There have been days when I have run out strength and I did not have as much energy as I would have liked, and I know one reason is lack of sleep. Deprivation of sleep is one f the 10 top causes of aging prematurely as well as lowering your immunit that Dr. Karen Wolfe has eloquently explained in one of her presentations in Hilton Head Island recently.
Sleep troubles are certainly a huge cause of fatigue. It's essential to get a good night's sleep if you want to be at your sharpest. Sleep deprivation also impairs your judgment, reaction time, and other functions. Getting less sleep than you need creates a sleep debt in your body, like being overdrawn at the bank. Before long, your body will demand that the debt be repaid.
What I have learned to do is not fight my body; If I feel tired and sleepy, I go to bed. I like to get about 8 hours of sleep a night - a lot less than that, and I am groggy the next day.
Some people have said that I'm a night owl, and I used to think so, too. But being a night person had more to do with my tennis lifestyle than with anything else. I like to wake up on my own but most of us set an alarm every day. It's better - if you can manage it - to wake with the sun. Sunlight helps your body's biological clock reset itself each day.
However, sometimes it's hard to control the time you go to sleep and the time you get up. Most sleep experts will tell you that consistent bedtimes and wake-up times, even on weekends, will improve your sleep and help you feel refreshed every morning.
On occasions when I can't get to sleep, I don't just lie in bed tossing and turning and worrying about it. The anxiety of not being able to sleep only makes matters worse. I turn the light on and do something else, such as read, or listen to music. Or I meditate and do some deep breathing until my body feels like drifting off to sleep. I recommend the Julie Lusk "Real Relaxation Yoga Nidra" - it works like a charm every time!!
One of the most important ways to get a good night's sleep is to eliminate the "sleep robbers". As everyone knows, coffee is full of caffeine, as are many teas, chocolate, some soft drinks, and certain over-the-counter medications. Caffeine is a stimulant, which means it has wake up effect, and heavy use of coffee - about four cups daily - can cause sleep problems. Alcohol is lethal to good sleep, too. It keeps you in the lighter stages of sleep so you never really achieve restful, restorative sleep. You'll feel lethargic the next day, with little energy or enthusiasm for exercise or recreation. Alcohol certainly doesn't help your body if you're trying to take off excess weight, either. In fact, it slows down your metabolism and is quickly converted to body fat.
What a lot of smokers don't realize is that nicotine, like caffeine, is a stimulant tha makes is hard to fall asleep and contributes to problems waking up. Giving up smoking may very well improve the quality of your sleep and it will certainly help the quality of your health.
The bottom line, really, is that if you want to sleep well - and ultimately restore your energy levels - there are a lot of habits you may need to examine and change. The healthier your get, the better you'll sleep.
To Your Health and Happiness,
http://www.nataliediroma.usana.com/
How many hours do you sleep?
To Your Health and Happiness
Had I not been a tennis pro, I would have been an athlete of some other kind, because I like to move; I like to test the limits of my body while it's still capable of pushing the limits.