Sleep well at last - that's the way it works!

The starting point

Sandra S .: Office clerk and mother, 35, from Hannover

She can barely remember the time when Sandra slept really well. When their twins were born too early, the nocturnal restlessness began. She is still busy today. Every night she is at least twice awake, wanders through the house, looks after the children. Afterwards she can hardly sleep again. When she wakes up in the morning, she is bruised, has thick eyes and no desire to get up. At the same time she is tense and under pressure: despite the fatigue she wants to do everything in the best possible way.

But the weak feeling remains throughout the day. All her energy Sandra needs for the loving care of the children and for the household. Since her husband is employed during the week, she is faced with many tasks alone. She also works ten hours a week as an office clerk. When everything is tidied up in the evening, the children are in bed, they are usually rewarded with television, ice cream or chips. And eventually goes to bed with bad feeling. How nice would it be to stop thinking in the evening: "I hope I can sleep better today" - and start the morning with verve in the day.

That says the sleep coach

Christine Dreyer: relaxation and psychotherapist, Hannover

Sandra is a very overworked mother. The nightly watching is probably a bad habit from the time after the premature birth of their children. Even Sandra's tension during the day, the time pressure and her tendency to perfectionism have a disturbing sleep.

Sandra should take everyday things looser, sometimes "just let five". Exercises from Progressive Muscle Relaxation help you to consciously put on and relax your muscles. Endurance sports also reduce stress, make you tired and ready to sleep. After dinner, Sandra should rest, not watch TV until 9pm.

Better to go for a walk. To write down the unfinished and make a schedule for the next day relieved of nocturnal pondering. And: It's normal to wake up at night. Every human being does that, usually without realizing it. This knowledge often helps to let go and fall asleep again.

That's what the Feng Shui consultant says

Dan Mor: Naturopath and Life Coach, Hanover

Inappropriate energies can weaken and make us ill. In Sandra there are several disturbing factors in the sleeping area. From the entrance, the energy flows quickly across the bed out of the window, creating restlessness. Large plants in the room, rock crystal balls in the windows and curtains would gently divert and slow the river.

Sandra's cell phone on the bed symbolizes constant accessibility, she should turn it off. Because in order to come to rest, she needs a very clear demarcation to the outside. Even disturbing stimuli such as radiation Sandra should reduce in the bedroom, because TV, stereo and Co. put them at night under power and irritate her nervous system. Spring mattresses also act as amplifiers.

And: To avoid negative feelings and pressure to perform, conflicts must always be clarified outside the bedroom. The bed is reserved for rest and pleasure alone!

That's what the nutritionist says

Dr. Claudia Gölz: Graduate Oecotrophologist, Nutrition Coach, Berlin and Bonn

Sandra feels energyless and is always on the go. In the morning, there is only time for a milk coffee with a chocolate bar. A proper meal is available late in the evening, preferably with cream sauce. This interferes with falling asleep, as high-fat meals stay in the stomach for a long time. Whole grains, fruits and vegetables are missing in Sandra, and therefore also vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Magnesium is consumed under stress, but without magnesium you can not relax.

I recommend to have breakfast regularly, eg. B. a magnesium-rich amaranth muesli with yogurt and fruit. And: to postpone the main meal to noon. In the early evening, a small meal and one to two hours before going to sleep, a mini snack that contains carbohydrates and protein, eg. B. crispbread with herb quark. As in milk with honey, it contains substances that make it easier to fall asleep.

After a week

It was surprising that all three experts perceive me as overloaded. I've never seen it like that before. I just fulfill my duties. But when one of the outsiders is reminded that one is constantly available to everyone else, that's pretty relieving. True to the motto: Finally someone has realized what weighs everything on my shoulders!

But so far I hardly feel how the tips of the experts should help me. Also, I'm still skeptical because such esoteric stories seem to me rather scary and unworldly. If the Feng Shui consultant tells me that I myself am the most important person in my life, that is noble, but who should throw the everyday? I also like our windows and I will not impose them.However, what makes sense to me are plants and rounder shapes like spheres in space.

And although I could not win so much from the beginning and end of individual body parts, progressive muscle relaxation in the morning is good for me. The nutritionist has said a lot, which is obvious. That I would have to eat more regularly and healthier, for example. It was amazing that apparently especially my eating behavior during the day has a bad effect on sleep. Anyway, I've tried the amaranth muesli - it's rather tasteless, but quite edible.

Otherwise, however, I still rotate, do not want to turn my private life completely on the left and can not concentrate on sleeping, let alone really come to rest. Even in the evening it is still as if bewitched. I'm lying in bed tired, do not fall asleep and I'm still awake at night for more than an hour. This is not exactly what I was hoping for.

After a month

I've really changed a lot now: I no longer just cut fruit for the children, but eat it myself. And in the morning there's coffee and cereal now in peace, without time pressure. Very often, then, I even manage to physically relax properly. This is a brand new start to the day. I have finally understood that my sleep disturbances do not occur in the evening in bed, but that they have much to do with my undecided attitude during the day.

However, this flow of energy from Feng Shui is still a bit suspect to me. But: The first big plant is at the recommended location. That looks great and calms down - at least the eyes. Also, we do not sleep as unprotected: The door from the bedroom is not open at night, but is ajar, the phone is switched off. Curtain fabric for the windows is also bought.

It seems that this thought, which was so rejected by me at first, "Nothing in the world is important except yourself", has meanwhile shaken me up a lot. I'm really thinking of myself now, and I'm leaving my perfectionism behind. That does not make the chaos in the corners any better, but I feel better myself and let a lot of bounce off me, which would otherwise have excited me immediately. Even with the children, I am now clearly relaxed - that is very relaxing! Taking a deep breath a few times and thinking of yourself will help you with unexpectedly good results! The sleep coach has given me amazing peace of mind and strength. Recently I actually fell asleep during a relaxation exercise. That was a strange feeling. But it shows me that exercise and rethinking seem to work.

I've been sleeping through a few nights! I go to bed at regular times, sleep more easily and often without television, do not wake up so often, sometimes think about nothing and just go back to sleep. And come as banal thoughts as washing machine, rain jacket and breakfast bread then, then they come. I know now how normal everyday thoughts are in the night, and do not annoy me more about it.

And: In the morning, I will not lie down, but get up immediately, when I'm awake. Not really full of energy and fitness, but at least with a first swing. I did not think I could do it. Only the edges of the eyes are unfortunately still there.