situations.

The book also addresses the effects of more wakefulness activities we might perform during the day, such as alcohol and caffeine consumption, exercise, stress, sleep apnoea that unbalance as well as serve to establish these poor sleep patterns. It provides an Appendix with online resources including a downloadable Sleep App.

It is true to say that fifty percent of people only average five to six hours sleep, instead of the preferred seven to eight hours. Additionally, those precious two and a half hours of Deep Sleep are often lost.

Caffeine, alcohol, stress, smoking, limited exercise, large portions of processed foods, blue light from devices all have a bad effect on our sleep. Making changes to these will also affect our daily performance levels as well as our sleep quality.

The essential point made in the book, therefore, is that once a poor sleep pattern is set, or begins to become noticeable to us, we tend to spend our precious sleeping time thinking, worrying and then obsessing about it. Our brains then become almost hard-wired to sabotage our peace of mind and sleepy mood to be replaced, instead, by one of high alert and conflict. This ultimately keeps us awake.

So. if we’re having trouble drifting off or become wide awake after a few hours’ sleep; our attitude to this problem and what we ultimately think about when we attempt to get back to sleep, is what feeds this wakefulness pattern. The more anxious and frustrated we become, the worse it prolongs the wakefulness.

However, we should also bear in mind this simple philosophy, if nonetheless, we apparently sleep throughout the night, but still remain unrefreshed. Adopting other sleep strategies in this instance, should ultimately be our selfcare focus.

Those reading the book may therefore be elated with the solutions given. Some may seem disappointed. Whatever your response, remember it takes time to change old habits and learn new patterns of behaviour. Positive thinking and acceptance is important to all healing. Whatever strategies we adopt, remember there is no magic wand waving and typically, no instant cure; only a commitment to trust the advice given, in good faith and to implement it.

BOOK CLUB: Have you read this book yourself?

Perhaps you could share your experiences in applying the techniques and suggestions from the book?

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