Article # 14. The most effective tip to get up Fresh every morning & 3 things about SLEEP

The most effective tip to get up Fresh every morning & 3 things about SLEEP

We all must have heard it from some people while growing up, " You are a young boy! What do you need 8 hours of sleep for??" , " You're LAZY if you sleep for more than 6 hours" , " A boy your age must be active even with 4 hours of sleep a night". Even I believed that till I educated myself on this.In fact a boy/girl at "that" age would be twice or thrice as active as the person telling him/her to sleep not more than 6 hours a day. Who would need more sleep then?

Sleep is so important , that it is often used as an interrogation technique, which has given rise to a debate on whether or not it can be termed as 'Torture'

Moving on to the Four things you must know about Sleep.

1. Why is Sleep important?

Because Sleep Deprivation may result in:

·         Fibromyalgia (Muscle and Connective Tissue Pain)

·         Lack of alertness ( Say Goodbye to Productivity) 

·         Depression 

·         Increased risk of Diabetes and High Blood Pressure

·         Increased risk of Obesity ( By playing with our Hormonal activity and Metabolism)

For people who care for looks: 

·         Eye Bags

·         Puffiness

·         Dark Circles

·         Bloodshot eyes

2.How much Sleep do you need?

While every body is different and needs different amounts of sleep, there are certain guidelines given in a white paper on "How much Sleep do we need" by the National Sleep Foundation. Again, I know people who can sleep for 10 hours a night and still sleep the next afternoon if given an opportunity and again sleep the same night, without so much sleep, affecting their sleep appetite. So it may vary a lot from person to person. So no matter how many hours you sleep , if you don't experience the symptoms listed in point 1, you shouldn't be concerned.

3. For a peaceful sleep:

Avoid the following, just before going to bed

·         Heavy Meal

·         Coffee/Tea

·         Cigarettes

Best Positions to sleep in  ( Listed as Most to Least Favourable)

1.       Back Position ( Lying on your back)

2.       Side Position( Lying down on one side) 

3.       Fetal Position ( Curled up like a Foetus in a womb)

4.       Stomach Position ( Lying down on your stomach)

SIMPLE TIP TO GET UP FRESH EVERYDAY

 

You may have noticed that on certain days you wake up fresh and charged and on some days you keep snoozing the alarm 5 times and still get up drowsy! To understand why this happens, let's understand the structure of a typical sleep cycle i.e. The Sleep Architecture ( because it looks like a skyline of a city). It is also called a Hypnogram.

Stages of Sleep: 

·         N1 : This is when we fall asleep within 10-15 minutes of lying down on bed

·         N2: Light sleep

·         N3: Deep Sleep

·         REM (Rapid Eye Movement) : When we Dream

REM stages are shorter in the first half of our sleep and relatively longer in the second half. Hence if at all, we get up, it is usually during the second half of our sleep i.e. in the wee hours of the morning.

 

REM stages are when we are not in our deep sleep and hence are sensitive to waking up easily. As you can see, REM occurs roughly every 90 minutes into our sleep. So if by preponing or postponing your wake up time to coincide with the REM stages would ensure that you get up fresh and charged up , ready to take on the day without feeling the need to push the snooze button on your alarm clock.

So if you sleep at 12 am, you may be able to wake up easily without any effort at around 1.30 am, 3 am, 4.30 am, 6 am , 7.30 am and so on...As simple as that!
Alright ,so ....... ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzz  zzzzzzz z z z z z z z z