Sleep affects us considerably in different ways, especially our health. Our productivity and health benefit from a well-rested night. Many sacrifice their bedtime for other activities, not knowing the damage that they are doing to their bodies and career.
Sleep Matters
Having enough sleep had come to the America’s attention when Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tagged sleep deprivation as a major public health concern recently. Only just now has the severity of the lack of bedtime has come to the attention of US doctors. The growing problems associated with lack of snooze has spurred many professionals to get serious on sleep science and medicine.
Science places sleep, along with diet and exercise, as daily activities that determine the quality of our health. While skipping eating and doing workouts for days or even weeks, a night without sleep can make us edgy and distracted in the morning. In fact, even sleeping less than ideal (at least seven hours) for three consecutive days can affect your alertness and focus that even caffeine cannot help.
Sleeping less than the ideal puts an enormous toll on our overall wellness. Aside from major health problems such as increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease, sleep deprivation also leads to loss of productivity and mental performance as well as relationship and work problems. Sleep loss makes you feel blue and irritable. Moreover, it can kill your sexual drive.
Importance of Preparation
Just as other physical activities, sleep is an essential natural health regimen that requires ample preparation. What you have done during daytime, especially hours before bedtime, largely affects the length and quality of your sleep. To get quality slumber every evening, we need to do the following:
1. Come up with a sleep schedule. Sleeping is a routine priority task that must be given enough time to gain the maximum benefit. Just like in any of your critical tasks, you need to devote sufficient time for slumber. Experts say the ideal sleep schedule is nine p.m. to 5 a.m., which is too early by today’s standards. Dr. Nerina Ramlakhlan, a sleep therapist, stated that our hunter-gatherer ancestors were designed to sleep when darkness enveloped and to wake when the sun starts to rise.
2. Do exercises every day. Daily physical activities within the day prepare you for an excellent sleep. The more effort you exert in your exercise, the better. But if you have health issues stopping you from doing heavy workouts, a 10-minute stroll is enough. Make sure you end your workouts three hours before bedtime.
3. Go out and bask in the sun. A healthy dose of sun exposure keeps your sleep-wake cycle – also known as circadian rhythm – in check. It also cues your body to boost the production of melatonin and serotonin, substances inside our body that regulates your circadian rhythm. The contact of sunlight to your skin creates vitamin D, which reduces the incidence of sleep apnea.
According to new research, the ideal time for sun exposure is at midday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for 20 minutes for people with fair skin. For those with darker skin, more exposure is needed.
4. Check your diet. A wise choice of food can contribute to a good night’s sleep. Consuming dairy foods and carbohydrates, foods that are rich in sleep-inducing tryptophan, help you sleep better. On the other hand, indulging in a heavy high-fat meal and eating spicy food at night can disturb our sleep pattern as it can cause indigestion. Drinking alcohol and caffeine hours before sleep can also hurt your chances of getting quality rest.
5. Make sure your room and the bed are sleep-friendly. The look and feel of your bed and bedroom affect your slumber. A 60 to 65 degrees room temperature is perfect for sleep. It should also be quiet and dark. Likewise, make sure to sleep on the most comfortable mattress for you. A quality mattress such as gel memory foam mattress offers comfort and spine support even for sensitive sleepers.
6. Turn off electronic devices. The use of laptops, smartphones, televisions, and tablets before bedtime keeps your mind active, which prevents you from drifting to sleep. As a rule of thumb, your bedroom should be a special spot for sleep and sex, and should not be an extension of your office.
7. Add a cozy ritual before bedtime. If a good meal starts with an appetizer and exercise with a warm-up, quality sleep should also begin with a ritual. A routine sleep tones down your energy and prepare you to rest and shut off for the night. Choose a cozy, everyday activity done from lights such as mindfulness meditation or yoga.
Sleep is too critical for our health and jobs to be taken for granted. Getting quality rest every night can is a mark of good and rewarding life.
Author Bio:
Ethan Wright is a health enthusiast who believes every great day begins with a good night sleep. He is currently a researcher and writer for Bedding Stock, an online retailer of gel memory foam mattress in the USA. When not wearing his writing hat, you will see him traveling to places with his journal.