If anyone didn’t know by now, we’re here to tell you, sleep is absolutely essential! There are a ton of benefits from a proper night’s sleep of 7-9hrs, which we’ll aim to break down for you here. From steller researchers, such as Matthew Walker, research has consistently pointed at sleep being important because it can help us recover from illness, improve motor skills, physically heal, consolidate memory, and even deal with stress, along with a myriad of other reasons. With countless benefits, how can one maximize their sleep in order to actually reap the benefits? According to Matthew Walker, through MasterClass.com, there are several quick tips (1). To begin, he explains that we should find a routine and stick to it, which will help our circadian rhythm, also known as our sleep cycle (when we wake up and go to sleep). This includes having a conversation with the doctor to ensure that the medication schedule if there is one, is in order to allow for your sleep to be optimized. Next, we should avoid late-night exercise, as it can have a detrimental impact on our sleep quality. In addition to that, reducing caffeine or nicotine consumption as a whole will allow for certain chemicals and neurotransmitters to accumulate and do their job, allowing us to fall and stay asleep. Reducing alcohol, and limiting large late-night meals will assist in reducing sleep fragmentation, which is a fancy term for having interrupted sleep where we consistently wake up throughout the night. With that, Walker mentions that it is important to leave time to unwind and relax before bed. This can come from taking a relaxing bath, or other methods that allow one to relax. However, it is important to leave the devices away from the bedroom, in order to not have potential sleep disruptions.
In the end, there are countless methods we can use to enhance our sleep at night. Having an appropriate sleep hygiene set up is of the utmost importance to help set our day right, where we wake up feeling well rested and ready for the day! The following links are here for your leisure if you choose to continue watching or reading about this subject!
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Sleep is your superpower | Matt Walker Matt Walker: 6 tips for better sleep
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