Sleeping is important to health. When you get a good night of sleep, your body awakens refreshed and is better able to deal with the situations of life. A body that has not slept, is under increased amount of stress. When you sleep soundly, you relieve stress and heal.
Six Reasons to get Enough Sleep
A Harvard Health Publications suggested six reasons to get enough sleep:
- Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.
- Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
- Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
- Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
- Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
- Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
Another article by The Sleep Judge talks about how sleep affects your emotional well-being, including depression and anxiety; the physical health benefits such as weight control and less risk of disease; and performance and intellectual ability such as learning better.
Note: It is recommended that you do this meditation for 30 days consecutively to build momentum and to help you rest peacefully at night.
