What I have noticed is the less importance people give to a regular night’s sleep which is critical to the overall development of anybody.. Repeated research over the years has consistently shown that sleep plays a vital role in promoting physical health, longevity, and emotional well-being. I am more focused with respect to the emotional well being which is critical due to the high stress life that people are leading.
When I was in a regular 9-5 job, my sleep pattern used to be erratic. I never used to think twice before compromising on my sleep thinking that I could always catch up on the extra winks during the weekend. There are many people around us who live in this false pretence. From my experience the health benefits of a good sleep are many but a few I would like to highlight and make you work towards are –
Sleep helps you repair your body: What I mean by body is actually both the physical and mental aspects. Nothing can repair a body which is exposed to so much of daily stress either due to being super active or as in most of the cases an extremely sedentary lifestyle. A good sleep always ensures that the repair work begins from the inside out. Like anything critical we cannot allow this to accumulate to the next day or the weekend. Something like a repair mechanism is a natural process which has to be done on a daily basis with no compromises here. I have gone to a large extent in compromising my other areas of my life just to ensure that I clock in the bare minimum requirement of 7-8 hours of sleep.
Sleep helps in reducing stress: A good night’s sleep can help lower blood pressure and elevated levels of stress hormones which are a natural result of today’s fast paced lifestyle. High blood pressure can be life threatening and the physical effects of stress can produce “‘wear and tear” on your body. It tends to degenerate cells which propel the aging process (now this will ensure I have got your attention!). Sleep helps to slow these effects and encourages a state of relaxation.
Sleep helps in weight management: Many including myself in the not too distant past piled on pounds mainly due to lack of optimum sleep. What is important here is that sleep does regulate and control most of the hormones. They include the one which plays a critical role in controlling one’s appetite. Studies have shown that when your body is deprived of sleep, the normal hormone balances are interrupted and your appetite increases. Unfortunately this increase in appetite doesn’t lead to a craving for fruits and veggies. Rather your body longs for foods high in calories, fats, and carbohydrates. Sound familiar well there is always a pattern for as to why and how we do things.
Sleep helps in working at the sub-conscious level:Now for some of you this might be Greek and Latin but what I personally feel is that the biggest loss is that we are giving our sub-conscious mind that much time less to work. Now who would want to compromise in this area if they only knew that watching more Television or partying late is going to affect your long term sustainability? Just like how our physical body goes on to repair mode in the night so does our brain which begins to process the data. That is one of the reasons I always insist on my clients regulating their sleep pattern into a consistent time slot.
Ultimately the least one can do is to make an effort in working on areas doing the most harm to an individual from the inside-out. By compromising on your regular sleep pattern I see that people are walking a very thin line and living on an edge. The least one can do is to control what is manageable and within your strength.
I am aware that with such a fast paced lifestyle that people are leading corners needs to be cut. My humble say in the matter is for you to cut back on other things be it your pace in the rat race, spending time with your friends or even being stuck with your smart phone which is no doubt addictive. Somewhere you have to draw the line and ensure you do not cross it whatsoever.
Eventually once you get a grip of your sleep cycle then there will be a gradual change in things around you both physically as well as at the metaphysical level. I hope this Blog article has made you look back at your own sleep cycle and why one needs to give it so much of importance. In case you do have to reach out to me then I can be contacted on my FaceBook Fan Page or coach@satishrao.in