Lack of Sleep
In order to find out if you are suffering from a lack of sleep
you should answer these three questions:
Are you always staring at the roof instead of falling asleep?
Are you feeling tired due to a lack of sleep? Or do you still
feel tired after getting enough sleep?
Are you regularly waking up during the night suffering and
frustrated at not falling asleep again?
If you answered yes to any of the questions you are definitely
not getting enough rest.
Thirty three percent of you life is spent sleeping. This is a
large part of your life, so it should obvious that sleeping is
almost as important to your health as drinking water or eating.
There are those who believe that sleep is a waste of time. They
fall asleep late at night in their chairs and get up early to go
to work. They are tired and grumpy all day from lack of sleep.
But, there are those individuals who can sleep a few hours each
night and feel full of energy all day. Their body has adapted to
a completely different sleep pattern.
The average person needs about 7 or 8 hours of sleep each night
to fully functional in all their tasks. Unfortunately very few
people actually get that much rest
Avoid any coffee, tea (except herbal teas), or alcohol. Caffeine
will impair your body's ability to fall sleep. Alcohol may cause
drowsiness but it destroys REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and
the deeper states of sleep, and the hangover you get the next
morning will ruin your day
Do not try to force yourself to sleep. Sleep comes easily when
you are comfortable and relaxed. If you can put your body in a
relaxed state it will also help lower your anxiety and stress
which also interfere with the sleep state.
Get up and go to sleep at the same time everyday, even on the
weekends. Insomniacs usually sleep at any time of the day to
attempt to catch up on some sleep they lose during the night.
Avoid any food after 8 pm, or at least 4 hours prior to going to
bed. If you can not do without food try to eat a light snack
such as having a few crackers and some cheese. Avoid the
temptation to have a big meal as this will make you stomach work
all night long and make you even more tired the next day.
Daily exercise helps to relieve stress and tension in the body
to release tension. When traveling or after a plane trip try to
at least do some stretching, or yoga prior to sleeping. Exercise
will benefit your body in more ways than one. The deep breathing
you will do during exercise helps to further relax the body.
Sleep deprivation can have many side effects. Not getting enough
rest or sleep may cause confusion and inattentiveness, which may
further result in accidents, miscommunication, and even death!
The consequences can be serious.