It's National Sleep Awareness Week!

What happens when you sleep?

While sleep needs vary with individuals, most healthy adults need between 7 to 9 hours.  During a proper night’s sleep you will have 4-5 sleep cycles. One sleep cycle looks like this:

Non-REM sleep has four stages, each about 5-15 minutes each. The first stage is a transition stage where brain waves slow down, and you can be awakened without difficulty. Next, you enter into a light sleep. Heart rate decreases, body temperature decreases, and your body prepares for deep sleep. Then, in stages three and four you enter into deep sleep. During this time your body is busy repairing and regenerating tissues, building bone and muscle, and strengthening the immune system.

After about 90 minutes of sleep onset, you enter into REM sleep. REM stands for “Rapid Eye Movement” because at this time your eyes move rapidly. This is when you dream. Brain activity is heightened and brainwave activity to similar to wakefulness. However, paralysis occurs as well, so REM sleep is sometimes referred to as paradoxical sleep. 

Learn more at:  http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/sleep-101

There are many benefits to a proper night's sleep!

• better ability to manage stress
• helps cognitive function (memory, learning, judgment, decision-making)
• allows body to repair and regenerate
• boosts immune system 
• more energy and alertness
• combats feelings of depression and fatigue

Did You Know?

• Sleep helps you learn more effectively! Many of us think that we are being more productive working late into the night, but we would actually be more productive if we had a proper night’s sleep. Sleep allows our brain sorts new information into memory banks, solidifying information and skills that you learned during the day. As this video clips says, sleep “clears our hard drive” so to speak, so that we are ready to learn more. Although this video is targeted towards students, it is excellent information for us all to remember!

• Sleep is important for safe driving!  “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has estimated more than 100,000 auto crashes annually are fatigue related.” (sleep foundation)
• Sleep may play a role in weight loss!  Dr. Michael Breus explains, “Exactly how lack of sleep affects our ability to lose weight has a lot to do with our nightly hormones...Ghrelin is the ‘go’ hormone that tells you when to eat, and when you are sleep-deprived, you have more ghrelin. Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating, and when you are sleep deprived, you have less leptin.” (Webmd)

Interesting clip from 60 Minutes: "Science of Sleep" 

10 Tips to a Better Nights Sleep

1. Stick to a consistent sleep schedule.

2. Practice a relaxing bedtime ritual.

3. Avoid naps, especially in the afternoon (keep naps brief, 20 minutes or less)

4. Exercise daily (aim to finish any vigorous exercise 3-4 hours before bedtime)

5. Evaluate your room. Optimal sleeping conditions are free from noise, light (especially be careful with blue lights in your bedroom from computer and TV screens), and have cooler temperatures (60-67 degrees).

6. Avoid heavy meals in evening. Complex carbs and dairy food are good light evening snacks. Try to finish any snack at least an hour before bed.

7. Don’t drink anything within two hours of sleep.

8. Lower the lights. This signals to your brain to produce melatonin.

9.  If you can’t sleep, go into another room and do something relaxing until you feel tired.

10. Have a “winding down” time in the evening.

Tips collected from:
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-tools-tips/healthy-sleep-tips
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-benefits-10/slideshow-sleep-tips
http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_tips.htm

Happy Sleep Awareness Week! 

Remember sleep is an important part of health 

& get a good night's sleep tonight!!