Sleep sound for a healthy lifestyle

Eat well, sleep well, go wherever you wish, stay where it pleases you, never complain and, above all, avoid the main city monuments like the plague, Jules Renard.

Do you sleep soundly or do you flip around like a fish?

Some people think that they don’t need to sleep much, that they will have all eternity to rest, that sleeping is just a waste of time… Big mistake! A good sleeping routine is vital for a healthy body and mind, it is required by our bodies in order to recharge our batteries.

Most of us need between seven to eight hours sleep every night. If you sleep less, the quality of your job will suffer, you will make more mistakes, and therefore, you will be less productive and will need to work long hours to keep up with the demands of your job. More hours imply less time to sleep and rest in a vicious and infinite cycle.

It has also been associated with eating fatty foods, having lower academic performance, being involved in car accidents, and even with poor relationships.

“The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year. This results in an estimated 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses”, Facts and stats, DrowsyDriving.

How many hours? We need to sleep seven to eight hours on average. However, as we grow older we sleep less at night and the sleep we do get is not as restful, so it can be helpful to divide our rest between nighttime and a daytime nap.

If you don’t get enough sleeping hours, make sure you follow these tips.

• First, you could read our free ebooks “Sleep sound for a healthy lifestyle”, I don’t want to sleep!, and I don’t want to sleep! 2nd Part. They provide a gentle introduction to this important topic.

  

• What should you not do? Do not take drugs: nicotine, cocaine, etc. Do not drink alcoholic beverages (alcohol makes you sleep worse) nor caffeine (coffee, fizzy or energy drinks), especially after three or four o’clock in the afternoon. Eating chocolate at night is not a good idea either, it can potentially keep you awake. Do not exercise too late in the evening.

  

• Don’t watch scary or violent films just before bed. Avoid getting hooked on series, sports events, or any other TV programmes that are just starting and you know for a fact that they will end very late. The same argument goes for social media sites, such as, Facebook or Twitter, video games, and online video sharing sites like YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, and alike.

  Go to sleep at the same time every day. It will make you smarter, healthier, and happier.

• Take a hot shower before supper and drink a glass of warm milk. Other options are: chamomile, linden-flower tea, Valerian, etc. Eat a light dinner with easy to digest foods.

• Clear your mind. Go to sleep and shut up! Don’t think about anything -just sleep. Disconnect from all your problems and concerns at bedtime, let them go. The night is for resting and the day is for working. Do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself.

  

  Easier said than done. It is not so complicated, just try not to think about anything at all. The age-old trick is to count sheep one by one, others imagine that their problems are stormy clouds and that the wind is pushing them away. Perhaps, you can visualize that your problems are on a television channel and you have the remote control to change this channel for good.

  Furthermore, you may want to use breathing and relaxation techniques. A good start is to breathe slowly and deeply three or four times every day. Inhale, feel the mind relax and concentrate on the air as it fills your lungs deep into your ribcage. Hold your breath for several seconds, and finally, exhale very slowly as you relax. Repeat this exercise several times. Another version is as follows: “Visualise different parts of your body, tighten up your muscle groups, then relax them purposefully,” Kris Chesky.

  Some people prefer to relax or meditate with mantras.

  A mantra is a word, a verse, a prayer, or a sound that one repeats aloud or silently again and again. It brings us to a focused state of peace, they can help us to relax and focus.

  Some examples include: “let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you, all things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices!” “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus,” “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”