Sleep, it’s 1/3 of our lives.
Do you realize that we sleep for approximately 1/3 of our day, aka our life?
Think about that for a second.
If you aren’t getting that many hours, that’s cool. If you are, that’s cool too. What matters, though, is how WELL are you sleeping in the hours that you are getting? The quality of your sleep, far succeeds the quantity, to a certain degree.
You can get 8 hours of really crappy sleep, or 5 hours of solid sleep, and feel very differently, but also have very different observations of your overall health.
So, if we are going to spend 1/3 of our life sleeping, shouldn’t we be focused on the quality of that 1/3? The other 1/3 is our work, and we spend our whole lives preparing for our jobs and careers, but do you obsess this much over your sleep? Maybe we should!
Sleep is important for not just our emotional health but also for our physical health. A lack of good quality sleep is known to impact mood, attention, and cognition. Being a lifelong insomniac, I can tell you it also serves to improve your memory, when you get some sleep tokens in your pocket! Solid quality sleep can help you adapt to stressors better, which would help you control cortisol levels, which, when dysregulated, are tightly connected to pain, inflammation, heart disease, diabetes, and so many other health-related issues. Read more about that here.
When we get into REM and non-REM cycles of sleep, it typically means we get a longer duration and better quality of sleep.
So what can you do to improve your quality of sleep? Here are a few tips that I have used, and I’m finally able to say I’m not an insomniac!
Reduce blue light exposure. Tv, phones, computers, indoor LED lighting, all contain high levels of blue light, which reduces our melatonin production (Melatonin = sleepy hormone). Grabbing a pair of blue light blocking glasses, reducing screen use and giving yourself a no-screen window of (at least) 1 hour before bed, using a red light after the sun goes down, for light in the room, or halogen/incandescent bulbs, will all help in reducing your blue light exposure.
Reduce sugar intake. We tend to eat later, when we have high sugar diets, which throws off our ability to sleep (well) due to the zigzag in blood sugar levels. Poor quality sleep leads to sugar cravings, and this cycle continues.
Give yourself a window of 2-3 hours after your last meal and before you get to bed. Digestion requires energy. Eating too close to bedtime, doesn’t allow for you to digest well (laying down after a meal, yuck!). Late night eating has been attributed to sleep apnea, decreased sleep quality as it’s harder to get into a deep sleep, and reflux disorders.
Daily sunlight exposure (preferably in the morning, and in the fresh air - aka go outside). Remember melatonin (aka sleepy hormone)? Melatonin is produced in our brain (in the pineal gland), by the chemical melanin. Melanin is produced in our skin, via sunlight exposure. Don’t live in the tropics? Grab a vitamin D lamp and use it in the morning. Remember, after the sun goes down, reduce that light intake, so using it in the evening may be counterproductive!
While you try to implement changes into your daily habits to improve 1/3 of your life, keep in mind that these changes will take time. Remain consistent and kind with yourself throughout this process. It’s not easy, but you’re soo worth it!
Imagine, one day, your life will be better by a whole 1/3 :)
Wishing you a good night.