Sleep is so important to our wellbeing and health and yet it is overlooked time and time again. More sleep will help to improve your ability to better handle stress, it will help you stay healthy, you’ll feel more energetic, and you will be in a better mood. Overall, you’ll feel better if you get a good night’s sleep – every night! Contrary to what many think, your brain does not shut off when you go to sleep. In fact, it works hard through the night to prepare your body for the next day. This, in turn, helps you to be more productive and efficient throughout the day.

During the night, your body goes through a series of cycles or stages of sleep. There are two main types of sleep: Non-REM (REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement) and REM sleep. During the four Non-REM sleep stages, you move from light sleep to a deeper sleep, where your physical energy is restored during the deepest sleep stage. Then, you transition into REM sleep. During this stage, your eyes move back and forth, dreaming occurs, and you are more alert. The cycles repeat but the length of each stage changes. In the first half of the night, the deep sleep stages are longer, and in the second half of the night, the light sleep stage and REM sleep are longer.

It’s important that you get enough sleep each night. If you start sleeping less, even an hour or two, you run the risk of becoming sleep deprived. A common misconception that people have is thinking that sleeping in on weekends will help you catch up on sleep that was missed during the week. The problem with this is that you probably aren’t making up for all of the lost sleep and the downfall is you’ll be altering your biological clock. If you’re used to sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday, it will be harder for you to fall asleep Sunday night and even harder to wake up on Monday morning.

The signs of sleep deprivation sometimes aren’t very apparent or noticeable. The reason is, if you’re sleep deprived for long enough, these side effects start to seem “normal” to you. Test yourself – try sleeping for 8-9 hours each night for a week, and see how you feel during the day. Chances are you were sleep deprived if after a week of sleeping more, you

• are more motivated
• are less tired by the end of the day
• can better manage stress
• have an increased ability to concentrate
• don’t feel sleepy during meetings or lectures
• are able to get out of bed in the morning

(This list only contains a few of the many benefits of getting a good night’s sleep; you may not experience all of the above.)

If you have trouble sleeping at night, or want to improve your sleep, then adjust your sleeping environment. Make sure your room is the right temperature, adjust lighting so it’s not too bright, eliminate noises, and make sure your bed is comfortable. Also, keep your biological clock stable. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. However, you also need to make sure you are getting the recommended amount of sleep for your age group.

For more information on the importance of sleep, be sure to check out these resources:
http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleeping.htm
http://www.apa.org/topics/sleep/why.aspx

Happy sleeping & goodnight from the Nature Clean® team!