Sleep Tight
Module 6 of The Holistic Wellness Program
During sleep, we preferentially secrete several hormones which are important for growth and repair of tissues within the body. Sleep is important for processing the day and storing memories. Inadequate sleep has been associated with an increased risk of multiple diseases and all-cause mortality.
Insufficient sleep can raise your blood pressure and blood sugar, it can weaken your immune function, it can impair your cognition, memory, and performance. It can even make you fat.
1) Aim for 6-9 hours of sleep a night. You can assess your sleep need by figuring out how many hours you need to sleep in order to go through your day feeling well rested and able to remain awake even during non-stimulating tasks (if you fall asleep during class or while watching TV, you’re clearly not well rested).
2) Sleep in complete darkness. Expose yourself to natural light on waking. This helps to regulate your body’s circadian rhythm.
3) Use the bedroom only for sleep and intimacy.
4) Power down your electronic equipment 1 hour before bed. Studies show that exposure to electronics (TV, computers, smart phones) before bed impairs the secretion of melatonin, a hormone which signals sleep.
5) Pay off your sleep debt. Research reveals that one can “pay off a sleep debt” by sleeping longer hours. Doing this habitually is not great for maintaining healthy circadian rhythms but a nice lie-in on the weekends is a good thing.
6) Sleep train your kids and pets. You’re not doing your child a favor by taking him into bed with you at night; his sleep quality is compromised just as much as yours is. Taking time to sleep train our children (though it can be a challenging couple of weeks) is well worth the effort.
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