A good friend of mine used to love saying “ you can sleep when you are dead.” As a wellness coach I assure you that statement is false. In fact, too little restorative rest is detrimental to our wellbeing.

Sleep is the most critical thing you can do to create a foundation for good health. Restorative rest is the key to a happy, healthy, and productive life; improving cognitive function, strengthening your immune system, and providing valuable time for your body to process stress. 

On the flip side, sleeplessness is a contributing factor in heart disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and depression — not to mention the development of cognitive impairment. Sleep is an essential part of our circadian cycle, providing time for flushing cellular debris generated by the body’s metabolic activity. 

You NEED at least 7 hours of sleep a night if you want to have regular, healthy levels of fluctuating hormones in your body. Oh, and they don’t call it beauty rest for nothing. 

Here are some easy steps to help you rest better.

Plan For Sleep:

• Maintain regular sleeping patterns. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time most days.
• Prepare for a good night’s sleep. Turn off your electronics an hour before you want to sleep.
• Read paper books, practice meditation, pray or write in a journal.
• Create a sleep ritual. Write down something you are grateful for, make a to-do list for the morning, and sip camomile tea.
• Make sure your room is dark. Block out as much blue light from electronics and ambient light from your bedroom as possible.
• Turn the temperature down. 67 degrees and below creates the best temperature for deep sleep. A cool room improves the quality of sleep.
• Your bed should be reserved for sleep and sex. Get the TV out of the bedroom and get off your gadgets when in bed.

Eliminate Sleep Disruptors:

• Avoid caffeine after 2pm. Your body needs time to process it, so it doesn’t affect your sleep.
• Limit alcohol. You should also not drink for two hours before bed. While alcohol may make you drowsy, it is a notorious sleep disruptor. It causes the release of adrenaline which disrupts the production of serotonin, one of the brain chemicals essential for sleep.
• Eat dinner 2-3 hours before bedtime. You do not want to be too full or hungry when going to sleep. If you are hungry before bed, consider 10-15 raw almonds to bring your blood sugar up and avoid insomnia-causing nocturnal hypoglycemia.

Sleep Promoting Habits:

• Consume your daily calories over 12 hours. Fast the remaining 12 hours. This is how your body was designed to metabolize and helps to maintain a healthy weight.
• Get exposure to the sun within 2 hours of waking. This will signal your circadian clock to reset itself for the day.
• Workout in the morning. If morning workouts are not your thing, avoid vigorous exercise within 3 hours of bedtime.
• Take a magnesium supplement at bedtime. Magnesium is responsible for over 300 enzyme reactions in the body, and you must have it for your cells to make energy. Magnesium helps anything tight relax and can improve your sleep. Try 300-500mg of chelated magnesium glycinate before bed.
• Drink sleep-promoting herbal tea. Many delicious sleep-promoting teas like Chamomile, Lavender, Holy Basil, and Ashwagandha. Try making a medicinal dose by steeping 2 tea bags for 3-4 minutes and drinking before you head up to bed.

 Longevity Benefits of Sleep:

• Improved memory. Memory consolidation occurs during sleep by strengthening the neural connections that form memories.
• Increased longevity. 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night are associated with a longer life span.
• Decreased risk of disease. Healthy sleep lowers inflammatory proteins in the blood and reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, obesity, and premature aging.
• Maintaining a healthy weight. Sleep and metabolism are controlled by the same areas of the brain. Lack of sleep triggers hunger hormones and makes it harder to lose fat. Insufficient sleep, fewer than six hours a night, is linked with weight gain.
• Lower stress and improved cardiovascular health. One of the stress-related brain chemicals, noradrenalin, is switched off during REM sleep. This allows us to remain calm while our brains reprocess all the experiences of the day.
• Reduced anxiety and less risk of depression. Restorative sleep is a state that reboots the body and brain and processes daily stress. When sleep is disrupted or inadequate, it can increase tension and irritability. Inability to sleep or oversleeping can be signs of depression, and lack of sleep for any reason can make depression worse.
• Improved immune function. Sleep decreases inflammatory triggers in the body, increasing resistance to infection.

A good nights sleep is a brain boosting, stress reducing, beauty treatment to help you stay healthy, happy and productive.