Katie's Pick: Complete Guide to Sleep Care by Kiki Ely

If your New Year’s resolution is to improve your quality of life, Kiki Ely’s book, Complete Guide to Sleep Care: Best Practices for a Restful and Happier You can give you tools on how to improve your quality of sleep. Ely boldly states that you cannot truly improve your quality of life until you lay a foundation of healthy sleep habits.

Her book features 75 methods to improve your quality of sleep. She gives an easy-to-understand break down of the sleep cycle (which doesn’t always occur sequentially), and explains how sleep—or lack thereof—can completely throw off your healthy lifestyle. Sleep affects everything—your mood, appetite, memory, ability to focus, weight, and overall sense of well-being. Although this may seem like common knowledge, Ely’s explanation of how critical sleep is to a healthy and happy life is quite eye-opening.

In each chapter, Ely offers several easy to follow solutions to common sleep issues, along with exercises to help you create a positive sleep experience. The exercises aren’t difficult to incorporate into your routine either; it’s mostly little changes that will make a big impact on your quality of sleep, leading to a happier and healthier you.

One of my favorite aspects of Complete Guide to Sleep Care: Best Practices for a Restful and Happier You is the Sleep Sanctuary chapter. Ely explains how to create the perfect setting for optimal sleep. She highlights the need for the perfect pillow and bed for each type of sleeper, as well as how different fabrics and colors can influence your quality of sleep. In addition, she recommends adorning your sleep sanctuary with houseplants that eliminate toxins from your room and create a healthier environment for sleep.

Another helpful part of the book is the Taming Anxiety portion. For many adults, the second they try to sleep, intrusive thoughts rush to the fore-front of their mind. To combat this, Ely recommends confronting your anxiety a few hours before bedtime by creating a table consisting of what a you’re worried about column and a best possible scenario column. You will have to have an internal discussion with yourself, but it can help you gain objectivity and insight into the problems taking up real estate in your mind before bed.

If you’re looking for an easy to follow self-help book, Kiki Ely’s book, Complete Guide to Sleep Care: Best Practices for a Restful and Happier You is definitely worth checking out.

- Katie, Reference Librarian