“A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.” — Irish Proverb
Sleep is an essential function that allows the body and mind to recharge, leaving one refreshed and alert. Sleep seems to be such a simple phenomenon, but it is a complex process that affects the entire body. Sleep is as vital as regular exercises and a balanced diet.
When we sleep, we cycle through a series of sleep stages, from light sleep to deep sleep and rapid eye movement sleep. Going through all of these sleep stages multiple times at night allows sleep to perform its critical function of restoring our body and mind and repairs itself on a cellular level.
When the body doesn’t sleep enough, the brain cannot function properly. Not getting healthy sleep (quality & quantity), can make you feel slow, irritated and low on energy. Not enough sleep can take a serious toll on your daytime energy, productivity, emotional balance, and even your weight.
Unhealthy daytime habits and lifestyle choices can leave you tossing and turning at night and adversely affect your mood and creativity.
There is a difference between sleep quality and sleep quantity. Sleep quantity measures how much sleep you get each night, while sleep quality measures how well you sleep.
Measuring sleep quantity is simple and quick, as you just have determine amount of sleep per night (usually defined as 7-9 hours for adults). Measuring sleep quality is a little more of an art than a science.
Generally, good sleep quality is defined by the following characteristics:
- Falling asleep soon after getting into bed, within 30 minutes or less.
- Sleeping straight through the night, waking up no more than once per night.
- The sleep duration is as recommended for your age group.
- In case you wake up in the middle of your sleep, you fall back asleep within 20 minutes of waking up.
- You feel rested, restored, and energized upon waking up in the morning.
You have a poor sleep quality if you are experiencing any of these issues:
- Poor sleep habits like not having a fixed sleep-wake routine & late working hours.
- Stress & Anxiety
- Chronic health conditions
- Having trouble getting up in the morning
- Struggling to focus
- Irritability or anxiety or agitation
- Feeling sleepy during the day or needing to schedule daytime naps
- Sleeping much longer or later on unstructured days
The cure for sleep difficulties can often be found in your daily routine. Few tips to help you improve your sleep quality.
- Choose a bed time when you normally feel tired, so that you don’t toss and turn.
- Establish a realistic bedtime and create a good environment and stick to it every night, even on the weekends.
- Maintain comfortable temperature settings and low light levels in your bedroom.
- Have a comfortable sleep environment – including your mattress, pillows, and blanket.
- Consider keeping electronic devices – like TVs, computers, and smart phones – out of the bedroom.
- Abstain from caffeine, alcohol, and large meals in the hours leading up to bedtime.
- Exercise during the day can help you wind down in the evening and prepare for sleep. This also increases the duration you spend in the deep, restorative stage of sleep.
Healthy sleeping habits have a lot of benefits.
- Healthy sleeping patterns improve learning, memory, creativity, and mood.
- Sleep also strengthens the immune system, helps the body repair, regenerate, and recover keeping the body healthy and free from diseases.
- Sleep helps you stay energized through the day keeping you in good mood and give clarity in thought.
- Waking up feeling refreshed in the morning
There are many methods and ways to enable you to get good and enough sleep. Yoga is one of them. It is believed that regular practice of yoga is known to help alleviate several ailments, including insomnia and abnormal sleeping habits. Yoga works on the body and the mind. The sleep quality and quantity depends a lot on your mind and body condition and this can be worked on through regular yoga practice.
The yoga poses that can be done before bedtime will encourage the body to relax and sleep.
- Standing forward bend (Uttanasana).
- Reclined butterfly (Supta Baddha Konasana).
- Legs up the wall (Viparita Karani).
- Corpse pose (Savasana).
- Cat Stretch (Marjarasan)
- Restorative Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)
- Happy Baby (Ananda Balasana)
Two simple exercises to help you sleep better are explained below.
A deep breathing exercise (Abdominal)
Breathing from your belly rather than your chest can activate the relaxation response and lower your heart rate, blood pressure, and stress levels to help you drift off to sleep easily.
Conscious abdominal breathing exercise can be done just before going to bed to help get a good quality sleep. The duration of such deep breathing could be for 5 to 7 minutes.
A body scan exercise (Shavasana)
By focusing your attention on different parts of your body, you can identify where you’re holding any stress or tension, and release it.
Method:
Lie on your back, legs uncrossed, arms relaxed at your sides, eyes closed. Focus on your breath for a few breath cycles until you feel relaxed.
Turn your focus to the toes of your right foot. Notice any tension while continuing to also focus on your breathing. Imagine each deep breath flowing to your toes. Remain focused on this area for at least three to five seconds.
Move your focus to the sole of your right foot. Tune in to any sensations you feel in that part of your body and imagine each breath flowing from the sole of your foot. Then move your focus to your right ankle, move to your calf, knee, thigh, hip, and then repeat the sequence for your left leg. From there, move up your torso, through your lower back and abdomen, your upper back and chest, and your shoulders. Pay close attention to any area of the body that feels tense.
After completing the body scan, relax, noting how your body feels. You should feel so relaxed you can easily fall asleep.
This exercise can also be done seated on the chair in the middle of long working hours to feel refreshed and help perform better at the work.
While we are all looking to grow in our profession let us also give equal time and attention to some basic fundamentals like food, exercise, self-time, family time and live a balanced life.
Remember, time and tide wait for none!, lets not lose out on living life while making a living.
