“Thou
hast put gladness in my heart, more than
in the time that their corn and their
wine increased. I will both lay me down
in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord,
only makest me dwell in safety.” Psalms
4:7-8
What could be better than winding down
in a cozy bed after a busy and tension
filled day, sinking your head into a
soft cushiony pillow and momentarily
mistaking it for a cool cloud, closing
your eyes and gently drifting away into
the blissful silence of welcoming
slumber? Before you sigh with the
pleasure of such a comforting thought
you should know, if you’re not already
one of them, that there’s actually
several other things people nowadays
would rather do than sleep! Things like
surfing the net, watching TV or sitting
in front of desks with piles of
unfinished business. But no matter what
without our Z’s we just would not be
able to function in a productive or
health supporting manner. The thought
that sleep is a waste of time is foolish
enough to be the product of those who
have not slept for days!
So what is sleep?
Sleep is
a naturally recurring
state of relatively suspended sensory
and motor activity, characterized by
total or partial unconsciousness and the
inactivity of nearly all voluntary
muscles1.
Sleeping well has a lot to do with
living longer,
a
University of California, San Diego,
psychiatry study of more than one
million adults found that people who
live the longest self-report sleeping
for six to seven hours each night2.
Further research indicated 8 hours of
sleep per day is the
optimal hours of sleep an individual
needs. Sleep, or the lack of it, affects
our attitude, which will affect our
motivation, which will affect our energy
which will affect the quality of our
work, which will… well you get the idea.
“Sleep is important for mental function:
alertness, memory consolidation, mood
regulation, and physical health,” says
Phyllis C. Zee, MD, PhD, professor of
neurology and director of the Sleep
Disorders Center at the Northwestern
University Feinberg School of Medicine
in Chicago3.
We need sleep and God designed that our
bodies would develop and be maintained
through this magnificent process I like
to call, “Our recovery period”. During
the day the body, and especially the
mind, experiences loads of bombardments
and injuries in the form of stress,
pressure, depression, pollution,
unhealthy food, sun exposure, rigorous
movements, and even exercise.
Not
practicing healthy sleep habits can lead
to all kinds of health problems, says
Dr. Shives. “Poor sleep leads to
cardiovascular dysfunction, lowered
immune system response, glucose and
insulin abnormalities, dysregulation of
hormones that control appetite, and
impaired cognitive function”4.The
body therefore needs time to “repair”
itself; otherwise it would collapse due
to the magnitude of all the mental and
physical pressure it is forced to bear
(yes we do understand what you go
through). That doesn’t mean we should
sit idle in order to avoid this daily
flood of demands on our poor bodies, no,
God wants us to be productive members of
society, such productivity brings
healthful joy and satisfaction, but that
is another subject.
Back to sleep, here are some significant
reasons for why sleeping is so
important:
1)
Less Sleep, an ingredient for a heart
attack?-
A study done in 2003 indicated that
heart attacks were more likely to happen
with individuals who slept five hours or
less per day as compared to those who
slept more. Less sleep could also
contribute to high blood pressure.
2)
Less sleep ticks off your balance-
Less sleep of course makes your body
disoriented, people should take note of
this because it can cause fatal
accidents if one falls asleep on the
wheel.
3)
Not enough sleep is depressing,
literally!-
Sleep deprivation has been strongly
linked to negative emotions.
In fact, after being deprived of just
one full night’s sleep, people not only
have stronger negative emotions the next
day, they are much more likely to
remember bad experiences than good5.
Sleep plays an important role in taking
all your confused and stress filled
thoughts, relaxing them, and organizing
them as you drift off into dreamland.
That’s why people always get “refreshed”
in the morning. Sleeping less hours than
those required will leave an individual
confused, irritable, and burdened.
4)
Not enough sleep can shorten your life
span-
There has been significant amount of
studies for people to decide getting
sleep is a serious matter. A machine can
function well if it is recharged often.
Sleeping is our body’s recharging time
and if we deprive it of sleep it will
eventually fail us.
Ok! So not sleeping enough is definitely
not the way to go, you may be wandering
what some of the benefits of sleeping
well (that is 8 hours/day) is?
Benefits of Sleeping well:
1)
Sleep activates your body’s repair unit–
While you’re happily sound asleep your
body is busy producing proteins that
help mend its damaged components at a
cellular level. The damage caused by
many factors whether pollutants, sun
rays, stress or rigorous exercise is
relieved during this time. You’re immune
system is strengthened by this process
and ready to handle whatever the next
day will bring.
2)
Sleep can make you smarter-
Sleep improves your memory. The “foggy”
feeling you might have when you’re
sleepy makes it difficult to
concentrate. That’s why some people find
it hard to remember simple things like
names, numbers, faces, and even
conversations! Sleeping allows time for
your brain to organize and process the
experiences you go through which helps
increase your understanding of your
situations and circumstances. Have you
ever thought of why a person who needs
to make a tough decision says “Emm…I
think I’ll sleep on it”… now you know.
3)
Sleep relaxes your stressed out body-
A good night sleep is known to lower
blood pressure and lower stress hormones
that are naturally prone to sky rocket
into today’s fast paced society. Sleep
helps to relax the systems that were
strained and worked during the day,
leaving your body lightened and
refreshed. Anger would be more easily
managed with a relaxed system than with
a tightened and about to burst one. And
managed anger avoids a storm of unwanted
aggravation.
