We spend almost one third of our lives asleep but many of us suffer from poor sleep quantity and quality. This is likely to be caused by a number of factors with stress, lack of exercise and using screens late in the day often being blamed.
If you wake up feeling tired and irritable and spend most of the day longing for a nap then it is likely that you are not getting enough sleep. Most adults need around 8 hours per night, with children and teenagers needing much more. However, this also needs to be at the appropriate time, regular and of good quality. After several nights of poor sleep, the mental and physical effects can become more serious. Your brain will be foggy, making it difficult to concentrate and make decisions. You’ll start to feel down, and may fall asleep during the day. Your risk of injury and accidents at home, work and on the road also increases.
Lack of sleep has also been shown to have an effect on:
- Immunity,
- Obesity (due to hormone imbalance),
- Mental wellbeing (tired = grumpy),
- Diabetes and Heart Disease (lack of sleep raises blood pressure and heart rate).
Things that may help you to sleep longer and better include:
- Taking regular exercise,
- Cutting the caffeine in the afternoon,
- Turning off phones and computers at least an hour before bed,
- Establishing a bedtime routine that includes holidays and weekends,
- De-stressing using relaxation techniques, massage, yoga, journaling etc
In summary, value sleep as something that is crucial to your well-being. Prioritize it when making lifestyle choices and personalize the tips above to find what works best for you. Protect against things that can upset your routine and trust that sleep is a natural process that will always bring benefits.
Why not Contact me for a chat about how a massage may help you to release tension and stress and enable you to sleep?