Prioritizing good sleep is good self love!
As some of you know, I've been working on my Yoga Therapeutic Specialist certification and with that comes a lot of work in Nervous System, Mental Health and Wellness. These courses have come at a really great time for me and I'm putting some things in place to bring my own mental health and wellness into balance.
But today I wanted to tell you about one of the books I read related to this training that was so helpful it should be required reading for pretty much everyone. I just finished Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD. It was recommended to me through a course I took on the Nervous System and Restorative Yoga.
Dr.Walker goes into all the things our brain and body does while we sleep, what happens when we don't sleep, how to get better sleep and an even more fascinating section...why we dream.
This book really opened my eyes as to why sleep is so very important for overall health and wellness. I mean, sure we all know we need to sleep, but seriously...I had no idea what all happens in our bodies when we sleep. For instance, did you know that different sections of the brain shrink while we sleep so that the cerebral spinal fluid can more efficiently detox the brain! What?! That's just ONE tiny little thing that blew me away.
The section about why we dream may be my favorite. I've been waking up each morning trying to remember my dreams and go through the process of evaluating them to see if they fit in with why scientists think we dream and it's been on point. I don't think I'll ever see sleep or dreaming the same way again. This process has even helped me work through my emotional reaction to topics that came up throughout the day which ultimately has helped with my mental health and bring light to why I ruminate over things, why my anxiety fluctuates, etc.
He ends the book with Twelve Tips for Healthy Sleep and while he goes into detail about each one, I thought I'd at least share the main topics here so you can evaluate your habits and see if there are some adjustments you want to make. I especially recommend these if you wake up feeling tired, feel the need to snack all day, have trouble focusing, have bad short term memory, are a parent or know someone with PTSD. As a creative, he even explains why we get inspiration in our dreams and why "sleeping on it" often presents solutions to challenges
1. Stick to a sleep schedule
2. Exercise is great, but not too late in the day
3. Avoid caffeine and nicotine
4. Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed
5. Avoid large meals and beverages late at night
6. If possible, avoid medicines that delay or disrupt your sleep
7. Don't take naps after 3pm
8. Relax before bed
9. Take a hot bath before bed
10. Dark bedroom, cool bedroom, gadget-free bedroom
11. Have the right sunlight exposure
12. Don't lie in bed awake
While some of these seem obvious or familiar, I love that he explains the science behind the WHY.
Maybe it's just the science nerd in me, but this is one of those books that totally changed the way I view sleep, dreams and have made changes that I can already tell have had a positive impact in my life.