Sleeping Beauty

Arnotts are starting to take slumber seriously with their inaugural Sleep Month.

We are now living in the undeniable era of the constantly there smartphone and our brains are finding it more difficult than ever to hit that personal snooze button before getting nightly shut-eye. It’s starting to become a mini-crisis with commuters bleary eyed and office kitchen conversations being nothing but echo chambers of complaints about how many hours one didn’t manage to catch while horizontal. Well, now you can turn off that little blue screen and start looking forward to a future that includes eight hours a night, because Arnotts are just after launching their inaugural Sleep Month. Cue wrecked bodies across the nation doing a little dance. Amarach Research are also on board with Sleep Month and have released a series of disappointing but unsurprising findings. Just one third of Irish adults claim to get a good nights? sleep, with most of that third being over 55 years old. And in fact only 13% of Irish adults keep their mobile phones out of reach when asleep. That’s nearly six in ten Irish adults keeping their mobile phone beside them in bed, a habit shown to impact negatively on sleep quality. The brightness of computer screens stimulates the brain, subconsciously telling us that it isn’t time for sleep yet. And it isn’t the millennials who are most guilty of this kind of behavior, but males and females aged 35-44. However when it comes to checking that phone when one wakes up, over half of Irish adults were fumbling for their devices during the morning chorus.

In response to all this research Arnotts will have a number of Sleep therapists, bed experts and interior design consultations in-store during Sleep Month with shoppers able to pick up essential tips on how to maximise the amount of ‘shut eye? they get each night. This Saturday, from 12pm – 5pm, sleep consultant?Lucy Wolfe will be on hand in the bed department to advise on sleeping dilemmas and proffering sleep solutions from natural sleep aids to the right mattress for you and your lifestyle. A fifth of Irish adults have not changed their mattress in over 10 years and a third of Irish adults will wait between 10 months to a year before getting new bed linen. Considering we spend one third of your lifetime sleeping, or at least you’re supposed to, making your bed a relaxing and comfortable space should be a priority. Harrison Beds will host a ?Meet the Maker? event on Saturday, 17th May, where shoppers will experience the great detail that goes into developing natural mattresses and reducing their impact on the environment. Harrison have their own farm, where they raise sheep for the best quality wool and grow crops to make Hempure fibre.?Fancy and good for the planet.

And what do Irish people think is the best activity to help prep a good night’s sleep? Exercise. Sexual exercise in particular if you’re aged 18-34, and especially if you’re a man. We’re not convinced that last part needed a survey.

P.S. Arnotts are also running a competition in store to reward one lucky bed department shopper a luxury overnight stay at Monart Destination Spa in Enniscorthy. Sign us up.

Jeanne Sutton @jeannedesutun