What is healthy sleep and how to reach the balanced sleeping?
Some of us sleep too long, while others consider sleep much less critical than it actually is or have trouble falling asleep. Which group do you belong to? Try to answer this question first for yourself. If you enjoy an 8-hour sleep during the night, congratulations because your body is probably getting exactly what it needs, and that is the rest and time required to regenerate. In practice, however, it may be a completely different story.
Regardless of whether we sleep long enough or not enough, the fact is that the average Slovak sleeps about a third of his life. That’s enough time for our bodies and minds to get real well-being and relax. Healthy sleep is essential in several respects. Which are they?
1. Stronger immunity
An exhausted body is more open to illness. Even less than 7 hours of sleep makes you about 30% more prone to various viral infections. These are, of course, statistics that may vary from case to case, but that doesn’t change the fact that healthy sleep builds your immunity. You also prevent issues such as heart disease, stroke or diabetes.
2. Healthy sleep affects your physical and psychical performance positively
How many times have you noticed the weaker performance when not getting enough sleep? This is a consequence of your body and brain, not being regenerated. During the day, you are affected by a large number of stimuli, external aggressors, and you are active, sometimes too much as well. Your body needs time to prepare and rest for the next day again. Lack of healthy sleep causes depression, but also lack of concentration or low productivity. And you definitely don’t want that!
3. Slows down the aging
Healthy sleep supports collagen production, skin elasticity, and regeneration – all the essential facts to prevent premature aging, whether face or skin of the whole body. It should also be mentioned that thanks to healthy sleep, your metabolism will work from the morning exactly as it should.
All of these facts are definitely worth investing in quality sleeping time. Studies show that an adult needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep daily. Just as little sleep harms our body, the same is for too much sleep. So what can you do to get optimal sleep and the proper amount of sleeping for your body?
1. No need to rush, things can wait
Messy wardrobe, an unfinished email or even a half-read book – all this will wait until tomorrow, no rush. Try to organize your daily schedule, so you spend at least one hour before the planned bedtime enjoying quiet and relaxing moments.
2. Neutralize blue light
About 2 to 3 hours before our standard sleep time, the body produces melatonin, a hormone responsible for correcting our internal biorhythms and sleep quality. Suppose we disrupt this production with the blue light, ie, radiation from a television screen, laptop or phone. In that case, we will probably miss the chance to fall asleep without any issues. Before sleeping, try not to use the electronic devices and swap them for a book, a nice bath or relaxation or conversation with our beloved ones.
3. Create the proper environment to sleep
Sleep is greatly affected by the room where you sleep. First of all, a bed is only for rest – do not work there. Sometimes you can not sleep because due to the lot of thoughts flowing in your head. Open the windows to get fresh air into the room. If you like it, listen to relaxing music or put a soothing scent into the diffuser or similar device.
4. What prevents us from good sleeping?
Caffeine certainly does not support good sleep quality, not even 4 hours before bedtime. Eating at the same time also causes fatigue because your stomach works on that nice meal all night. Also, be cautious about drinking alcohol or exercising just before bedtime.
Sleep is more important than you actually think. Or too overrated – it depends if you have it enough or suffer from lack of it. However, sleep comes with incredible benefits and as we use to say – sleeping is the best doctor. So – sweet dreams.
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Goodbye friends at the next blog post.
