Sleep: The importance of sleep

For kids and youth who are growing and developing, good quality sleep is well stressed. But for adults, I don’t think we stress about the importance of sleep enough. There are so many positive aspects of our overall health and well-being to sleep. We need to rest our body and brains in order to support healthy function and maintaining physical health and energy. In this day and age where we are constantly moving and barely giving ourselves a break, it can make getting a goodnights sleep a challenge.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommended adult’s get 7-9 hours of sleep a night.Let’s talk about sleep quality and the importance of a sleep routine. Sleep quality is the measurement of how well you sleep. To have great sleep quality there are a few factors to consider, your bed, pillow, and temperature in the room. Quality of sleep can also vary do to stress, caffeine taken within 6 hours of bedtime, and your nightly routine/screen time. Now let’s take these factors in consideration and dig into our sleep routine. Having a solid sleep routine is optimal for a successful night of sleep. Our brain loves routine, think about a routine you have in your daily life, for example, going to work at the same time and leaving work at the same time everyday. How does that routine make you feel? Or even more importantly how does getting out of that routine make you feel? Such as showing up late to work or even having to stay hours after you were suppose to? Not great, right? Once you get into a good sleep routine you’re going to treat it like any other routine and you will feel the positive effects it has on your body.

Signs your sleep quality needs to improve

• It takes more than 30 minutes for you to fall asleep when from the time you get into bed.

• You wake up numerous times in the middle of the night.

• You wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep.

• You have a very hard time waking up to your alarm.

• It takes more than 30 minutes to get out of bed.

Tips for creating a solid sleep routine

• Start by laying out a time frame of when you would like to go to bed and when you would like to wake up, taking in that 7-9 hours is optimal.

• If you are caffeine drinker, try to avoid caffeine within 6 hours of bedtime.

• Sleep trackers can provide valuable insight on your sleep quality and provide ways for optimal sleep.

  • I will say hands down one of the best purchases I’ve ever made was the Sleep 8 pod. This pod provides a heating and cooling system that regulates while you are sleeping and puts your body in the right temperature at the right stage of sleep. I have had the sleep 8 pod for a year and I have noticed changes in my energy and it just keeps me aware of my sleep quality overall to make sure i’m staying on track.

  • The Oura ring is also a great sleep tracker and overall wellness tracker as well.

• Relaxation: Give yourself a timeframe before bed 30min-1 hr to whine down and relax.