Hi everyone, it's Karen from the Jodie Gromore
Welcome to my channel at this early time in the morning. I thought it was a good idea to do my first YouTube live stream at 5am in the morning
for some reason. I read a thread recently, I think it was on Facebook, talking about women over 50 who weren't sleeping well
And there was lots of people, I think this thread was started at like 2 o'clock in the morning
And there was lots of people saying how, you know, they woke up too early and they couldn't get back to sleep
So I thought it would be nice to have a chat and kind of share some tips
And there's, I want to go over three different sections. So I want to talk about how to get your bedtime routine right
So you set yourself up for a good night's sleep. And then what to do if you do
wake up too early through the night and you don't want to get up at two o'clock in the morning
And then also if you wake up at about four or five o'clock in the morning and you do want to start
your day, how can we set up a good morning routine to make it a productive day or an enjoyable day
So I'll keep an eye on the chat. I don't think there might be too many people joining us at 5 a.m. in the morning
but that's fine. You know, this will go up on a replay so anybody who's not watching it at 5am
can watch it. So there is a couple of people in the chat
Hi, Linda. Came to bed at 1.30 and still not asleep. Yeah, I have nights like that
And hi, Joe, nice to see you. So for Joe and Linda
what time do you normally go to bed? I think that is for me, I think that might be key to the fact that I'm waking up too early
I go to bed at probably 9 o'clock, 9.30 at night. I'm a very early
We do go to bed really early. And I think the fact that I'm going to bed too early means that I'm waking up early
So what time do you go to bed at night? Can I just check that you can actually hear
us. So if you can hear us, just say yes. Oh yes, obviously you can. Linda never goes to bed before
1 a.m. I don't think I've ever been a late night person. Even when I was younger, I think I went to bed
early, except obviously when I was going out for the night. But I think I've always been like a
person that goes to bed early. So one o'clock in the morning, my son does that. My son does that
And that's like, that is the middle of the night for me. So hats off to anybody who can stay up until that time
Unless you don't want to go to bed, unless you want to go to bed before 1 a.m. Linda and just not tired
So bedtime routines, I think, are a good idea. I don't know that I actually have a one, but I do need to set one up
And the first thing they tell you to do is switch off all your electronic devices
So no phones, no computers, no e-readers, no TV, because apparently they all give out a blue light
that tricks the brain into thinking it's daytime. And it produces, I can't remember what it was now, it produces some substance in your body
that makes you think it's time to be awake. so it's a good idea not to have any electronic devices
No heavy meals before bed. If I go to bed at half nine and I'm eating at 8 o'clock
that's a pretty ridiculous thing to do because I'm going to bed with a, you know
food on my stomach, so it's obviously going to keep us awake. So probably if I'm going to go to bed at 9 o'clock
then my last meal should be at about 5 or 6 o'clock
which is usually the case or it does say you should have some light snacks
so you don't go to bed hungry because as well as not going to bed on a full stomach
you don't want to go to bed hungry so they say you should I don't know who these they are
but they say you should have some fruit or some yoghurt or some nuts
something like that Joe says it takes that evening meals at 10.30
is that 10.30 p.m. I can't see behind it. 10.30 and tries to be in bed before 12. Wow, that's late. Evening meals at 10.30
There seems to be a lot of late night people. Yeah, Joe takes that evening meals
Even in meds at 1030, sorry, I thought that said evening meal something and that's late for tea and trying to be in bed by 12
Linda doesn't usually eat dinner before 7.30. Yeah, I read that wrong Joe
Yes, I think it would be nice to take meals around 7.30, but because I do go to bed so early, that's getting a little bit late for us
I do need to try and start staying up a bit later. So do you try not to eat sort of a couple of hours before you go to bed
Joe was awake by three this morning. Yes, I was awake fairly early this morning
but I think that's because I knew I was getting up to do this. And I probably wasn't sleeping well
So does anybody remember when I don't know if they still say it, but I always remember my Nana saying
oh, you shouldn't have cheese before you go to bed because it'll give you nightmares
I don't know if that's actually a fact, a medical fact. So I try to avoid cheese before I go to bed
You're also not supposed to drink alcohol or have caffeine before you go to bed
I do drink coffee, but I try not to drink caffeinated coffee
after 2 o'clock in the afternoon. So I do have a jar of decaffeinated coffee as well
And I very rarely drink alcohol, so that's not a problem. Joe says she sleeps better with a full belly
Yeah, they say that about babies as well, don't they? Don't they don't wake up? So maybe there is something in that
Linda says it varies. Might have midnight snacks. I only drink coffee all day
What time do you stop drinking coffee Linda I assuming it caffeinated coffee So other things to add into your bedtime routine stretches I suffered from cramps through
the night, you know, jumping out of bed with cramping your cough or your, yeah, foot or whatever
So I've tried to do some stretches, not loads, just a few leg stretches before I go to bed
