I know that many of you would give anything for more quality sleep per night. I agree that sometimes work, kids, house, family and life in general gets in the way. So, you finding yourself groggy, tired, and irritable throughout the day.
Most people fail to reach and maintain a deep state of Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep because everyday stressors, diet, and non-existing bedtime routines keep your body active and more alert throughout the night. REM usually starts about 90 minutes after you fall asleep. It is important to reach REM sleep because it stimulates the areas of the brain that help with learning, builds bone and muscle repairs, regenerates tissues, and strengthens the immune system.
Sleep is the most important lifestyle factor that has to be balanced for optimal health.
If you need the adjustment in different area of your life-sleep, diet, excesrsize, stress, energy. The first thing that needs to be balanced is the sleep. There is no point trying to work on nutrition or excesrsize if you are not sleeping well. It won’t work due to lack of your E, low mood, low motivation as not having enough restorative sleep.
Poor sleep is associated with higher levels of the stress hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine. Reducing stress, it’s crucial to get all the sleep you need. The most common sleep disorder is a subjective complaint that it has an inability to initiate or maintain sleep, or the sleep is non-restorative with poor quality and quantity.
Insomnia is a prevalent health concern in the general population, which could cause significant physical disorders and severe after effects in the day time. It is estimated that about 9-15% of the people in the world suffer from insomnia.
It has been observed that people who suffer from anxiety often accompanied with sleep disorder. Therefore, depression, anxiety, and insomnia are commonly occurred and develop at the same time. The link between major depression, insomnia and anxiety disorders impairs the function of immune and cardiovascular systems. These not only affect your work and daily life, but also decrease your quality of life, and perceived well-being.
Sleep is essential for your well-being. Balanced sleep means you are falling asleep easily, you staying asleep during the night and you have good restorative 7-9 hours of sleep per night. So, you feel refreshed and ready to go in the morning. Lack of sleep will cause a decrease in your levels of mood neurotransmitters. When you are well rested you can cope better and your mood will be more balanced.
Without good sleep, your body isn’t getting the valuable digest-repair-restore time that it needs to heal. And without enough restful sleep the important emotional reserves you need to deal with the stressors of life get depleted, and compliance with any healing protocol can feel overwhelming.
Restorative sleep reduces stress, improves your energy levels, lowers inflammation, improves memory and cognition, improves your mood, and lowers the risk of disease.
There are several tips to improve your quality of sleep:
Be consistent with sleep and wake times every day of the week so your body is programmed to sleep when it should.
Stay active but try to avoid exercising during the few hours right before bed.
Caffeine, nicotine and alcohol can interfere with your ability to fall and stay asleep, so should not be consumed late in the day.
Have a bedtime ritual that might include, Epsom salt bath, calming herbal cap of tea, reading a book, listening to relaxation music or meditation track.
Keep your room cool at night as that helps initiate sleep.
Get 20 minutes of light every morning. Sunlight triggers the brain to be awake and alert and influences the natural sleep/wake cycle known as the circadian rhythm. If you can get outside for morning light is the best.
Avoid blue light and electronics that emit blue lighting after the sun sets, especially within 2-3 hours of your scheduled bedtime. This is important for your circadian rhythm, which gives your body signals to release melatonin and get sleepy. You can use blue light filters on your electronics to change the setting to a night-time setting. Electronics, such as your phone or tablet, can interfere with your body’s production of melatonin. This hormone gets released before bed to help you feel tired.
Studies show that some people are sensitive to electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) and they can disrupt sleep. Try keeping electronics out of the bedroom and turn off your Wi-Fi at night. Keep your mobile phone out of the bedroom or turn your phone off or switch it to airplane mode.
In case you are getting plenty of sleep at night but don’t feel rested in the morning you should check with your health practissioner reasons behind that.