Getting Enough Sleep?

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"Sleep is that golden chain that ties life and our bodies together."
~ Thomas Dekker ~

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I'm sure you have heard by now how important sleep is for your health, but do you know exactly how many functions are impaired by not getting enough sleep?

And not getting enough sleep doesn't just include the number of hours from when you first close you eyes to when you get up in the morning, it also encompasses the quality of sleep you get throughout the night.


So how is the quality of your sleep?

Do you feel rested upon waking in the morning, or are you exhausted from restless sleep, tossing and turning, or excessive dreaming?


In this weeks newsletter we are touching on the importance of sleep and things you can do to make sure you are getting enough.

See the video link below for guidance on a breath technique that can help improve the quality of your sleep.

The Impact of Sleep on the Body

Mental and Emotional Health:

Your body's information highway, the Central Nervous System (CNS), is one of the many parts within the human body that needs sleep to function properly. Without enough sleep, many functions within this system are affected. Lack of sleep in reference to the CNS can result in:

• Decreased ability to concentrate or retain information 
• Affect on mental and emotional states
• Impacts ability to make decisions, solve problems, and cope with change.
• Impaired balance and coordination 
• Decreased response/reaction time - increases risk of accidents
• Mood swings
• Anxiety
• Mania 
• Depression


Physical Health:

Sleep is important for many functions in our body that responsible for maintaining our physical health as well. Without enough sleep, our immune, cardiovascular, digestive, and endocrine functions are all negatively affected. 

In our immune system, lack of proper sleep inhibits your body's ability to build up its defenses and protective antibodies in order to efficiently fight off foreign threats to our health.

For our digestion, lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain, and unhealthy digestion, through a number of ways:

• Exhaustion leads to more inactivity, which impacts digestion.
• Inhibits the ability to create hormones that regulate digestive functions, such as feeling full.
• Decreases production of insulin necessary to reduces glucose levels. 
• Decreases ability to tolerate glucose.

Sleep also helps with our cardiovascular health by ensuring or maintaining:

• Health of the heart and blood vessels
• Blood sugar
• Blood pressure
• Inflammatory response

For our endocrine system, proper amount and depth of sleep ensures proper growth and development. Lack thereof can inhibit the production of necessary hormones which can stunt growth and impact fertility, puberty, and libido. 


Better Sleep

Proper amount and type of sleep

Every person is different, so some people need more sleep than others, but generally, adults over the age of 18, should be getting ab out 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Throughout the night, a healthy individual should experience all of the different cycles of sleep. These cycles can be categorized into light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep. 

In light sleep, we transition from laying down and relaxing to the physical changes of relaxed muscles, reduced temperature, and slowed breath, brainwaves, and heart rate. This is the stage we experience during short naps, and is where our brain makes the transition to Theta brainwaves.

We then transition from light sleep to deep sleep where all of the physical changes from light sleep transition into their lowest or most relaxed state. Our brain makes its way into the deep, slow, Delta waves, and in this state, it is tough to wake us up. At our deepest state of sleep, our bodies begin to heal and strengthen the physical systems mentioned in the previous section. 

About 90 minutes after we first close our eyes, and every 90 minutes that follows until we wake up, is when we experience the REM, or rapid eye movement, cycle. REM sleep, just as the acronym explains, is when there is rapid movement of the eyes behind closed eyelids.

But what else happens in the REM cycle?

Our brainwaves begin to quicken, resembling those of someone awake, and the breath, blood pressure, and heart rate follow suit. During this stage, though our systems seem awake, our body becomes temporarily immobilized, protecting us from physically acting on the dreams that occur during REM cycle. This is the stage where our mental health and memory improves.


So how long should we be experiencing each of these cycles?

Assuming 8 hours of sleep a night, a healthy night sleep for the average adult will look something like this:

• 2-5% awake (9-24 min)
• 45-55% light sleep (3 hrs & 36 min - 4 hrs & 24 min)
• 13-23% deep sleep (62 - 110 min) 
• 20-25% REM sleep  (96 min-2 hours)
  

But remember, every person varies.



What are things you can do to get better sleep & enough sleep

• Create a sleep routine, and stick to it
• Use an eye mask and/or ear plugs to reduce external noise and light
• Get enough exercise/movement during the day
• Reduce caffeine, alcohol, and sugar consumption
• Limit screen time, especially before bed
• Maintain healthy eating habits
• Limit your bed for sleep - don't watch tv, read, or be on your phone while in bed
• Get enough sunlight during the day, spend time outside
• Listen to binaural beats before bed
• Meditation
• Breath work 
• Acupuncture 
• Massage
• Restorative yoga
• Aromatherapy

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Aromatherapy for Sleep

Essential oils can be a great tool to help the body relax, fall asleep, and to get deeper sleep. Below are some of my favorite oils for better sleep:

Roman Chamomile
Lavender
Cedarwood
Sandalwood
Bergamot
Jasmine
Geranium

You can either diffuse these in the room prior to sleep, or try taking a warm bath before bed with 4-6 drops of your oil of choice (or a combination of oils).

Visit my DoTERRA shop below to purchase any of these oils.

DoTERRA Essential Oils

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TCM & Insomnia

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine , insomnia is typically the result of an imbalance between the Yin and Yang (Yin-Qi and Yang-Qi). When these aren't in harmony and flowing equally with one-another throughout the day, it can lead to sleeplessness.

Another view within TCM is that insomnia ensues when the Ethereal Soul (consciousness - hun) or the mind are agitated or unable to settle in their home, and thus wander in the night. The Ethereal Soul resides in the Liver and the Mind finds its home in the Heart. Either the ethereal soul or the Mind will find unrest when there is deficiency of the blood or yin, or will be agitated when by pathogenic factors such as heat or blood stasis occur.

Below are some factors that contribute to the disharmony between the Yin-Qi and Yang-Qi, or cause unrest/agitation for the ethereal soul and mind:

• Excess worry, sadness, grief, or guilt
  • Weaken heart-blood or cause heart-fire
  • Creates agitation or unrest for the mind
  • May lead to Heart-Qi stagnation which blocks the mind from its residence
• Stress or extreme/longstanding emotion, such as anger or frustration
  • causes stagnation or heat in the liver and agitates the ethereal soul and dream state
• Being over worked
  • weakens kidney yin which deprives the heart-yin of proper nourishment which then causes unrest for the mind
• Irregular Diet, overeating, or consuming too much greasy, heavy food
  • May cause phlegm heat in the stomach and agitate the mind


Other TCM perspectives on sleeplessness:

• Trouble falling asleep is typically caused by a deficiency of Blood
• Waking up frequently is typically attributed to a Yin deficiency
• Excessive dreaming, which leave one feeling exhausted upon waking, may be due to a deficiency of Blood or Yin.  
  
• Nightmares that wake one may be due to a deficiency of the Gall Bladder and Heart.
• Restless dreams can be caused by Phlegm-Heat, which affects the stomach and agitates the mind.
• Snoring can be a result of Phlegm congesting the Stomach channel
  

I hope this weeks newsletter has provided you with more awareness and understanding of the importance of sleep. And may you find the tools necessary to get the sleep you deserve.

If you need extra assistance in this time, Harmonizing Healthcare is still offering online herbal consults. Feel free to give us a call to book your next session!


Happy full moon and lunar eclipse!  Have a beautiful weekend!


With gratitude, 
the Harmonizing Healthcare team

(928) 856-0656