You are not sleeping enough?
If you think 8 hours of sleep is enough for your body to function, you might be wrong. It is a myth and yes, there is no magic in 8 hours.
It is said that early to bed & early to rise, make a man healthy, wealthy and wise. We need sleep and it is the best meditation but you don’t need 8 hours of sleep to stay healthy. You need to sleep as your body wants. Your sleep is perfect when you wake up feeling fresh and happy. Sleep depends a lot on a person! If you work a very hard job or exercise extremely hard, you need a lot more of it than 7 hours. If you spend half the day meditating, you need a lot less.
So why is it important to balance your sleep? It is because sleep helps control our metabolism and weight, promotes stable moods, helps prevent cardiovascular diseases, boosts our immune system/function, increases knowledge retention, and helps us with long and short-term memory. Sleep is very essential for brain function.
Sleep helps the brain to regulate properly. Research has shown that no sleep or no rest is equal to being drunk. It’s found that after 17 hours of no sleep, our alertness is similar to the effect of Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.05%. After 24 hours, the body is in the same state it’d be in BAC of 0.1 which identifies someone as legally drunk in the USA! Wow! I would rather sleep than get in jail for drinking and driving without getting even drinking! Sorry! Bad joke!
Nowadays, many people use tracking devices to track their sleep. That obsessive pursuit of optimal sleep driven by a sleep tracker causes orthosomnia. Orthosomnia is referred to as the constant need to achieve perfect sleep. So how can we achieve perfect rest? You should focus on regularity. Making a routine may help to some extent. Lowering a temperature is also a secret to better sleep. Keep it cool as 65 degrees Fahrenheit or 18 degrees Celsius might be helpful. Darkness also plays a vital role in secreting the hormones melatonin which helps to improve your sleep and is also involved in managing immune function, blood pressure and cortisol level. And lastly, you have to monitor your alcohol and caffeine consumption. That’s how you can regulate your sleep. If those methods don’t suit you, the next way is to consult a doctor. There are some sleep therapies like CBT-I also known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for better sleep.
In a nutshell, sleep is a golden chain that ties body and health together. Not everyone requires 8 hours of sleep; the range of sleep is different for different people. Some want 8 hours and some are fine at 6 too! After all, quality and quantity of sleep matter the most. And, a good sleep solves everything. Good Night! Sleep tight!
