Sleep Better, Live Better

Jason Blackeye

Confession, I adore sleep! I always have. Well, turns out that’s a really good thing! But, another confession, I don’t always set myself up for the best night of sleep. You can spend 8-9 hours in bed, but if the sleep quality is sub-par, it doesn’t really matter how long you “sleep”, it’s all about the quality not quantity.

Why sleep matters so much in our health

If we really want to be healthy we need to know how important sleep is. A lot of times we cut out sleep so that we can finish that project or binge on Netflix. But the truth is, if we want to be our absolute best, sleep must be a priority. We can never give 100% when we are awake if we don’t give 100% when we are asleep.

I recently listened to Shawn Stevenson’s New York Times best seller, Sleep Smarter, and it has been such a great reminder that sleep is freaking amazing and utterly important! Shawn lists outs 21 tips for better sleep. Illustrating that the first step to better sleep is to know why sleep is so important in the first place.

Sleep is important because it is the time when our bodies repair. Sleep is anabolic, it builds us up again.

It helps rejuvenate our immune, muscular, and skeletal system. It rebuilds you and keeps you youthful. It also balances hormones – Sleep Smarter

After long days, top-notch sleep revitalizes a tired body

Another super interesting thing about cutting corners on sleep is this: have you ever been up late and eaten foods that you would normally not have eaten? That’s your biology! Because you are awake when you should be asleep, your brain is in fact not working at it’s prime condition and knows that the cookie, or bag of chips is a quick way to get glucose back to the brain! This is a great survival tactic that was useful when we were running from a Wooly Mammoth, but we aren’t anymore! Unfortunately staying up late to finish Stranger Things (although the best) does not set you up for success.

One of my favorite lessons from the book is so true but easy to forget:

A good night of sleep starts the minute you wake up in the morning

The first thing you should do after waking up

The minute you wake, try and get some natural sunlight. Either directly on your skin or at least sit outside. This helps regulate your hormones. It signals your hypothalamus, (the region in your brain responsible for the autonomic nervous system which activates such things like temperate regulation, thirst, hunger, emotions, and sleep, so kind of a big deal!) to be alert and wake up! It’s like your body’s clock.

Here are some of my favorite tips from the book:

Pro-Tips

• Get natural morning sunlight
• Have a set time at night where you turn off all electronics
• Make your room dark, like really dark, find black out curtains.
• Stop drinking coffee, caffeine past 3pm
• SLEEP COLD, well, at least don’t crank the heat. Studies show cooler temperatures at night provide better sleep!

I hope you have a restful nights sleep so you can conquer the days!