A good night’s sleep is truly a gift! Waking up in the morning rested, refreshed, and ready to go feels so good! We are more productive, happier, and healthier on many levels. Most adults need 7 - 9 hours of sleep per night. What does “good quality” sleep actually do for us?
According to an article in Verywellhealth.com, some of the benefits of sleep include:
Keeps your blood vessels and heart healthy
Helps to regulate blood sugar
Stress reduction
Regulates immune system and reduces inflammation
Better focus, energy, productivity, and alertness
Improves memory function
Regulates hormones that can help with weight loss
Helps with balance
Helps the body repair itself
We all can benefit from more “good quality” sleep. In today’s society, we are led to believe that being successful means working harder, longer hours. As a result, sleep gets put on the back burner. We don’t realize the quality of our work (not to mention our overall health) is compromised with less than adequate sleep.
Margaret Heffernan of Inc Magazine writes:
The reason sleep is so important is because fatigue isn't simple. When we are tired, our performance doesn't degrade equally. Instead, when you lose a night's sleep, the parietal and occipital lobes in your brain become less active. The parietal lobe integrates information from the senses and is involved in our knowledge of numbers and manipulation of objects. The occipital lobe is involved in visual processing. So the parts of our mind responsible for understanding the world and the data around us start to slow down. This is because the brain is prioritizing the thalamus--the part of your brain responsible for keeping you awake. In evolutionary terms, this makes sense. If you're driven to find food, you need to stay awake and search, not compare recipes.
After 24 hours of sleep deprivation, there is an overall reduction of six percent in glucose reaching the brain. (That's why you crave donuts and candy.) But the loss isn't shared equally; the parietal lobe and the prefrontal cortex lose 12 percent to 14 percent of their glucose. And those are the areas we most need for thinking: for distinguishing between ideas, for social control, and to be able to tell the difference between good and bad.
So how do we get this wonderful, rejuvenating sleep? It’s not always so easy! Here are a just a few tips that can help us wind down at night and fall into that deep sleep we all need.
Have a “cut off” time for work in the late afternoon or early evening. Have you gone to bed at night to find your brain still running - trying to solve problems, thinking of everything you need to do? It may help to wrap things up late afternoon or early evening, truly separating “work” from your evening routines. Complete your tasks as much as possible, then make a list of the things you want to get started on the following day. When I find myself “thinking” too much when I’m trying to sleep, it helps to keep a little notebook by my bedside and write things down. I feel like I’m unloading the thoughts, to-do list, etc. from my brain, and I can then relax knowing I will get to them the next day.
Spend time “winding down” in the evening. Spend your evenings cooking and enjoying a nice dinner, relaxing with friends or family, taking a leisurely walk, reading a book, practicing restorative yoga, soaking in a warm bath. There are many ways to relax - find what works for you.
Limit your screen time before bedtime. Studies show that the blue light emitted from all of our electronic devices - tv’s, ipads, electronic readers, cell phones - disrupt our circadian rhythm and make it more difficult to sleep. A good rule of thumb is to stop the screens 90 minutes before bedtime. If this doesn’t work for you, try using blue light blocking glasses, or apps on your phone or computer that eliminate the blue light.
Create a “sleep sanctuary.” In his book, Sleep Smarter, Shawn Stevenson writes about creating an environment in your bedroom for sleep… not for tv watching, answering emails, scrolling through social media. We can actually train our brains to associate our bedrooms with sleep, creating a neural pathway helping us to get that restful sleep we need. We can also enhance this sanctuary with a good mattress; soft, comfortable bedding; an air purifier or humidifier; some air-filtering houseplants; a diffuser of essential oils. Again, find what works best for you!
I hope this has helped highlight some of the reasons sleep is so important for all of us, and some things we can do to get a good nights sleep. I highly recommend Shawn Stevenson’s book, Sleep Smarter - 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success. It is an easy read, full of practical advice on how to sleep better!
Be Inspired,