sleep and health.
Sleep is one of the most critical factors in our mental & physical health. Sleep significantly impacts our brain capacity, and adequate sleep is required for optimal brain performance. High-quality sleep supports our cognitive performance, emotional stability, allows our bodies to recover, and impacts almost every tissue in our body.
Mental well-being: While you sleep, your brain is preparing for the challenges of the next day. Your brain is creating new pathways to help you learn and remember information. Whether you're learning finance or learning to drive a car, sleep helps enhance your learning and problem-solving skills. Sleep also helps you pay attention, make decisions, and be creative (source: nhlbi.nih.gov).
Physical well-being: As the various sleep processes occur at night to help maintain good overall health, sleep deficiency interferes with these internal systems. A lack of sufficient sleep implies your body will have less time to recover during the night. This can lower your defenses against diseases and cause other medical problems. The effects of sleep deprivation on physical health can include obesity, heart problems, high blood pressure, immunity control, diabetes, and developmental challenges (source: sleepfoundation.org).
Challenges of sleep deficiency: Studies show that a lack of sleep changes our brain activity. You may have trouble making decisions, solving problems, managing your emotions, and coping with change. Sleep deficiency is also been linked to high levels of stress (source: nhlbi.nih.gov).
Benefits of getting enough sleep:
Get sick less often
Reduce stress
Improve your mood
Stay at a healthy weight
Lower your risk for serious health problems
Think more clearly and do better in school and at work
Get along better with people
(source: health.gov)
how much sleep do we need.
According to health.gov:
Adults needs 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep each night
Teens need 8 to 10 hours
School-aged children need 9 to 12 hours
Preschoolers need between 10 and 13 hours (w/ naps)
Toddlers need between 11 and 14 hours a day (w/ naps)
Babies need between 12 and 16 hours a day (w/ naps)
getting good sleep intro.
The bedroom
Experts recommend that your bed is only used for sleep and sex so that your brain knows it's time to for sleep. This means reducing screen time in bed. It's important to keep your room dark before bedtime; in response to darkness, our body produces melatonin that helps our body sleep. Make sure your bed is comfortable; this ensures you feel relaxed. If possible, try your best to limit noise to reduce disturbances to sleep peacefully.
Bedtime ritual
It's essential to establish a bedtime routine at least one hour before bed. Pick a specific time that works for most days. It's highly recommended you put away your electronics & phone for the night. Then do some activities that will relax you, such as a hot shower, meditation, yoga, making a list for tomorrow, or reading. Focus on things that reduces your stress and calms you down.
Consistent sleep times
Our bodies have an internal clock (know as circadian rhythms). These rhythms sync with our brain, including our sleep-wake cycle. This is a guide that tells our body when it's time to go to sleep and to awake; it also starts the production of melatonin to aid sleep. Following a consistent sleep schedule helps keep this cycle regular. To learn more about circadian rhythms go to sleepfoundation.org.
No late caffeine
Caffeine and sleep don't mix. Caffeine is a stimulant that makes it difficult to fall asleep by obstructing sleep-inducing chemicals in our brain. Caffeine also delays the timing of your body clock, pushing back your bedtime. Limit caffeine to before 2 PM.
Good & bad light
During the morning, getting some exposure to the sun helps tell our bodies it's daytime, it's time to be awake, and starts our internal clock for bedtime at night. By night time, our internal clock is most sensitive to light a couple of hours before bed. Artificial light (from our computers or phones) can interfere with our sleep cycle. Get exposure to light in the morning, and limit artificial light at night time.
No long naps
If you're need to nap, to do it before 3 PM, aim to rest for 20 min, and always set an alarm. Sleeping any longer will interfere with your cycle since you'll enter deeper stages of sleep, and it'll be hard to fall asleep again. Napping longer has other more severe health impacts.
melatonin.
Melatonin is a popular over-the-counter (no prescription) supplement commonly used for falling asleep and other sleep conditions. ~3 million people in the US use Melatonin for reducing jet lag and adjusting their sleep-wake cycles (cost: <$10).
Anxiety Center Tip (irritability reminder):
As we all have experienced, sleep and our mood are strongly connected. When we do not get enough sleep, or our sleep debt increases, we can become highly irritable. Our irritation can be problematic for our friends, family, and co-workers. Remind yourself on these days that you might overreact in some situations and to leave yourself some room for patience. To learn more about sleep and mood, go to med.harvard.edu.
sound machines.
Distracting noises can cause us difficulty with falling asleep and staying asleep. Many people turn to sound machines to block out distractions and create a more comfortable sleeping & concentration environment. Sound machines don't eliminate disruptive noises; they can help make them less noticeable. The sounds can be soothing sounds (ocean) or white noise. You can also download an app (iPhone) to see if it's helpful before making a purchase.
bedtime yoga.
For those looking for a new bedtime ritual, maybe give this one a try. Yoga for bedtime is a gentle practice and remedy to anyone feeling stress, anxiety or tension in the mind or body. Don’t forget to dim your screen.
Anxiety Center Tip (write a to-do list):
Sometimes we can't get to sleep because our mind runs through all the things we have to get done tomorrow. If it's our careers, family, or something important we have coming up. Try to keep a pen and paper (moleskin) near your bed, and if you begin to overthink, write down your to-do list. Some research found that people wake up less in the middle of the night after writing a to-do list. Help put your thoughts at ease.
sleep experts seminar.
Here is an extended (1:45) seminar from Harvard University on sleep. Overview: Harvard Medical School sleep experts illuminate the importance of getting a good night’s rest and demystify how much sleep is needed and why it’s so vital to keep our bodies at their best during every hour of the day.