And that does help I have found. You can also have a warm bath
I don't know about anybody else, over 50, over 60, I'm 60 and I find it really difficult to get out of the bath now
So a warm bath is not the best for me. I don't know if a warm shower works the same way
You can also read, but I think if you're going to read something that is like a thriller or, you know, kind of going to mess with your head or make a thing too much, then that
not a good idea. So read something light, something simple, you know, something that's going
to be common. I've also heard of people doing writing in their journal before they go to sleep
So I think if you've got a lot on your mind, it can kind of get all those things off your mind
onto paper. So you've kind of offloaded it. I suppose it's a little bit like having a therapist
to talk to. You just get it all off your mind and onto paper and then you can forget about it while
are asleep and hopefully wake up refreshed and ready to tackle them. I'll sometimes do a to-do list
on a night time to set myself up for the next day so I know what I'm doing. Linda often takes a
coffee to bed. Wow Linda. I'm surprised that doesn't keep you awake. Common music is or ambient
sounds are a good thing to help you sleep. I know once I get into bed
not so much lately but have in the past found it difficult to get to sleep like first thing
when I go to bed um so I found I was listening to a sleep meditation thing on an app called headspace
and it sort of it was a guy talking you through walking down this rainy street with the street
lamps on and came across this quaint little bookshops with a bookshop with a no was an antique shop
with a warm light in the window and you heard the rain falling and it just his the commonness of his
voice and the sounds that they gave really did make me fall asleep. I actually really enjoyed that
So the Headspace app may have some, that was a couple of years ago and it may still have that
So that might be worth checking out if you find it difficult to go to sleep straight away when you get into bed
Hi Janet. Janet also takes coffee to bed. Wow
Linda found a YouTube pro that was music to sleep by. So that's just what we're talking about, Linda. I found though if my husband goes to bed at the same time as me, he might want to
He might not want to listen to the ambient sounds of calm and music
And I don't particularly want to wear my headphones because I've got like the
headphones that I've got plug into my phone. So if I fall asleep wearing my headphones, I may end up strangling myself
So that's probably not a good idea. But I noticed that Audible, if anybody's got Audible
I noticed that Audible have some kind of sleep recordings on there by different
celebrities sort of a little bit like the headspace thing so taking me through
I think there was one talking about rainforest and there's one talking about
it does let me get the sounds of those environments and they're
free to listen to on Audible so if you do have the Audible app they could be a good
idea as well but I do find ambient sounds really helpful to get
to sleep and something else I found helpful to get to sleep is
something called Boxbury I don't know if anybody's tried that, but what you do is, it's you breathe in for a count of four
and then you hold your breath for a count of four, then you breathe out for a count of four
and then you hold it at the bottom for a count of four. So if you think of it like a box, and I found if I do that four or five times
I'm usually asleep by the time I'm starting the fifth one. So that may be something you want to try if you've got problems, getting
to sleep. Yes, Linda, we'll have a lot of hardened coffee drinkers in here. I don't, this is
like I say, five o'clock in the morning. I've actually got a cup of lemon and ginger tea
so I haven't started on the coffee yet. I would usually, but I thought because it was so early
I would have a lemon tea. Linda says the YouTube was just nice music that came in waves with
unusual patterns on the screen. That sounds nice. Joe says she doesn't have trouble getting to sleep, but staying asleep
which moves us on nicely to the next section, Joe, so thanks for that
So I'm assuming most of us in the chat and myself included do have trouble staying asleep
I mean, how many of you have gone to bed? See, you go to bed at 10.30 and then you'll get nicely to sleep
and you'll wake up and you think, oh, it must be about 5. o'clock and you look at the clock and it's like one o'clock in the morning. I hate that. And I do tend
to look at the clock at the same time every morning I've found. And for me, I think it's around
two o'clock. There was a few mornings where I was looking at the clock and it was saying three, three, three
And I thought that was a bit odd. But there's, I mean, there's several reasons people wake up from
the, through the night. And I think when we're over 50 and over 60, you know, what with menopause and postmenopause
and what have you. You do tend to sleep less. Well, I do
And by the way, I am not a medical professional. I'm not a sleep professional. So if you do have any medical issues
it's keeping you awake through the night. Or, you know, you're awake through the night
and it's really affecting your days. And please do go and see you, doctor
But some of the reasons that I've woken up through the night in the past
is I've suffered badly with leg cramps. And that has woken up
me up and of course it's difficult to get back to sleep sometimes i wake up because i'm too hot
sometimes i wake up because i've got things on my mind and i'm just not sleeping well
i do think for me i've got the wrong bed time i need to sort that out
