Greetings!
Do you get enough rest?
We all know sleeping is necessary in order for our body to recover and stay in good health and vitality. How deep we sleep is very important as well and plays a key role in emotional and physical health. The R.E.M. stage allows your body to process emotions, memories, stress and helps our brain learn and develop new skills.
Sleep deprivation is common and can affect us in following ways:
- we may age faster due to decreased hormone production.
- our brain's capacity to produce new cells may decrease.
- we may gain weight as sleep deprivation alters metabolism.
Matthew Walker, the director of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab at the University of California comments on a sleep research:
"In fact, sleep is as essential as food because they will die just about as quick from food deprivation as sleep deprivation. So, it's that necessary."
Try to make it a habit to go to sleep at 10pm. Set an alarm to remind yourself to go to sleep if necessary! A good principle is that if you feel tired when you wake up, you probably aren't getting enough sleep. Listen to your body. Get more sleep or go to bed earlier. Try it for a few weeks and see how it's affecting your daily energy levels, productivity and health!
Avoid stimulants like sugar, drugs, caffeine and alcohol in general and especially in the evenings. Many doctors, including the renowned 'sleep-doctor' Dr. Michael J. Breus, believe drugs and stimulants can be linked to sleeping disorders.
Ensure that you are providing your brain and body a high variety of nutrients and practice meditation, yoga or stress reduction techniques to improve your sleep while you also improve long term health.
Tips for better sleep:
- Avoid stimulants like sugar, drugs, caffeine and alcohol in general and specially in the evenings.
- Practice meditation, yoga or stress reduction techniques to improve your sleep quality.
- Choose a high quality mattress and pillow that allows your spine to stay in its natural curve. When a mattress flattens the curve it is too firm, when it exaggerates it, it is too soft. A softer mattress with good stability will help most of us who like to sleep on our sides and stop reduced circulation and tossing and turning by minimizing pressure in the areas such as shoulders and hips.
- Make your bedroom dark, quiet and cool in temperature.
- Make sleeping as important a priority as providing your body with a high variety of nutrients through a healthy diet and clean fresh air through regular outdoor exercise.
We wish you sweet and sound dreams!
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