Sleep – If You’re Not Sleeping, You’re Not Alone…

It might make you feel better to know that we live in a sleep deprived society. That being true, it likely won’t help you get the good night sleep you’ve been craving. The statistics tell us that 60% of Canadians say they’re tired all the time and 30% admit to getting less than six hours of sleep. The CMHA, The National Sleep Foundation, and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, all state that we humans require 7-9 hours of sleep. According to the National Health Institute in the U.S., sleep problems are now considered an epidemic.

So why do we need sleep? A good night sleep provides us with benefits mentally, emotionally and physically. It helps your body with physical repair, it boosts your immune system, it helps with new memories and skill development, and there’s a good reason we say, “Sleep on it,” as sleep literally acts as a form of therapy in resolving difficulties and providing us with creative solutions upon waking. And this isn’t all….sleep helps to balance hormones and prevent elevated blood sugar and obesity. Sleep also regulates your body’s inflammatory response, which plays a role in keeping your heart happy. Researchers at Harvard Medical School have found that sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress-hormone levels and irregular heartbeat. And of course, we really do benefit from a beauty sleep.” Need I say more?

My seminar Better Sleep for Health outlines the reasons that sleep is so elusive for so many of us. More importantly we dig into how to hack our lifestyles in order to get the quality and quantity of sleep we need.

Some quick tips for Better Sleep are:

• Have a consistent sleep schedule – that means waking up and going to sleep at relatively consistent times, even on the week-ends.
• Limit your exposure to lighting in the evening – according to Dr. Charles Czeisler  – Director, Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, it’s important to stay away from your devices for at least 30 minutes prior to going to sleep. The blue light emitted from the screens decreases the sleep hormone melatonin which is required to rise at night for a good nights sleep. One of my favourite tips from Dr. Czeisler is to dim the bathroom lights at night (if possible) and be aware of all of the bright lighting you sit in near bedtime. It all has an impact on melatonin.
• Limit Caffeine – caffeine has a half-life of 5-7 hours meaning at least 50% of a cup of coffee you drank at 5:00 pm is still coursing through your brain tissue at midnight. If sleep is a problem, drink caffeine only in the morning or early afternoon.
• Try a sleep-inducing relaxation for calming the mind and body before bed. Feel free to check out my recording of Better Sleep for Health here.