Sleeping To A Better Body And Mind

Finally an excuse to hit the snooze button and take an afternoon nap.

Sleep hygiene was introduced prior to 1900, but was first used as a set of rules as we know them today in 1977 by Dr. Peter Hauri. He offered "10 Rules of Sleep" to enhance an individual's sleep. By providing a routine and avoiding and providing your body with certain acts, chemicals, and emotional strain, we are able to influence the amount and quality of our sleep.

Today, sleep is a major area of study. And in the Health and Wellness space, it has it's own coaches and practitioners that provide services solely around bedtime. All of them can be difficult to argue against. Although, we all know someone that can drink a pot of coffee later in the evening and still provide us with a fairy tale account of their night without issue. However, the research in the majority of individuals, does not support the notion that caffeine ingested prior to bed allows you to sleep as well as if you had not had that drink later in the day. The abstinence of caffeine is one of the rules offered in sleep hygiene rule-sets.

Other factors affecting your ability to sleep include, limiting light sources, which helps with melatonin release, winding down in the hour leading up to bed, or simply relaxing. Body temperature plays a role and is related to the body's natural circadian rhythm. A lower body temperature is part of the basic physiological process that allows you to drift off to sleep. Daily stressors and the ability to not ruminate on high priority ideas or projects can help prime you to sleep by not activating any stress responses while you should be drifting off.

An entire industry attempting to offer the perfect night's sleep. Gadgets, blankets, mattresses, meditation guides, and health coaching. We're getting better at implementing science backed interventions and it's only getting better. Sleeping adequately and actually resting has major implications, not only as a bio hack and feeling like your best self, but to avoid long term complications and chronic disease.