Sleep

I have such mixed emotions writing this particular post. When talking about energy, sleep is an obvious topic to cover. Not sure that anyone would dispute the link between the amount of sleep that you get and the direct collation with increased energy. We are always being told to get more sleep to increase immunity, reduce overall body inflammation  cope with stress, increase concentration and decision making capabilities. For women we are driven into a frenzy of fear that our lack of sleep is contributing to an inability to shift some pounds of weight.

The reason I have mixed emotions is because I believe the research and I love sleep, but for some of us it's just not as simple as attempting to sleep more. Some of us have lives that require us to work peculiar hours, children that don't or won't sleep through the night, multiple priorities and a whole life that happens at 5am before we even get into the office or are having chemo and then sleep is literally impossible. So whilst I think it is important to understand that there is a strong linkage between sleep and energy levels I focus on quality over quantity because realistically speaking it's just not feasible to try to fall asleep in some instances or squeeze an extra few hours in. The rest of my life would simply stop functioning.

This isn't a science lesson so not going to go into the minutia, but your sleep pattern of an evening is comprised of different stages or cycles. The most important cycles of sleep are the deep sleep phase where most of the great restorative work happens and the REM stage. The damaging effects of sleep deprivation are mainly felt when we lack deep sleep because this is where the body repairs and heals itself and creates energy for us. To maximize your ability to gain deep sleep you should try and create an environment where you are disturbed by light and noise as little as possible. Be conscious of drinking or smoking in the evening. We also need REM sleep though as well as this phase plays a key role in restoring learning and memory and a brain functioning on all cylinders without the aid of coffee is our objective here.

In summary we should all be aiming for 7.5 hours sleep a night where possible. Where that might not be realistic simply ensure that you're doing everything you can to maximize the amount of time you have asleep or helping yourself fall asleep in the first place. Make sleep a priority, set a regular bedtime, don't watch TV or check your phone in bed, minimize noise and light where possible and if your mind is cluttered do my "5 minute meditation". Some things you simply can't control but those are aspects of your sleep schedule that you can so start there!

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