About Sleep

 

 

What do we know about sleep? We all are aware how tough it can be to get through the day after a night of tossing and turning. Good sleep is not only essential to feel well-rested throughout your daily tasks, but it’s essential to a long, quality life. Playing a crucial role in health, mood, and memory, many people don’t make sleep a priority despite its importance. Without it, we experience many negative side effects that may heavily impact our lives.

In order to function optimally, adults need at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. That’s a mere 1/3 of the 24 hours we have to work with, and the investment is worth it. Getting the right amount of sleep increases cognition, memory, and overall well-being. Furthermore, it also decreases depression, anxiety, and chances of heart disease. In addition, sleep stimulates the production of growth hormones, which are known for their anti-aging properties.

A single night of poor sleep may not impact your long term well-being initially. However, when sleep deprivation becomes consistent serious health problems can arise. This includes an increase in the chance of heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes. Sleep is also essential to learn and think properly. A lack of it greatly impairs attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning, and problem solving. This affects your ability to consolidate new memories, and increases the chances of accidents occurring as well. With reaction times slowed, fatigue is the main cause of 20% of fatal car crashes each year in Canada.

 

Luckily, there are many methods you can implement into your daily routine to ensure you’re getting good quality sleep nightly. Primarily, resetting your biological clock to a time that works for you is important. This means going to bed and waking up at the same time everyday, which teaches your body to naturally know when it’s time to sleep and for how long. It’s also crucial to create an environment conducive to restfulness. Furthermore, you should be mindful of where you lay your head. If your mattress isn’t suitable to your sleeping needs, or if your pillow needs some serious replacing, then your ability to feel well-rested may be impacted. Taking our Sleep Quiz may reveal to you that you’ve been sleeping on the wrong type of mattress all along, and it can provide good insights as to why one type of mattress is more suitable for you than another.

 

It’s safe to say that sleep will never stop being one of the most essential aspects of our lives. Set yourself up for success each day by making sure you’re well-rested!