yes linda's saying she has she doesn't have trouble getting to sleep it's staying sleep
hi tina nice to see you eats a banana Yeah I do eat bananas I started well many years ago I started taking a vitamin B12 and a magnesium which really helped my leg cramps along with the stretches on a night
So, you know, like I say, I'm not a doctor, so don't quite and get vitamins just because I'm saying I take them
This is just my personal, my personal thing. But again, if you, you know, if you wake up through the night, what is it that you do when you wake up through the night
Do you pick your phone up? Because obviously we've just said that that's not a good idea
So if you let us know in the comments, what do you do when you wake up at say 2, you know, 1 o'clock in the morning and you don't want to get up
What is it that you do? Yeah, Linda, potentially. Potassium, you do need potassium, but a packet of crisps would be no good for me because, as you probably know, I do low carb
I'm diabetic, so I'm not wanting to eat too many packets of crisps. Linda, you scroll on your phone
Yeah, I wake up, I've often woken up through the night, you know, 2 o'clock in the morning, and my husband's on his phone
And I keep telling them, obviously, it's going to be difficult to get back to sleep if you've been looking at Facebook for half the night
so that's not always a good idea. Might work for some people
Yeah, Tina, Tina says magnesium is supposed to be good for you
I've been taking magnesium for a few years now, and it does help the cramps in the legs I have found
So again, you can try, you know, if you wake up through the night, you can try that box breathing
I have tried that. It definitely is a good thing. So if you haven't tried it and you're a bit skeptical, just give it a go
You never know it might work. And again, the ambient sounds, but not with the headphones because you don't want to get tangled up when you fall asleep
And apparently, if you've been awake for more than 15 to 30 minutes, you should actually get up
I think I'll probably do that. my husband says there's no way he's getting up before 6 o'clock in the morning
So even if he wakes up early, he's not getting up. It's just a thing he's developed
But I have to get up because usually my legs are, I've got osteoarthritis and I've got neuropathy
if I want to sound like a hypochondriac. But that does give me pains in my legs
So if I'm awake for any length of time in bed, it just gets too much and I have to get up and move around just to get rid of the pain
but I try not to pick my phone up if I can help it
Janet says I think like cramps are from being on your feet too much
Before I retired, I had them all the time now no more. Yeah, I think that is, you know, a possibility, Janet
I think for me, I think it's because I sit all day and I'm not moving enough
So you're damned if you're doing, damned if you don't, don't you? Yeah, Linda, I think it's different for different people
I think cramps are just something the, you know, the doctors and that haven't really got to grips with
They don't know why it happens. And I don't think they really know how to cure it either
I think it's just something that we'll have to put up with
So does anybody get up through the night if they can't sleep, if they've been awake for 30 minutes
Has anybody decided to get up and just pot around the house
If you do that, what do you do? I have getting up at 2 o'clock in the morning before
I like to say, if I can't get back to sleep within 30 minutes, I'll get up
And I'll probably make a cup of herbal tea. I won't have a coffee. And I'll read a bit of a book, again, like I say
not anything too tax, and just something simple. I always find something like, I've mentioned this before
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, something like that I always find is nice to read
It's not going to affect my brain too much that I won't get back to sleep
It is nice to say. So actually, I mean, there's six people in the chat and it is nice to say, actually
because I wasn't sure that many people were going to get up and actually turn on their computer
So that leads us on to the next thing that I wanted to talk about, which is an early morning routine
Because I think if I wake up at 4 o'clock, 4 o'clock would be the earliest
So if I wake up at 5 o'clock, I'm definitely getting up and starting my day. Does anybody else do that
You know, if it comes to 4 o'clock, 5 o'clock in the morning, maybe 6 o'clock for some people
you just say, okay, I'm getting up, that's it, I'm not going to try and get back to sleep
I read a book recently, or I'm reading a book, I'm actually halfway through it
and it's called The 5am Club by Robin Sharma, and it is all about developing a 5 o'clock in the morning routine
I think it's mainly for entrepreneurs, but I think a version of it would work for all of us as well
you know, for people who are retired, people who work from home
who aren't entrepreneurs, but maybe you're just at home. And it's all about owning your morning to elevate your life
And I think the idea is good. And he says that from 5am in the morning until 6am
you should have 20 minutes of intense exercise, which I'm not going to do intense exercise
20 minutes of self-reflection, and 20 minutes of personal growth. Now, I can see why those things are going to work for
an entrepreneur is probably a good thing. But for somebody like me, who is not really an entrepreneur
I am self-employed, but in no way would I say I was an entrepreneur
So for the exercises for me, if I was awake, see I started my day at 5 a.m
I might do some simple stretches on maybe a very light yoga routine
