By Eleanor Emlen Healthy Roar reporters | If Emlen School Nurse Dr. English has trouble sleeping, she said, she pictures Trinidad, the island where she grew up. Remembering the beautiful blue ocean and the happy childhood memories help her relax. Creating a happy, peaceful image in your brain may help you sleep better.
Dr. English recently told Healthy Roar reporters about what she does to help herself sleep well and her advice about what they can do to get a good night’s rest. Their interview has been lightly edited.
Question: Why is it important for kids to get enough sleep?
Dr. English: It is very important for kids to get a good night’s sleep so that you can come to school ready and rested to do your work. If you did not sleep well, you would be irritable, tired, and you won’t be able to understand and hear everything that the teacher is saying. And when you miss part of what the teacher is saying, then you won’t be able to do your test correctly, right?
Q: Do you get enough sleep at night? Why or why not?
Dr. English: I do get enough sleep every night. I go to bed early because I live all the way in Delaware. I have to get up at 4:30 in the morning. I have a long drive and when you sleep well, you can focus so much easier. I drive on Interstate 95. You have to focus because there’s a lot of crazy drivers that go in and out and stop in front of you. If you’re not paying attention, what will happen? When I come to work, what if I was sleepy when you come and ask me to help you? Is that a good thing? No, no, then you won’t trust me. So I get a good night rest.
Q: Do you have a routine that helps you get a good night’s sleep?
Dr. English: My routine is that when I’m done eating and watching a little bit of news, I go upstairs. I shower and change my clothes, put my nightclothes on, then I lie down in the bed. I don’t watch TV anymore. I will read a book. Sometimes a book is boring and you can fall asleep faster. So I read because it helps me to get my mind off of things that happen during the day and it relaxes you. So that’s my routine. Eat, then go upstairs, shower, read a book. Sometimes I listen to books, you know, there are lots of books that are read to you. I like Michelle Obama’s book. I like Brene Brown. I like to listen to a book about saving money by Suze Orman.
Q: Have you ever had trouble getting to sleep? If so, what did you do?
Dr. English: When you get to my age, you might have a lot of trouble falling asleep. If I have a hard night falling asleep, sometimes I would just read until I’m bored and fall asleep. Sometimes I count sheep, believe it or not. I count or sometimes take deep breaths. I imagine like I’m on the beach and I hear the water and the waves. I grew up on the beach. My mom would take me on the beach when I was small, like you are. She loved to fish, and we would always go to the beach every weekend. I imagine I’m on the beach and we would make a tent out of coconut bushes. We took a blow-up mattress and sleep there. I think about the moonlight glistening on the blue ocean. It’s such a pretty view and it helps me to relax.
Q: What advice would you give a kid who is having trouble sleeping?
Dr. English: Create a routine. A routine means you do the same thing around the same time every night. So, let’s say, like me, you read. Some people go to bed at 8 o’clock and at 8 o’clock you turn off the TV. But the TV stimulates your brain so you should take a break from the TV, relax, and read a book. but the most important thing I would advise that children do is to have a routine, form a routine, do the same thing before bedtime every night. Do you love to sing a song? Maybe sing some songs. If you like to read, read, but find something that relaxes you. Some kids do yoga and meditation and you could do that. It helps your brain to clear and relax.
Illustration by an Eleanor Emlen E.S. artist.
