Sleep is one very important activity in our life. Have you noticed that after a good night’s sleep, we feel like we can take on the whole world and anything is possible. On the other hand, a night spent tossing and turning or waking up every hour can make us feel fatigued and sluggish all through the day. If this is occurring often it may be a serious concern to our body and mind.
Why do we need sleep? Our body needs adequate sleep to function at its optimum. All internal organs and muscles repair while we sleep. The chemical balance in our body is restored. All information that we have gathered are processed, retained at the memory centre of our brain. Sleep plays a critical role in this maintenance. Lack of sleep can show up in several ways like fatigue during day, forgetfulness, being clumsy, irritability and low sex drive. Depriving our body of this rest can actually make us sick. We are prone to any virus we are exposed to and fighting even common cold is hard. Lack of sleep leads to weight gain. Ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates hunger and Leptin a hormone that sends signal to the brain that the body has had enough food, both are impacted when there is sleep imbalance. Increased production of ghrelin will cause hunger urging the body to crave for food. And lesser production of leptin will leave the body wondering if it’s had enough food. This pattern of increased appetite and weight gain will leave us sluggish and tired.
For optimal brain function, a good night’s sleep is important. It’s like cleaning up a space which reflects a fresh and ready for new day experience. The pathways between the neurons in our brain is forged while we sleep allowing us to retain new information and keeping us sharp. A sleep deprived brain can’t do that. The mind gets muddled and foggy when the brain is tired. Basic functioning like following conversations, concentrating at work gets difficult to comprehend let alone learning new things.
A few tips to fall asleep easier are sticking to a consistent schedule. Waking up and going to bed a set time every day including weekends is the first step. Keeping temptations at bay is also very important no matter how overpowering the desire is to sleep in on weekends. Most of the smart phones these days come with a night-time mode which limits exposure to blue light. Too much of screen time can also impact our ability to fall asleep. Finishing dinner at least 2 hours before bedtime. And a glass of warm milk relieves anxiety cultivating relaxation for a good night’s restful sleep.