If it's light in the morning, me and my husband would, if, well, not that he's awake at 5
but it would have to be 6 for him, would go for a walk. I really enjoy your walk first thing in the morning. But if not, it would just
be stretches or something late exercise in the house. Self-reflection. I don't really do self-reflection
but that part for me would be, again, if it was a nice morning and it was late or maybe if it
wasn't late, but it's still a nice morning. I would sit in the garden with a cup of tea for, you know
20 minutes and just think just look around and think about what we do is going to be or some people might write in a journal that might be how they do some self first thing in the morning And for the personal growth I not really looking
for personal growth, but I do like to read something motivating if I'm going to be working from
home that day, which I work from home every day. So that's a given. I would probably read
something like the Happiness Project or I have another little book that I quite like to dip
into it's how to find joy in five minutes a day by Joanne Mallon. It just nice
nice, something easy to ease it into your day. I mean, you could do a hobby for 20 minutes
If you knit or if you do a junk journal and something like that, you could do that for 20 minutes
because when you're doing things like that, you do kind of self-reflect as you're going along
And it is a bit of, you know, personal growth because you're actually doing something. and you're not just sitting there looking into space
I could even watch some YouTube videos. A lot of YouTube videos motivate me and get us started on my day
So that's a good thing. Linda says she's on her phone in bed
Janet says I'm thinking about going to sleep at 5 to 6am
What time did you go to bed, Janet? Did you say it just remind me? I endure
So you haven't actually gone to sleep. You're just actually going to sleep at 5 a.m. in the morning
Janet says she indulges a natural inclination to be up all night
So you're a night owl, Janet. Interesting. I'm definitely a morning person rather than a night person
Most definitely. Interesting. So does anybody have a morning routine when they get up
Or do you just go straight into whatever you're going to be doing for that day
Or do you have a set routine that you would do every morning? Let us know in the comments, please
Linda says you never wake so poorly. Well, that's because you go to bed at 1 o'clock in the morning
I'm assuming 5 o'clock is kind of the middle of the night
you. And Janet, you've been at night time, you've been up all night since you were born
Yeah, my grandson's a bit like that. He's seven and he's turned into a teenager. He likes to lie in
So does anybody do any kind of exercise when they, when they get out of bed in the morning
Do you like to go for a walk? Jo sleeps perfectly on the sofa
So do you go to bed and then you wake up through the night and you get up and you just have a lie on the sofa and let you nod off, Joe
I wonder why that is. Is it because it's a different environment or is it darker in a way
a sofa is, is there less noise where a sofa is? I find that it's hotter in my bedroom than it is downstairs
So maybe it's cooler downstairs or maybe it's just become a psychological thing
that you sleep better if you get up and lie on the sofa. Janet says her mother was a dear person and she drove her mad
Yes, I could imagine that. And Linda says she's always been a night owl and no, she doesn't exercise
Does anybody read a book when they get up through the night
I'm reading a book at the minute called Days at the Murasaki Book Shop by Japanese author
I can't recall the name of it at the moment. It's very quite a slim book, but it's a really, I found it a really relaxing book to read
It's not like it hasn't got much plot in it. It's just pottering along and, you know, people are going into bookshops and they're talking about the books and they're talking about Japanese food
And I find that quite relaxing. So that is an easy book to read if I wake up early
it's been like that since she lost her husband last year. I'm really sorry to hear that, Joe
I suppose that's understandable, you know, if you've shared a bed with your husband
then that might be difficult and that's maybe why you find it easier to sleep on your sofa
So those are all the things that I wanted to talk about. Anybody watching this on the
replay please feel free to add to the comments and let us know about your sleep routines or your
morning routines or things like that Janet says she will read on her phone
find it hard to say a book yeah i get that Janet that's reminded as i do you need to actually
go and get my eyes tested again because i don't think my glasses are working as well as they were
So it's 527, so we've been on for half an hour. I really appreciate everybody joining in the chat
Thank you for that. Linda Say she finds an audible funny book
Yeah, any recommendations for books on Audible, please feel free to leave them in the comments
because I like a book on Audible as well. I am planning to do some more of these YouTube lives
because I think it's nice to get immediate feedback and chat with you in here
I don't know if 5am is the right time to do it if you have any thoughts, please let us know
But I would like to do something live on a regular basis and talk about some topics that we all want to talk about
and you find people, women over 50 especially talking about. So if you've got any ideas for topics as well, please let us know in the comments
So I think I'm going to leave it there. Like I said, thank you so much for joining us
I hope you found it a little bit interesting. And I'll see you again soon
So bye, everyone. Thank you