HEALTH: Is Sleep a necessary evil?

Do we need sleep for success?

If you love to sleep, you can’t understand why some would call sleep a necessary evil.  I remember hating sleep and I was sleep deprived for many years while I was happily surviving on 5 hours … or less … a night.

Taking a holistic view of finding happiness and success requires that we make some efforts to have improved health.  One of the simplest ways to maintain vitality is to respect sleep. 

The Only Place YOU Have to Live

The body has a job to do during the sleeping hours to let it repair damaged tissues, improve memory and boost the immune system.  Most of us care about anti-aging for the skin and controlling body weight, but have you read the research on how sleep is a simple, yet effective way to improve health in those areas and many more.

If you thought the benefits were eliminating bags under the eyes and morning grumpiness, please know that sleep helps heart, mood and brain function.

 Sleep helps memory and learning.  While teaching test-taking tips and I learned a technique to retain your study material is to stop studying the night before the test.  Don’t cram and read right before the test, instead stop studying early and get a good night’s sleep.  This allows the information to be stored properly so they can be recalled later when needed.  Your brain is responsible to send signals to the body for physical and involuntary movement.  It also manages problem solving, handwriting, hearing, and memory.

Getting enough sleep is a small price to pay for good health when studies show that your heart will be healthier with 7 to 9 hours of sleep.  Also, honoring the sleep-wake cycle is protection against cancer and other diseases.

When sleep deficient, the body goes into the production of stress hormones increasing blood pressure and the risk for heart attack and stroke.   The stress hormones increase inflammation creating a greater risk for diabetes and depression.   Also, your cells produce more protein during sleep allowing repair from UV rays, toxins, and stress hormones.

Still resisting sleep?  I thought sleep was a waste of time.  I read about inventors or geniuses who needed little sleep, but once I learned how valuable sleep is in causing the body to age, I gained a new respect for it.

Candle Magic

There are many techniques to encourage good sleep habits.  Allowing your body and mind to wind down an hour or so before you go to bed is a proven technique. 

Watching TV news before sleep is bad for your health as stories that portray violence are not good relaxers.  If you choose to listen to media before sleep, a good choice is meditation music and nature sounds for calming the mind and body.  Meditation does not replace sleep, but it is focused time to slow down breathing and relax muscles.

Change your relationship with sleep.  Restlessness, insomnia and sleep problems can be healed.  Seek a professional if lack of sleep continues after consciously preparing for sleep before going to bed.

Yes, we need sleep for success.  We need sleep for health. 

Take care of your body, it’s the only place you have to live.

Joy Harris

Success Coach

You Define Success

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