The A to Z of Zzzzssss

You would often hear a lot of your friends these days, bragging about how much they sleep. And then you have those people saying how unproductive it is to sleep. But everybody knows that sleep is necessary and bunking on your sleeping sessions is not a good idea.
Let me put it to you this way; assume a war is going in your body between the good troops and the bad troops. Well to will be logical to say, the good troops will fight better if they are given rest, right!
Sleep Deprivation can cause heart attacks; can increase the possibility of a heart stroke up to three times and can even lower down your alertness while you are at your job, or even lower down your responsiveness while you are driving thus, increasing accidents. And trust me it’s as good as being drunk.
As Dr. Stevenson puts it , “you will have to work at sleeping well”. Here’s how:

Get steady: Your “Circadian Rhythm” is simply the pattern of biological functions (such as the release fo certain hormones or changes in the body temperature and metabolic rate) that vary with how and when you feel sleepy or alert. You sleep the best when you go to sleep in the night the same time and when you wake up at the same time every day.
Haphazard sleep schedules, on the other hand, will ruin your Circadian Rhythm. So when you get up you will feel like you are not sleepy nor are you alert at the same time, feeling like a zombie all day.

Stay Steady: “Hey man! it’s a weekend! Let’s stay up late this night and probably we can get up in the morning whenever our sun rises” many of us say. Let me point out to you that sleeping timely 7 days a week is important and not just 5 days. The part of our brain that generates sleep does not know Saturdays and Sundays.

Catch Up On Your Lost Sleep: It is bound to happen. An important deadline or may be a late night party you couldn’t miss, you could recover your lost sleep the next night. But the right way of doing this is not getting up late but to sleep a little early the next night.

Ease your way down: If you want a healthy sleep, then you will need to relax your body first. As Dr. Stevenson says “you are another part of your life, and you can’t do it in an instant. You need to withdraw slowly.” Slow down take half an hour to 60 minute to relax your body.
Have a glass of milk or a warm bath may be, as that will help you relax. Watching TV relaxes some, but then it upsets others.

Keep naps short: For everybody who thinks taking a mid afternoon nap, my suggestion is keep it short. For the amount of time you spent in sleeping on the afternoon, you will replace your night sleep. Besides, longer naps can work against your Circadian Rhythm.

So have a good night sleep (not while you are reading this entry) and as always any queries you have with respect to your sleeping habits, you know I am always there to help.