Sleep
makes you feel better, but its importance goes much further beyond the
mood-boosting and banishment of the ever-pesky under eye circles.
Adequate sleep plays a crucial role in the concert of other health factors that
help create a healthy lifestyle. Quality sleep benefits your heart,
weight, psychological affects, and much much more.
Though
sleeping well was once only an afterthought— like parking your car in a garage
and picking it up in the morning— there has been a wealth of research that has
discovered that there are
a multitude of health benefits associated with having a good night’s sleep.
Sleep...What Is It Good For?
Sleeping
well has benefits that affect every part of a human’s life. From
improving memory through consolidation, to reducing inflammation throughout
your body, the importance of quality sleep cannot be understated. In addition
to tangible benefits, like inflammation reduction, there are also non-physical
qualities that are vastly improved too. Creativity, for example, is a
trait that improves after a restful night of sleep.
Researchers at
Harvard University found that people seem to strengthen emotional components of
a memory during sleep, which fuels the creative process when we wake.
Wouldn’t you love to paint a little bit more
like Bob Ross, making “happy little accidents” along the way? The best
and brightest at Harvard say all it takes is a good night’s sleep, and you can!
Go On…
Furthermore,
if you’re an athlete, there may be one very simple and effective way to improve
your all-around performance, regardless of the sport you play: you guessed it,
it’s sleep.
A
Stanford University study found that college football players who tried to
maintain quality
sleep for at
least 10 hours a night for seven to eight weeks improved their average sprint
time and experienced less tiredness and fatigue during the day— leading to more
stamina.
Then
Stanford researchers did the study again, this time with swimmers.
Same
improvements.
Then
Stanford researchers did the study again, this time with tennis players.
Their
findings reflected the improvements of the previous two studies.
Coincidence?
Stanford University says, “Sleep on it.”
Sleep Like A Pro
Most
adults need an average of 7 hours of sleep each night to maintain a healthy and
hale lifestyle that yields positive outcomes on a day to day basis. When
the average number starts to dip below the lucky number 7, negativity and bad
vibes start eroding the foundation of the certified awesome person that you
are. How do we combat this constant siege on our creative, critical
thinking, and discerning selves? Here are a few allies we can team with
as we fight the life-long good fight for good sleep.
Feng Shui
Fang
what?! The chinese term that literally translates to “wind water” relates to
the idea that a bedroom
should be a peaceful and balanced environment that promotes a better night’s
rest. This fancy way of saying “sleep promoting space” suggests that
everything from your mattress, to your sleepwear ought to promote balance
and comfort in the environment where you rest.
Routine
Like a
peaceful environment, your brain recognizes and tries to support you when you
have balance in your behavior. Consistent patterns before bed, going to
bed at a regular bedtime (especially on weekdays) and waking up at the same
time all promote better sleep.
Relax
A
relaxing routine activity right before bedtime helps your brain recognize the
separation between sleep time and activities that cause it to ramp up into
stress mode. Basically, reduce your stress to sleep better.
Implement
these simple steps to find yourself snoozing in no time at all.
