How to SLEEP & A Calming Christmas Bedtime Story

Sleep is something that's important to get control of. It can affect everything we are, feel and do. Today we cover:

• The importance of good sleep when combatting comfort eating. 
• I've been told I have a calming voice. So, here I read a beautiful little tale to lull you into a warm, happy sleep. The story starts around 7 minutes into the podcast.

Here's your next podcast: 10 Ways to Overcome Anxiety

Citations
'The Night Before Christmas' - Read by Shelley Treacher
Here's your next podcast:

Transcript

  Hi, this is Shelley Treacher from Underground Confidence.  If you're joining me for the first time, you are so welcome. You'll find that I help people to get control of their eating by understanding the emotion behind the comfort eating. And if you have been a regular listener of my podcast, I owe you an explanation.

This is my first podcast since July, so you might be wondering where I've been. I know that I've been wondering how you've been. I'm going to be quite honest with you, it's been a few months where I've had a lot of other things to deal with. The most difficult of which is my beloved cat has been seriously ill since April, so that does mean that she's required a little extra attention, which I've been really happy to give because she is so adorable, she's such a sweet little soul,  but it does mean that I haven't really had time to do any extra work. 

And as well as that, I found myself quite tired. So, I thought I'd better practice what I preach and look after myself, rather than stretch myself to do too much. After all, if I'm trying to teach you to do that, how can I not do the same? Having said that, it's not like I'm not working.  I am still putting together a filmed program of how to combat comfort eating and how to manage all the difficulties of the emotional side of things.

It's taking a lot longer than I thought it would and it's a massive learning curve, but it is happening. And along with this, I'm always, always jotting down ideas of how I can help people to get control back of your eating. To that end, I'm going to be putting a lot of these as quick tips on social media in the new year in 2023.

I've avoided social media altogether since July for now, but I've got a file about two inches thick. Yes, I still do still put things down on paper, which is probably my problem,  but they all gonna, they are all going to come out on videos and audios and little tiny quick tips that I can offer you. And that is going to be quite prolific in the new year.

So please do look me up. You can find me on Instagram. All of the social media channels under Underground Confidence, Shelly Treacher. So as I mentioned, I've been a little bit more tired than usual in the last six months. Not least because of my cat, but also because of the menopause.  This has taken some getting used to.

This has taken some Looking after myself to work out how to use my energy best. And I've got to say I really have valued sleep a lot more than I ever thought I could.  I've always quite liked sleep. My mother used to say that her favourite journey was the one up to bed and I have never more understood that until my mid fifties now.

So I've decided to focus on sleep today. Today's podcast is a little bit about sleep and how that's relevant to comfort eating,  but I'm also going to read you a bedtime story.  Now that I'm here again, it's really exciting to be talking through the microphone. So I'm really looking forward to getting on with it again in the new year.

But let's get on with today's subject. Like breathing and eating the right foods, sleep is another one of those things that can help with everything. Every function in life that could be improved can be improved with good night's sleep. So it follows that this is going to be entirely relevant to the comfort  Practically, one way that it is really relevant is to do with your weight set point.

I'm not going to scientifically explain that right now, it's easy to look up. Basically, it's the weight that your body decides to stay at.  If you get a good night's sleep and you have a similar night's sleep over the next few nights and then you get a regular pattern and you sleep at the same time each night for the same amount of time, this is going to really affect your weight set point and your circadian rhythms. 

Basically, it's a really good idea to get the right amount of sleep at roughly the same time each night. Then you won't adversely affect your system too much, and you're more likely to improve it. The opposite of this is what I see most in my clients. There's kind of a vicious cycle that I see really often, where people stay up too late, possibly eating too much, possibly scrolling, possibly watching television, until later than they really wanted to. 

Often I think this is because some time in the day they didn't do what they needed for themselves, and so now are trying to claim back time. This can be just as strong a compulsion as comfort eating, but of course it's robbing you of all that goodness. One of the things that might be happening here is our systems might be overstimulated by the time it comes to bedtime. 

So we need something to calm us down. A lot of the compulsions are incredibly good down regulators, as in they bring our nervous system down out of stress into more calm.  Often we're not ready for bed until we've done something calming just for ourselves.  And the quickest option is going to be food, television and scrolling, or perhaps alcohol too.

Obviously, there are bigger issues to look at here, but I'm not going to cover those today. In previous podcasts, pretty much all of them, I've talked about the emotion you might be experiencing in the day, which leads you to do this at the end of the day. But one thing I can't overemphasise, if you're a comfort eater and you want to get control back of your eating, you're gonna need another way to downregulate your system, to calm down from that heightened state. 

It's not an easy, comfortable state that we're in when we comfort eat most of the time, so my ambition here is to give you a little alternative. I've been told that my voice is soothing, so I'm going to read you a story. You can listen to this at bedtime, or when you need to calm your nervous system down and reduce stress, and a time when you need to feel safer. 

One of the things that I observe when people are coming out of this fight flight threat cycle system is they start to yawn.  Most people apologize when they start yawning in sessions as if it means that I'm boring,  but it's actually the biggest compliment that they can give me because it means that I've done my job right.

It means that they're letting go of anxiety and difficulty, that they can relax and stop responding to feeling there's a threat.  So let's get on with this story.  Unlike usual in podcasts, I'm going to finish at the end of this story just in case you're falling asleep. So I want to thank you for listening in advance, and I will be back for another story before Christmas.

Thank you. This is Underground Confidence with Shelley Treacher. 

The story I'm reading today is The Night Before Christmas. 

T'was the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.  The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in the hope that St. Nicholas soon would be there.  The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads,  and Mama in her kerchief and I in my cap had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap. 

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.  Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.  The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow Gave the luster of midday to objects below.  When what to my wondering eyes should appear,  But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. 

With a little old driver so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles,  his courses they came, And he whistled and shouted and called them by name.  Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer, now Vixen, O'er Comet, on Cupid, on Dunder, and Blixen. To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall, Now dash away, dash away, dash away all. 

As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, So up to the housetop the courses they flew, With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.  And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof, The prancing and pawing of each tiny hoof.  As I drew in my head and was turning around, down the chimney St.

Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,  and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.  A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,  and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.  His eyes, how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! 

His droll little mouth was drawn up in a bow, and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.  The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,  And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.  He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself.  A wink of his eye and a twist of his head Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. 

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk, and laying his finger aside of his nose, and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, and away they all flew, like the down of a thistle.  But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.