Too many people have poor quality sleep or a lack of sufficient sleep. In our busy life styles we cram more and more into our day (and night) and with the advent of the cell phone we could go on for 24/7 if our body could keep up with us. As humans evolved they would be active during the day, when the sun came up, and they would rest and sleep when the sun went down. This meant that in the summer time when days were longer we would be more active, we would eat more food, which was more abundant during the growing season. In the winter time, when days were shorter we would sleep for longer periods which would help conserve our strength, warmth and energy output, when days were shorter and food supplies less abundant. As a rule of thumb a healthy individual should sleep approximately 8 hours a day, there are some people who can get by on only 6 hours of sleep, if those six hours are the deep, restful, abundant sleep referred to as REM sleep. Don’t confuse sleeping only six hours due to the necessity of getting to work or some motivator other than having a true deep restful – restorative sleep.
If you are anxious, stressed or have an over-active mind you may turn to a sleep aid; this is a drugged form of sleep and will not give you the Restful-Restorative sleep that you require to maintain good health. Pay attention to your meal planning; ideally you will want to eat approximately 3 to 4 hours before bedtime, this will allow your body to digest your food before you go to sleep. It takes two to four hours for the average meal to digest and requires the energy equivalent to walking approximately five miles. Remember your body was designed to slow down once the sun goes down, so your digestive process will now take longer to complete. People often complain about waking up very tired in the morning; well if you ate a heavy meal just before bedtime, your liver and digestive system will now take much longer to digest, which means your digestive system has been working most of the night when it should have been resting and restoring its energy.
Pay attention to what you drink and how much you drink before you go to bed; do not drink sodas or sugary drinks, caffeinated drinks (including chocolate milk), alcohol in moderation may help you relax, but beer tends to be a stimulant and may upset your sleep. Too much fluid may cause you to get up at night to pee; this becomes more of a problem as we age because the muscle structure of our bladder, intestines, and abdomen become weaker. Constipation is also a contributing factor for incontinence; for men as we age the prostate gland swells restricting the flow of urine causing weak urine control and increased trips to pee at night. These problems can be prevented or treated with proper healthcare and lifestyle practices.
Be aware of your circadian rhythm, your sleep/wake cycle which influences our hormones and neurotransmitters that signal our bodies when to sleep; as the sun goes down our hormone melatonin increases stimulating sleep. As the sun raises in the morning our melatonin levels drop and our hormone serotonin increases which stimulates our waking/active time. As the sun goes down serotonin levels drop which has a calming effect on the body. While we all have our individual circadian rhythms, some wake early and go to bed early, while others may go to bed late and sleep in late. And still some may require eight or more hours of sleep while others may do fine on six hours sleep. The key is creating your own sleep/wake cycle that allows you to have a deep, profound, restful sleep which allows you to wake up rested and energetic. If you are overstressed and sleep deprived you will pay the price by weakening your immune system and accelerating the aging process.
Next pay attention to your physical surroundings, is the room quiet? Is it dark? Is the temperature correct? Too hot or too cold will affect the quality of your sleep. Is your bed comfortable, firm but not too soft or too hard? Stress causes surges of our stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin, this can disrupt our cognition, our ability to regulate our emotions, it reduces our brain power and productivity and reduces our concentration and memory and increases anxiety. Sleep is the most important thing you can do to improve your performance in life. Suggested sleep requirements; Teens 9 – 10 hours, Adults 7- 9 hours.
For help with your healthcare program – call Richard Smithee, Master of Traditional Oriental Medicine
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