You’ve probably heard for years that good sleep is a cornerstone of health, vitality and well-being. Good sleep is regenerative as it is the time when your body gets to heal and restore itself from the stress and strains of daily life thus lessening the chronic stress load your mind/body is carrying. It is when you get to recharge mentally, emotionally and physically.
Your body performs the majority of digestion, toxin elimination, self-repair and growth, as well as, mentally integrates and processes all that has gone on that day during sleep. In addition to interfering with these restorative functions, disturbed sleep compromises your cognitive abilities and coping skills, disrupts your body’s biorhythms, and is now being linked to a host of problems such as weight gain, depression and burnout.
New research is clarifying the emotional function of rapid eye movement (REM) or the dream phase of sleep which accounts for 20% of the time a healthy person spends asleep. When sleep patterns are disturbed, REM sleep may also be disturbed. As reported by medicalnewstoday.com, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered that during REM sleep the body’s stress chemistry shuts down while the brain processes emotional experiences and eases the pain in difficult memories. One of the researchers explained: “During REM sleep, memories are being reactivated, put in perspective and connected and integrated, but in a state where stress neurochemicals are beneficially suppressed.”
Previous studies have shown that people with PTSD, depression and other mood disorders have disrupted sleep patterns, robbing them of a natural self-healing mechanism and leaving them more vulnerable to emotional reactivity. It also explains the nightmares in PTSD. Dan Siegel, author of Mindsight, wrote: “Before memories can be fully integrated into the cortex as part of permanent, explicit memory, they must go through a process called ‘consolidation’ which seems to depend on the REM phase of sleep.” If traumatic memories are unable to be integrated, they are experienced as nightmares.
There is a growing epidemic of sleep deprivation which means more and more people are compromising their health and well-being. The research is also confirming that the use of pills or alcohol to induce sleep is not helpful in the long run as they actually contribute to brain activity that disrupts sleep patterns.
For these reasons getting a good night’s sleep is worth working on. Here are some suggestions:
- Spinal support is important. Check the quality of your mattress to insure you are getting the needed support. It might be worth investing in a new mattress. Also, check your habitual sleep posture (it is generally recommended that you not sleep on your stomach, for example).
- Exercise. Studies have shown that those who exercise during the day tend to sleep better at night. Just no vigorous exercise at least 4 hours before bedtime.
- Establish a sleep schedule. Going to bed and getting up at the same time every day helps your body get into the rhythm of consistently sleeping well.
- Avoid being overstimulated at bedtime. For some people taking stimulants even earlier in the day can still affect their sleep. Be aware of your use of caffeinated beverages and avoid them in the evening, if possible. Try not to engage in stimulating activities before bed (work right up until bedtime, watch stimulating TV shows including the news, exercise, etc.).
- Don’t go to bed hungry or thirsty. For many people a light snack or drink of water before bed can make it easier to fall asleep.
- If aches and pains interfere with your sleep, you might check the quality and comfort of your mattress, try a chiropractic adjustment or therapeutic massage, or soak in a warm bath before bed.
- If you have difficulty turning off your mind, consciously relaxing your mind and body can help. Reserve some time every evening for calming activities such as reading, meditating or taking a bath scented with lavender oil.
- The setting is also very important. To aid sleep it is generally recommended that the room be silent, sufficiently dark, cool and well ventilated. Trying earplugs or a white noise generator in the room can keep noise from interfering with your sleep and darker curtains or a shade on the windows can block out unwanted light.
- Natural sedatives can also be used: a glass of warm milk or chamomile tea before bed. Melatonin which regulates sleep cycles is also used to aid sleep.
After reviewing the above to see what resonates with you, create your own, personalized “sleep ritual” that includes not only what you won’t do, but also what you will begin to do on a nightly basis to promote the best sleep possible.