Let us approach
a hindrance I discussed in a previous blog.
On average, how many hours of sleep do you receive each night? I have heard, “I will sleep when I am dead,”
or “Sleep is overrated.” Well, my
friends, both those statements feed the concern wreaking havoc in thousands of
lives.
Lack of sleep,
continued overtime, throws the body for a loop.
There is a time for everything. . .including SLEEP! Sleeping, in fact, is underrated amongst
society. Chasing our tails to keep up
with the Jones’ fills the calendar daily with stuff to do. You know, I bet if we dissected the lives of
these Jones’, we would find misery, debt, façade of smiles, anger filled
conversations, no family dinners, empty fridges, regular visits to fast food
chains and early death. Do you still
want to keep up with them?
Why would such
a busy life, full of stuff and activities deplete happiness? We place ourselves in numerous social
situations, gather lots of friends, connect with thousands through Facebook,
follow countless on Twitter, constantly carry on text conversations, keep the
email inbox overflowing, etc. We remain
popular, pleasing everyone as we complete needed tasks. We become “yes” people. At what cost?
Our health! Our body fails to keep up, eventually waving
the white flag with illness, pain, weight gain and rollercoaster emotions which
all leave our metabolism nonexistent.
SLEEP!
Trust me, I can
extend an empathic heart when it comes to difficulty getting enough shut
eye. I suffer with vivid dreams along
with night sweats. I should say DID
suffer. Since focusing on relaxation
techniques, feeding my body with proper nutrients and shifting to less of a “yes”
person, the vivid dreams and night sweats decreased.
How can we run
12-15 hours straight and then just expect to turn it all off abruptly? Well, this is when the situation becomes
individualized. I spoke of finding your
oasis in an earlier blog. This plays a
vital role in resting the body. If you
have not yet determined your oasis, do so.
If you have not yet incorporated a visit to your oasis on a daily basis,
do so. Then, see if that ‘time out’
during the day aides in better sleep.
Begin by adding
even just thirty more minutes to the current sleep time. Continue doing so until 7-8 hours a night
exists in the regimen. Avoid relying on
medication to sleep. Begin with natural
means to bring rest to mind, body and soul: reading a good book, a hot Epsom salt
bath with lavender oil, rub lavender oil on the soles of the feet prior to bed,
use melatonin, drink calming tea, avoid overhead lights after 6:00 PM, shut
down the kitchen after supper, drink plenty of water, etc. The list goes on of natural ways to calm;
but, the key is finding what works for you.
SLEEP!
Let us not
negate all the hard work done throughout the waking hours to keep our body
functioning. Let us get SLEEP!
Please take
time to skim over the evidence based research pertaining to the effects of
decreased sleep on weight gain/retention.
Reaching optimal
health. . .One Day at a Time
Sheree Craig
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