Finally, the world is starting to catch on and pay attention to the importance of sleep. If you want to talk about wellness, getting enough shut-eye is, first and foremost, an essential step. You can’t open a magazine or watch a health-related program without hearing something about sleep wellness. It is one of the key factors to generating a quality life and if you repeatedly rob yourself, it can have a significant effect on your overall quality of life. I have worked in the sleep medicine field for close on 20 years and have worked one on one with countless people “fixing” their sleep and have seen some fantastic results over that time. Suddenly my clients were awakened to this world they had forgotten existed and were thrilled with the roll-on effect in all areas of their life. One thing that I noticed with all my clients was even if they had been a poor sleeper from their earliest memory, I discovered that there was always a core reason for their sleep issue whether they were aware of it or not and often the core trigger was not what they believed it to be. It is important to find the core reason otherwise changes in behavior will be short-lived.
For many years, diet and exercise were the catch cries for optimal health, but most wellness experts are now including sleep as one of the three pillars of health. This inclusion is a significant step forward, BUT, sleep should take pride of place as the number 1 pillar. If you compromise your sleep, then the other health pillars, diet and exercise will follow suit. The 3 pillars should fall into three categories.
- Sleep
- Mental health
- Lifestyle
Sleep:
Sleep deprivation affects everyone at some stage both mentally and physically, and the first thing to go when we have not slept well is our capacity to cope. Most become short-fused, lose perspective, and are not pleasant to be around. If the problem persists long term, a person’s entire personality can change.
Prioritise sleep, however, and watch your world change. You just feel well and you will notice an improvement in your entire daily outlook. In fact, you could liken a good night’s sleep to the euphoria of when you first fall in love. Anything is possible, and you’re ready to take on the world. Most people notice not only energy levels increase, but conversations flow a lot better and you’re not struggling to find your words.
Other benefits of a good night’s sleep are short term memory, libido and appearance. Many repetitive and niggly health issues just go away. Unbeknown to us, our body and brain are working hard during sleep. Building muscle, repairing and regenerating cells and flushing organs from toxins that build up during the day. You may be surprised to know that Alzheimer’s has been linked to chronic sleep deprivation due to a protein produced in the brain accumulating plaque leading to cognitive decline.
Sleep gives us energy, is vital to our overall health, helps us cope with everyday demands, assists with the management of our stress levels, plus helps maintain healthy body weight. Sadly, so many treat it as an inconvenience or afterthought or even a badge of honor bragging how they survive on so little sleep as though it somehow makes them a stronger person. It is not until you have experienced poor Sleep long term that you realize the importance of it and then you will be so reluctant to give that up
Mental Health:
In today’s stressful and hectic world, humans are becoming more and more conditioned to working longer hours. With daily advancements in technology, the expectation of what a person can achieve in a workday is so much more. And, let’s not get started on the added stress of parenting. Many seem to be “ON” 24/7 receiving work emails late into the night or conference calls from other time zones. It is getting to a point where a 10-hour day is normal and in some sectors, expected. When stressed and under the pump and trying to fit in life, the first thing sacrificed is sleep. We will work well into the night to get that project finished or get up to date with domestic chores sacrificing sleep to do it. Not so bad in the short term, but if it is an extended period, then the body sets up new sleep patterns. It doesn’t take long to shift our circadian rhythm (body clock) and set bad habits.
For this reason, it is essential to schedule “me” time into your day. Start prioritising some time for yourself as though it is an appointment. Taking time out of your life is a survival tactic. Not a luxury. Whether it is going for a walk in the sunshine at lunchtime, having a good laugh with a friend, mindfulness, playing with an animal or taking a scenic route home. These activities may seem to be little things but when you do them often enough, it has proven to reduce stress levels. Reducing stress is vital to a good night’s sleep. The busyness of life trains your body to respond in a particular way and this becomes your new “normal.” It is easy to forget what relaxation and quality time is.
Lifestyle:
lifestyle is grouped into one pillar because healthy eating, exercise, and building a quality life should go hand in hand.
Healthy Weight:
If you want to control your weight, then start with sleep. Insufficient sleep is strongly linked with obesity as it dramatically impacts the ability to control weight for a range of reasons. Poor food choices, craving carbohydrates and sugar, hormone production, and the ability to burn fat are all affected. The body produces two hormones that assist with controlling appetite. When these become out of balance, the brain does not receive the right signals to stop eating, so a person will tend to eat more often and more substantial portions. Too little sleep hampers the efficiency of the metabolism. Hormones such as cortisol and insulin are grossly affected, resulting in the body hanging onto fat. Researchers discovered over a period of 14 days of sleep deprivation, the body’s ability to burn fat dropped by 50%. Cue the gasp!
Exercise
When it comes to exercise, the intention may be there, and you may go through the motions, but the effort and output will be significantly reduced due to lower energy levels and drive. Our external effort will not produce the desired results resulting in a decline in our mood. Frustration creeps in, and so the cycle begins. The body will and does work against you when you are not at your optimal best.
It might sound like a clique, but exercise not only makes you feel and look good but alleviates stress allowing a deeper sleep. Exercise burns fat
Quality of life:
Improving yourself should be a priority because you are no good to others if you are not at your best. By incorporating simple changes in small increments into your life, you will find that a new habit is more likely to stick. Prioritise your bedtime to ensure you get enough sleep, change one meal in your day to a healthy alternative, introduce a short 10 minute walk or put on 3 songs and dance around the room. Begin a 5 minute meditation in your day. Start small and build from there. Otherwise you will cease sooner than later.
Fortunately, people are now starting to wake up and more and more are incorporating regular sleep hours into their diet and exercise programs. It shouldn’t take an expert in sleep to tell you that if you get a good night’s sleep, you feel good and if you don’t, you won’t.
There are so many factors that contribute to poor sleep and for chronic insomniacs, there is usually a core problem that needs to be addressed.
Contained in this site, you will find education and options to think about as well as many strategies. You will find more than one of these nuggets will resonate and motivate you to introduce some of these approaches into your life. At the very least, you may be able to relate to events that are occurring in your own life and give you a better understanding of how they may be related to your quality of sleep.
It is recommended to follow in sequence so that you first understand sleep and then work through the preliminary section that is required before attempting to change sleep habits section. This section contains not only good strategies but also an explanation of the “why”. You will also find hacks you can incorporate into your everyday lifestyle. It always seems as though it can take ages to develop a habit but only a few days of non-compliance to unravel excellent work. There is no magic solution for change. Just diligence, consistency, and perseverance.