Sleep for Boundless Energy!
Do you ever wake up tired and wish you could just stay in bed?
Of Course, you do. Almost everybody does at one time or another.
Sometimes it comes as no surprise, because of your activities
the night before, and how late you got to bed. But sometimes, it
seems like you are tired for no good reason. You got 8 hours of
sleep and you didn't do anything too strenuous the day before,
so why are you tired? Maybe you need more sleep. Or maybe not!
Even though most of us have always heard that you need 8 hours
of sleep a night, there have been some interesting and exciting
new studies that show that you don't. As a matter of fact,
sleeping for 8 or 9 hours might be what is making you so tired.
Now, what do you do when you wake up tired? Most people run for
their coffee. Wait just a minute! Would you believe that
caffeine may be one of the main causes of your daily fatigue?
Can it be true that drinking that coffee that wakes you up and
helps you stay alert, might be one of the main reasons that you
are tired in the first place?
The reason that our bodies feel tired at certain times, and wide
awake at others has a lot to do with our body temperature. Even
though we have all been told that our body temperature is 98.4
degrees Fahrenheit, it actually varies by up to 6 degrees each
day. In the late evening our body temperature peaks and begins
to drop. That causes us to become drowsy. In the early morning,
our body temperature begins to rise again, signaling the time to
wake up.
Have you ever noticed that you seem a little more sleepy on an
overcast, or rainy day? Isn't it a lot easier to sleep in during
the winter, when it's dark and cold outside? Now contrast that
thought with being awakened by the sun shining and birds
chirping on a dazzling summer morning. Don't you feel energized
and ready for the day? I know I do.
I worked the graveyard shift for a number of years, and I would
get so tired. Even though I would feel like a walking zombie by
the end of my shift, often times I would feel awake and
energized after walking out in the sun and breathing the fresh
air. I also noticed that it was much easier to sleep enough
during the winter than the summer. In the summer, the heat,
light, and noise made it almost impossible to sleep for even 6
or 7 hours a day. Many times I found that I would wake up around
2 in the afternoon and be unable to sleep the rest of the day,
no matter how hard I tried. I wasn't sure why, but I noticed
that it didn't happen during the winter.
I finally understand why this was, and what can be done. Let me
share it with you!
First of all, let me explain the reason we feel more sleepy on a
dark, overcast day. When it is dark, and very little direct
sunlight is present, our bodies produce large amounts of
melatonin. Melatonin causes our bodies to feel sleepy. That
means that when it gets dark at night, our body temperatures
begin to decline, and melatonin is released into our system.
Those changes combine to make us want to sleep.
When we are exposed to direct sunlight, our body temperature
rises, and the melatonin levels in our bodies quickly dissipate.
When that happens, we feel alive, awake and energized.
On the issue of caffeine use, think about how you feel if you
ingest too much caffeine. Does the term "WIRED" sound familiar?
The caffeine artificially stimulates our systems, and masks the
natural signs that our bodies give us. That doesn't necessarily
cause us a problem in the short term, but before long, we find
that our body temperature doesn't go down as early in the
evening. So, even though our bodies want to sleep, they can't
truly relax and settle in for deep sleep. That means that we
can't get the deep, restful sleep that we need for our bodies to
recover and regenerate. When we wake in the morning, we mask our
fatigue with more caffeine, and so the problem gets worse by the
day.
So what can you do to break this cycle and get some good solid
sleep, that will leave you fresh and full of energy? Come
find out.