Sleep. Are you tired? Exhausted even? Feeling like you have to push to get through your day? Chances are you are part of the two thirds of people that are sleep-deprived as we struggle to get the recommended “eight hours” of sleep.
We as a culture have forgotten the need for rest and recuperation. With our busy schedules, activities and devices, it is easy to forfeit sleep to get everything done. Now, more than ever, it is important to emphasise healthy sleep as much as we do on exercise and diet. Great sleep is equal to great health. What does sleep do? There are different stages of sleep and cycles of sleep that are important in restoring brain health and the healing of our body. When we are sleep deprived, our bodies naturally skip one or two of these phases. This is how clever our bodies are. It does what it needs to, to keep going. So we don’t really know that we are sleep deprived.
These winter months will be the best time to learn how to reset our body’s natural rhythm.
Create a healthy habit with us:
Having a routine to wind down in the evening is a great start. Turn down the lights and stop using your electronic devices at a certain time. This will reduce the amount of stimulation into your brain and start to give your brain a chance to pause and relax.
Giving yourself enough time to actually fall asleep is a key component. Most people already start to go to bed an hour too late and by the time you wind down and finally fall asleep, we eat into the precious hours that we have. There is a misconception that if you go to bed later when you are more tired, you will fall asleep immediately and that is often not the case.
Having the right environment will also help. Having a warm soothing drink. Making sure that your room is dark and around 18 degrees Celsius is ideal. But find what best suits you. Just as nature has rhythms with seasons so does our bodies during the day. There are two main parts to sleep. The ability to fall asleep and the ability to link sleep cycles and stay asleep.
Happy Sleeping!
Dr. Sunitha