How did that happen?

I woke up this morning, then snoozed a little (Saturday!!), then I got up. Now I am confused. I have been for a good hour and a half already. I was sorting out the covers, fluffing the pillows and all that when I noticed my 2 rings from my right pinky…only rings I wear…Sheila Fleet…Gorgeous jewellery from an Orcadian studio…I digress…back to the story.

It wasn’t that I still had them on that had confused me. I had a really shitty week so managed one beer last night before crashing. I didn’t do the nightly moisturising etc. so I just crashed and my rings were left on. Having them on in the morning wouldn’t be that unusual. What was unusual was that they were on my left pinky….in the same order as if they were on my right pinky.

On. My. Left. Pinky. I don’t wear them on that one. I wear them on the right. So I am confused. Really confused. Still confused.

Sleep Movements

To be fair I wasn’t really expecting to find answers on Google. But what the hell. I found a literature review called ‘Approach to abnormal movements and behaviors during sleep‘. Having quickly read the opening I diagnosed my ring issue as a complex movement during sleep. Partly because I am still confused, partly because I don’t want to class myself as simple, and also somewhat because of the explanation.

So whilst reading on I decided I am still bemused by the whole thing. I move in sleep but just the usual (back to side etc.). But, what the fuck, there is a disorder called exploding head syndrome!! Don’t be too alarmed it doesn’t mean peoples heads are exploding…but according to the description it is multi sensory and a painless sensation of the head exploding. Suddenly my complex motor movement and placement of rings on the opposite finger does not sound too bad.

I read on further. Disorders of arousal. Ooh that sounds ok (thinks me). It wasn’t (what I thought it might be or ok). Just the usual sleepwalking thing which thankfully I have never had. I may have mumbled stuff before during sleep (so I’ve been told) but I never have had the issue of sleepwalking.

So in summary despite there being loads of different types of sleep movements recorded (even sleep related eating disorder where people eat really unusual stuff whilst sleeping) my situation was not listed. I’m still confused. I wonder if it will ever happen again. Thankfully I am now self diagnosed as not being sleep disordered.

Anyone else had anything like this happen? If so come join my confused club.

Header Photo by Jonathan Fink on Unsplash

Sleeping In

I think we have all done it. Overslept. Slept in. Any activity that means you have slept longer than you should. That gentle waking up when your eyes are blurry and you take the first movements of the day. The move of your head to look at your watch. Wandering if you still have time to hit the snooze on the alarm clock. The crash of realisation hitting that you have slept in! The immediate question. Is that the right time? The answer – ‘It can’t be…oh hell it is’. Your stomach churns a little (or a lot depending on why you should be up). Immediate thoughts run through your head asking how this could have happened. You don’t have any answers. Especially when you are this tired!

How did this happen?

In my case(s) it happens because I have turned off, in a sleepy happy haze, my alarm. I clearly did that this morning. I have no excuse. Knowing that this is possible in my sleepy state I always set multiple alarms to ensure I get up. My fail safe strategy didn’t work today. Oops.

The time of year and the weather is important in our sleep patterns. A lack of sun, dark nights and dark mornings can make it difficult to get up. Apparently we can sleep an extra couple of hours in Autumn and for some people SAD can kick in during the winter months.

I don’t suffer badly from SAD but there is definitely some effect due to a lack of light. This can affect most of us. I did have a sunrise alarm thing a while back. I can’t remember why I ditched it but it was probably due to my inner rebellious streak of ignoring things when sleeping 💤.

What to do when it happens

It’s easy to say and harder to do but basically once it has happened you can’t do anything about having slept in. So you might as well own the mistake, admit it and take any consequences on the chin.

Today I wasn’t working so it was a yoga class I missed. I woke up at 9.15am and the class started at 9.30am. Not the worst thing in life but I still feel guilty. Email to instructor has been sent fully admitting the fact that I slept in.

Some previous sleeping in episodes have been worse. There was one occasion a few years ago when I agreed to be the only manager on site at my work. The others were at a development day or something. For a 7.30am start I monumentally managed to sleep in till 10am. Much bigger oops. All the potential excuses I could have made ran through my head that day. I told the truth…quickly! It was very embarrassing. It still gets mentioned.

Embarrassing but also funny. People appreciate the truth and you might as well own it and tell the story before others do. Like I said, everyone has slept in at some point.

What not to do when you have slept in

Don’t panic. There is nothing you can do once it’s done. I would say don’t lie but I get that a ‘dentist’ excuse might be a good way to explain things. Don’t take the day off sick. There is nothing worse than extending your feelings of guilt into a whole day.

One last bit of advice. Whatever you do, don’t hit snooze tomorrow!

Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash

Split Ends – get a silk pillowcase

Why did I not know this?! How could I have missed the silk pillowcase rule for hair and, apparently, skin care? Well I did miss it but thankfully someone put me right a few weeks ago.

I struggle with split ends. It is due to my hair being quite unruly at times, naturally wavy and thick enough to be embarrassing in the morning (bed head isn’t always a good look). At least it isn’t too thin. So after my recent haircut the split ends are sorted and a, much better informed, friend told me to get a silk pillowcase.

Sleeping on silk

There is no doubt about it that sleeping on silk feels…well it feels lovely. I used to think it was a bit tacky but my view has completely changed. The best thing – the benefits!

Hair

Silk pillowcases can reduce messy and unruly bed head. This also means that it can reduce the chance of split ends. Which is perfect for me as I don’t like getting lots of layers cut into my hair and it’s tough to grow them out when you keep getting split ends between cuts.

My hairdresser always chats to me about this. You can definitely reduce split ends by using serums, being careful with the brushing / combing and not using harsh hair bands. But a silk pillowcase will help too.

After a couple of weeks of sleeping with silk my hair is amazingly manageable in the morning. So if you want to put in a lovely curl and have it last more than the day I would definitely suggest getting a silk pillowcase or two.

Even more benefits of silk

I did a bit of research on this and there are a lot. Silk is naturally hypoallergenic. A tick for good skin! It helps skin retain moisture. Great! It’s not rough on the skin. Brilliant!

If you think about it your face comes into contact with your pillow more than any other thing (well other than your partner if you have one). So with your face rubbing against material when you sleep it can lead to your skin feeling a little dry. If you sleep against silk this doesn’t happen. It also, apparently, means that it reduces the appearance of wrinkles. At my age this might become a good thing; not yet though thank you very much!

My view on silk pillowcases

I won’t go back to cotton. Yes my bedsheets are lovely and I do think you should always sleep on good quality fabric given how much time is spent in bed. But I think I might go with a full on silk bed set for an alternative. Even if I don’t sleep in silk bedsheets every night my pillowcase from now on will always be silk.

Photo by Ömürden Cengiz on Unsplash