Did you know that yesterday was the first day of Spring? 

In the Northern Hemisphere. 

At precisely 3:06am GMT.

That was my fun fact of the day, from searching online about Spring for this newsletter. 

I also learnt that there is an Astronomical Spring and a Meteorological Spring!

Now let’s get back to brain-related news…

Are you ready to Spring forward? 

In 10 days time, clocks in the UK “Spring forward” by one hour.  

What does this have to do with your brain health?

The moving forward of the clock translates to one hour less sleep for most people. 

This adds an extra burden to an already sleep deprived population.

Sleep is one of the foundational aspects of brain health and resilience. 

You spend more time in the REM phase of sleep during the second half of your night’s sleep (i.e. the hours just before you wake).

REM = Rapid Eye Movements. 

It’s the phase of sleep where your eyes are moving rapidly underneath your closed eyelids. 

It’s when dreams are most vivid. 

It is important for emotional processing and your immune system. 

It is important for learning, memory and creativity. 

So waking an hour earlier will disproportionately affect the REM phase of your sleep cycles.

What can you do about this?

In the run up to this time change on 31st March (also Easter Sunday), start working on reducing your sleep debt. Have sufficient good quality sleep in the coming days to reduce the impact of the 1-hour sleep deprivation when the clock changes.  

Perhaps sleep in for that extra hour and not plan anything you have to wake early for on that day. 

How does this relate to migraines?

As part of my effective approach of resolving migraines through lifestyle and holistic approach, we work on sleep quality and quality. 

This includes maintaining a regular bedtime and waketime. 

This is important for your internal body clock (circadian rhythm) and promotes better quality sleep.

In my clinical experience, improving sleep is one of the most impactful ways to stop migraines. 

“Focusing on my sleep has been a transformation”, to quote Ellie who is currently on my Mastery over Migraine Mentorship, after we worked on sleep as part of my holistic lifestyle programme. 

She also states “I wish more people could try it and see how much a difference it makes to your life overall”. “I now have a solid routine which feels effortless”. Thank you Ellie for your testimonial and permission to share this ❤️

My upcoming free 45-min migraine webinar is in 5 days time.

I would love to see you on the call. We will be reflecting on the last webinar, introducing a completely new topic plus I will be sharing about my 21 day Sleep Sprint Offer. 

Sign up on: bit.ly/migraine2024-03.

21-day Sleep Sprint Offer starting 9th April

I am very excited to share about this upcoming 21-day group challenge with daily missions, supporting you to make changes to improve your sleep. 

This includes:

• Three live group calls on 9th April, 16th April and 30th April at 7.30-8.30pm GMT. 
• Daily missions log via my Brain Health Practice app. 
• Track your sleep daily 
• Community momentum and support
• Daily support from me via the community. 

Offer for those who register for the webinar, you will get a 50% discount on the 21-day Sleep Sprint.

Extra bonus for live attendees.

Live attendees will actually get a huge 60% discount as my thank you.

I look forward to seeing you at the upcoming migraine webinar.

Wishing you a Happy Spring day today

Dr Sui Wong MD FRCP DipIBLM/BSLM etc… bit.ly/DrWongBio