Sleep Benefits and How to Get a Better Night Sleep
2014
We all know that there are so many benefits to getting a good nights sleep. Sleep is important for our total well-being and health. It directly influences our energy and happiness levels and to keeping thin and losing weight too. Proper sleep regulates our hormones, which play a big role in our all over health. Read on to see how to stay balanced, slim, happy and get a better night’s sleep.
The Benefits of Getting Proper Sleep
Sleep is such a fascinating process, and obviously I’m not the only one to think so as it has been widely studied.
Research has shown getting proper sleep to have the following benefits:
Brain power – Your thoughts are clearer and your memory is stronger.
Creativity – Because your brain is more clear you are able to draw on inspiration easier.
Longevity – You will live longer.
Emotional well-being – Getting enough sleep makes you happier.
Healing – Our bodies regenerate, detoxify and heal while we sleep. When we get enough sleep it does all of these better.
Repair and build muscles – Your body produces protein while you are sleeping. These protein molecules repair damage to cells and build muscle.
Heart healthy – Lack of sleep raises your blood pressure.
Reduce inflammation
Lower chance of cancer – many studies have shown that lack of sleep is a contributing factor to cancer.
Lower stress – Lack of sleep puts the body into a state of stress.
Look younger – Stress produces detrimental wear and tear on the body and degenerates cells which advances the aging process.
Lose weight – A lack of sleep decreases your levels of melatonin, growth hormone, testosterone and serotonin, all of which lead to weight gain.
Proper sleep helps balance your hormones
Proper sleep regulates and balances your hormones, especially melatonin, dopamine, serotonin, growth hormone and even testosterone. These hormones directly influence your moods, your motivation and cravings. They regulate repair and growth in the body and affect your energy levels, happiness, health and even weight gain. To feel really great you need your hormones balanced.
An interesting aspect of these hormones is that they regulate your sleep and are also affected by your sleep, so not getting enough sleep can lead to a vicious circle making it harder to get back on track again once you get off.
But there are lots of things you can do to get more sleep.
Follow the list below to get on track and stay on it. Sleep is one of the most important contributors to your overall good health and happiness.
How much sleep is enough?
Most sleep experts agree that 7 and a half to 8 hours sleep is optimal, but that some people may require more or less sleep.
How to Get a Better Night Sleep
Go to bed earlier. Staying awake late into the night increases cortisol and decreases your growth hormones causing hormonal imbalance. It also messes with your metabolism and increases cravings.
Avoid eating too close to bedtime. Stop eating at least 3 hours before you sleep. This will give your body more time to take a break from digesting and focus its energy on repairing, healing and detoxing – removing excess fat and waste from the body. Eating late at night boosts your cortisol level, lowering the amount of melatonin and growth hormone released in your body making it harder for you to get a full rested sleep.
Avoid exercising in the evening, or in the few hours before you go to bed. Exercise will help you sleep better, but it is best done earlier in the day. Cardio raises the body temperature, prevents the release of melatonin and increases cortisol and dopamine which stimulate the brain and body and makes it harder to fall asleep.
Avoid screens late at night. Save your websurfing and TV watching for earlier in the evening. Being in front of screens affects out hormones and stimulates us much in the same way that exercising before bed does. Doing an hour of quieting down with a relaxing activity like reading will help you sleep better.
Keep it cool. Sleeping in a room that is too warm can prevent the natural cooling process that happens when you sleep to take effect. When your body sleeps and cools down properly melatonin and growth hormone get released and help your body to repair, and also burn off excess fat.
Sleep in loose comfy clothes, or better yet in the nude. Tight fitting clothes, like a bra and underwear will help raise your internal temperature. Avoid too many or excessively heavy blankets as well.
Avoid EMF’s. Sleep at least 3 feet (1 meter) away from digital clocks. Most of these have very strong electromagnetic fields that can really disrupt the production of melatonin and serotonin.
And finally, but very importantly..
Adjust your daytime and nighttime light properly
Sleep in the dark. Melatonin, which is one of the most important of the sleep hormones, is not released properly when it is light. Even a small amount of light can produce the opposite hormonal effect that we want in the body, keeping melatonin and growth hormone low and cortisol high.
Also, open the blinds or go outside in the morning to lower the melatonin again. Remaining in darkness will keep it high, making it harder to wake up and will leave you feeling fatigued. It can also lower serotonin, which can lead to anxiety, cravings and even depression.
Want more help to get a better night sleep?
Reprogram your brain to get optimal sleep. Your subconscious is very powerful and you can access it directly with subliminal audios or hypnosis cd’s to train your brain to get a rested and full night sleep.
Listen to Deep Sleep Subliminal audios. This is my personal favorite strategy to enhance and bring about anything I desire! I’ve created a cd filled with empowering deep relaxation and sleep affirmations embedded at the ideal level for your subconscious to readily pick them up.
You can read more about subliminal audios here, check out the whole collection of subliminals, or go straight to Amazon to see and listen to samples of my Relaxed and Stress Free cd (individual tracks are under a dollar). These work!
Listen to the Deep Sleep Hypnosis audios. Read more about this and check out the collection or see the Stress Reduction, Relaxation, Contentment and Sleep Hypnosis cd on Amazon.
Action plan
Try to get to bed earlier. Start with going to bed 15 minutes earlier and then you can night by night gradually increase this time.
What are your challenges and favorite strategies to get more sleep?
Share in the comments below and let’s all work together to get a well-rested and full night sleep.
