Understand more about this fascinating part of our 24 hour day that we know relatively little about.
A great day begins with a great sleep
It’s worthwhile investing in a good pillow because cheaper pillows can flatten out easily and be unsupportive. This can leave you waking up with back, neck and shoulder pain, numbness in the arms and headaches. Suffice to say that a bad nights sleep will most likely lower your energy and production levels the next day, and in the long term can lead to even greater health problems.
Who's got bad bedtime habits?
If you're struggling to get to sleep at the end of the day, it may be because of some bad habits, you've fallen into in that lead-up time to bedtime. Just by changing a few small things, you can make a big difference to the onset of sleep. And just about all of them are natural solutions.
TV and Screen time
You may have heard of the hormones seratonin, leptin, ghrelin and tryptophan. But did you know they play an important part in regulating our sleep and weight? This article will explain how these hormones work together to influence our sleep and weight, and how a lack of sleep can impact on their function.
Did you know that when we sleep better we stand a better chance of keeping the weight off – even if we’ve consume more calories? So simply speaking:
Eat less + sleep less = more weight gain
Are you a night owl who stays up late watching television, working on your computer or engaging in social networking or gaming? Do you have children or teenagers who spend time on the computer after dinner or chat on skype until bedtime?
Technology is a wonderful thing and we wouldn’t be without it. However there are areas of our life where technology can hinder rather than help – and natural sleep is one of those areas. The biggest culprits are computers - whose bright, interactive and dynamic screens stimulate our minds instead of allowing them to relax.
Your brain produces a delicate balance of hormones which influence your sleep. However insomnia is not caused by what you do at night, but rather your habits and what you create during the day! Read more about this in Nerena Ramlakan’s book ‘Tired but Wired’.
To create the right internal environment for sleep examine your nutrition, hydration and exercise routines – here are some factors to consider:
Nutrition
Einstein famously needed 10-11 hours sleep every day whilst Margaret Thatcher could make do with 5 hours!
It has been said that without enough sleep we all become two year olds! But the amount of sleep we need varies from person to person and will also change during the course of our lives. Most adults need 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.
Circadian rhythms differ but the sleep phase cycle is the same for us all. Circadian rhythms refer to our daily pattern of waking and sleeping and everyone’s circadian rhythm will be different. Our own circadian rhythms will be constantly changing as we grow older.
Like food and water, sleep is vital for good health!
If you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or are waking very early and not able to fall back to sleep, then you may be suffering from insomnia, or a sleep deficit. You may not be getting enough (quantity) sleep or the quality of your sleep may be compromised with interrupted sleep patterns.
Many factors may be contributing to your insomnia. It’s important to identify what’s causing your sleeplessness and try to address the root of the problem.
