Last year we worked with the COMO Shambhala Estate in Bali to launch their very first Sleep Awakening workshop, led by renowned sleep consultant Tristian Kelly. Tristian Kelly is the author of Three Weeks to Better Sleep, and the soon-to-be-published Diary of an Insomniac. She’s got a wealth of experience having spent 20 years looking for a cure to her own chronic insomnia which ended in her also training as a naturopath, nutritionist, Western herbal medicine practitioner and homeopath.

When Tristian managed to finally achieve restful sleep in her own life, she turned to working empathetically to help others achieve the same. We’re working on an online sleep workshop with Tristian too, so sign up to our newsletter to get updates on this. Here are her top 10 tricks to get you to sleep quicker and better:

1. Get up early and get out into the fresh air and sunlight – works on your natural rhythms which wire your brain to fall asleep better when night time comes.

2. Try going for a swim. It gets your energy flowing and your circulation moving your toxins. It’s almost meditative.

3. Have an early dinner – and make it a light one, with plenty of greens such as broccoli and kale, which have magnesium to help you sleep, perhaps with some lean fish.

4. Top food to avoid at night is garlic– it creates too much energy! Roman warriors used to take it to charge them up before going into battle!

5. Light inhibits production of melatonin. So if you get light coming into your eyes when you go to sleep, it will lessen your chances of dropping off. So create a dark, cool space in which to sleep, not a hot bright one!

6. Fresh air coming into your room is a wonderful way to help you sleep, even in winter.

7. Sleep comes in waves. So when you get that wave of sleep when you’re on the sofa, go to bed, grab it whilst you can!

8. Turn off anything computer/mobile phone screen-related at least an hour before bed. You’ve probably heard a lot about the blue light they emit, you want to avoid that for as long as possible before going to bed.

9. Try putting scented oil on your face or body before night. Ideally high quality organic oil and it must be a relaxing scent such as lavender or rose oil. This can really help relax you before bed time.

10. This may be controversial, but a little alcoholic drink if you’re really struggling can work wonders! We don’t advocate a big quantity, just a little sip of gin for example, with tart cherry juice and soda can help remove anxiety you may be feeling.

Read more on the subject of sleep here.