How To Thrive Instead of Being Sleep Deprived
Getting Great Sleep With Natural Sleep Aids
Just about one third of our lives are spent sleeping. Sleep is a unique and often misunderstood biological function. However, we know for sure that good sleep is essential to good health and well being. In our modern day, instant gratification, attention deficit society, being well rested has become very rare. Constant tiredness and lack of sleep are more common than unusual. These high levels of sleep deprivation have been revealed in many recent studies and it's not getting any better. Despite all this, lack of sleep need not be as prevalent as it is. With a few easy lifestyle changes and a change of habit, we can free ourselves from sleep deprivation and insomnia, waking up energized for every new day.
We have a definite need for a specific amount of sleep every night. This amount can vary greatly from one person to another, however eight hours is a good general number. In failing to meet our sleep needs on a daily basis, we create and accumulate sleep debt. Also known as sleep deprivation, sleep debt is a cumulative problem that grows larger and larger each time we fail to meet our daily sleep needs. The only way to work off this debt is with healthy rest and sleep greater than our normal requirements.
Sometimes it can be very tricky to diagnose long term sleep deprivation because it adds up slowly and gradually over a long space of time. If you were to get 45 minutes less sleep than you needed every night for 30 days, this would add up to a 22.5 hour sleep debt by the month's end. Undiagnosed sleep deprivation is the cause of many work place, automobile accidents and deaths each year. It is often mistaken for something else like attention deficit disorder, depression or the effects of growing old.
Despite the prevalence of sleep deprivation, sleep hygiene can be improved with some lifestyle changes and by establishing some new healthy habits and patterns. Of course our goal is to get a full night's rest every night and yet despite good intentions , this goal is a distant dream for many of us. But it doesn't have to be that way. Just a few of these tips below can make a big difference in your sleeping:
One of the first steps for good sleep hygiene is to go to bed at the same time every night. Even better, rise at the same time each morning. You can be more flexible with your bed time if you maintain a very strict wake up time each morning because your body will begin to naturally adapt your bedtime on it's own.
Restrict your bedroom's purpose to sleeping and lovemaking. This reinforces your bedrooms association with sleep and soon the room automatically becomes a cue for it.
Regular vigorous exercise promotes good sleep. Try to work out in the morning or afternoon. There is no reason why you shouldn't aim to take advantage of the physical, mental well being and stress reduction benefits of exercise.
Refrain from eating anything heavy right before going to sleep, try to leave more than 3 hours between your latest meal and the time you go to sleep.
If you feel sleepy, don't try to fight it and stay alert, go to sleep as soon as it's possible. This is a good habit to get into.
Sleep aides and other drugs should be avoided whenever possible, they may make you temporarily drowsy but you will not give you the replenishing deep restful sleep that your body really needs.
Meditation or deep breathing can work wonders a half hour before you go to sleep. Try it and you may be pleasantly surprised. Just slow deep breathing alone can often bring about lower blood pressure, a slower heart rate and a peaceful mind.
No matter what you do, it's always prudent to reduce your activities and refrain from doing anything that's stimulating before bedtime.
Specially created audio files and CD's can really help you to calm your mind and gently fall asleep. Some of these audio files use scientific principals to bring about or mimic delta waves, these are brain waves that occur during the deepest sleep stages. These products can help create an environment conducive to good sleep and at the very least, mask out distracting noises and relax you to sleep.
Don't obsess about a problem or obligation when it's time for bed, just jot it down on a note pad, make a list. When you commit it to paper, you won't have to worry about it. After all, you've written it down and you don't have to stress about forgetting it.
By trying just a few of the above suggestions, we can gradually improve our sleeping habits and moreover, the quality of the sleep we get. Including just a few of these changes in our daily lives can yield a great improvement. Be sure to keep in mind that just as sleep debt gradually adds up, these solutions will bring gradual improvements. Make sure that you stick with these tips to reach your goal of restful relaxing sleep and you get to enjoy waking up refreshed every morning looking forward to each and every new day.
About the Author
As a former sleep deprived web writer and self confessed night owl. Years of late hours seemed like an unbreakable pattern. This all changed after trying the unique program at Natural Insomnia Cures found here. Also visit Insomnia Cures Blog
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