Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.


To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!


Wednesday 4 September 2013

Sleep, or lack of it


For the last few months I have found difficulty in getting a good night sleep - I fall asleep OK but then wake up frequently and find it hard to relax and go back to sleep


I am in no more pain than usual, I am no more worried or depressed than usual and I was finding this an issue before we moved into the new bedroom, so I don't think it is that - indeed the new room is darker and quieter than the old one - and a lack of dark and quiet HAS woken me up, in the past.

So when I was contacted by a company working with bed manufacturer Silentnight and asked if I wanted to try out a sleep accessory I was interested. Last year Silentnight carried out some research which showed that only 25% of all parents are getting a good night's sleep. So they decided to dig in even deeper and find out if various sleep accessories can help you sleep better. Do they stand up to the claims that their manufactures make? Can they make you relax before bedtime? Do you feel more refreshed in the morning after using them?

I agreed to take part and filled in a sleep survey to establish how well (or badly) I sleep, normally.

I then was sent a random product - in my case a pillow spray. We had a bit of a hiccough with the first spray as it contained Tea Tree essential oil, which Compostman is very sensitive to - and when I used it on my pillow the first night, it made him itch!
So I was sent some John Lewis pillow spray as a replacement and I will try  it out over the next couple of weeks. It smells lovely :)   I am keeping a sleep diary about when I go to bed, how I feel, how well I slept - that sort of thing.

I'll then write a post with a review of the pillow spray and how well it works and, as I have been researching sleep tips I 'll  share any which I have found useful.
Wish me luck :)

5 comments:

  1. My mother bought me a herbal sleep pillow once - it had hops, lavender and so on. I found it intensely stimulating and had to throw it out of the bed to get any sleep at all. It would have to be such a subtle scent that I wasn't consciously aware of it to work for me.

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    1. I can't take much scent either - I find it disturbing. As I use essential oils a lot and spray my linen with lavender water I am not sure how much help this particular pillow spray will be - but it does smell very nice :)

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  2. Hey, I'm an insomniac - I'll willingly test Silent nights products for them ! I get by on 3/4 hours a night - seriously, my brain just won't switch off !
    So why do they think it's only 'parents' that don't sleep then ? obviously if you have infants that wake all through the night, you're not going to sleep, but that isn't a sleep 'problem' is it ? that's because your kids are keeping you awake !

    My kids have long since fled the nest, but I still can't sleep - so Silent Night, feel free to contact me anytime !

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    1. Hi Wean - do you want me to ask if they need any more people :)

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  3. I am the same as you (and not a parent). I wake up some nights and can't go back to sleep as I just start thinking random thoughts. I tried a lavender pillow spray ages ago but it didn't seem to have any effect. Strangely I can wake up with a thought in my head which almost seems as though I was thinking in my sleep!

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Hello! Thank you for reading my blog and for commenting. I try to reply as quickly as I can and I really appreciate your interest in my life and doings here in The Compost Bin.

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