Unlocking the Power of Sleep: Top 10 Health Benefits of Restful Rejuvenation | Ep 154

Melissa Deally: 00:00:06

Imagine getting up every day full of energy is if you were in your 20s. Again, what would that be like? What would that be worth to you? What is your health worth to you? Think about it. Your health isn't everything. But without it, everything else is nothing. And yet too many of us are taking it for granted until something goes wrong. No one wakes up hoping to be diagnosed with a disease or chronic illness. And yet, we've never been taught how to be proactive in our health through our school system, or public health. As a registered health coach and integrative health practitioner, I believe it is time this information is made available to everyone. Combining new knowledge around your health and the ability to do my functional medicine lab tests in the comfort of your own home will allow you to optimize your health for today and all your tomorrow's don't wait for your wake up call. Welcome back to another episode of The don't wait for your wake up call podcast. I am Melissa Deally your host. And this month my theme is sleep and rejuvenation. And so in today's episode, I want to share with you 10 Health Benefits of restful rejuvenation, because so often, we just take our sleep for granted I hear people say things like I'll sleep when I'm dead or sleep is overrated. And it absolutely is not. If you want to optimize your health, optimize your health span, you definitely want to be focusing on your sleep. And so I thought I would start by sharing the top 10 benefits of restful rejuvenation to give you a little bit of motivation as to why you should be focusing on your sleep. And it's not just me saying this. So you know in reality, in the hustle and bustle of daily life, sleep often does take a backseat to our demanding schedules. And we're just trying to get that one more thing done. And then we fall into bed exhausted, hoping that we will fall asleep. And sometimes sleep eludes us because good sleep isn't about sleeping on demand. It's about preparing our brain for sleep. And so this significance of quality sleep does extend far beyond merely feeling rested. So let's delve into these top 10 benefits of embracing restful rejuvenation for your overall well being. And I love my sleep. I go full energy all day long. And I really love my sleep. So I do focus on it. And I hope by the end of this episode that you will be motivated to focus on your sleep as well. So the first reason is quality sleep gives you enhanced cognitive function. It is the ultimate brain booster. It enhances cognitive functions like memory consolidation, problem solving skills and creativity. A well rested mind is better equipped to tackle challenges and make sound decisions. The next reason is that it improves mood regulation. A good night's sleep contributes to emotional resilience. It helps regulate mood and emotional responses, reducing the likelihood of irritability, stress, anxiety. Prioritizing sleep sets the stage for a more positive and balanced outlook on life with more resilience towards the everyday stresses that invariably do come our way. And think about it. If you're tired, and somebody says something that annoys you, you're much more likely to just react and be angry and yell, then if you're well rested, your reaction is going to be different. Good sleep results in optimal physical performance. Whether you're an athlete or just enjoying staying active in your life, sleep does play a vital role in physical performance. It aids in muscle recovery, it supports coordination, thereby reducing risk of injury and contributes to overall endurance. Achieving peak physical performance starts with a solid foundation of rest. And what's really interesting is right now in the world of professional sports, all of the teams are always trying to, you know, look into the science and the research of how can we do better how can we get each and every player to perform at an even higher level than they already are? And what's coming up now is them looking at how they can have all of their players enjoy more restorative sleep. So the same thing applies for you as well. A good night's sleep results in a strengthened immune system sleep is the cornerstone of a healthy gut and robust immune system as 70% of our immune system is housed in our gut. And during deep sleep, the body produces cytokines proteins crucial for immune defense. adequate rest fortifies your ability to ward off illnesses and recover more efficiently. inadequate sleep will result in killing off our killer cells which are charged with fighting the cancer cells we all have in our body. And I know I want as many killer cells as possible actively working in my body to fend off cancer. Good sleep is correlated to better weight management. quality sleep is a key player in weight management because it influences our hunger hormones reducing cravings for unhealthy foods. Additionally, well rested individuals are more likely to engage in physical activities contributing to a healthy weight as well. It also helps with cardiovascular health. Prioritizing sleep is a heart smart choice. Lack of sleep is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular issues. A restful night supports healthy blood pressure, lower stress levels and promotes overall heart health. In fact, there is a study that was reported the American College of Cardiology back in 2014, that there is a 25% rise in heart attacks the Monday after we go on Daylight Savings Time, and a 21% drop on the Tuesday after we go off daylight savings time. So each and every year we are seeing the impact of sleep on our heart health. Sleep also contributes towards hormonal balance and sleep is intricately connected to our hormones. It influences the production of hormones such as cortisol, which regulates our stress, and melatonin, which helps us get into a deep restorative sleep and is the inverse hormone to cortisol, meaning if cortisol is high, melatonin will be low, and then we'll have a harder time getting a deep restorative sleep. Our growth hormone is also essential for tissue repair and muscle growth. adequate sleep fosters a harmonious hormonal environment. adequate sleep also helps with glucose metabolism. Maintaining stable blood sugar levels is crucial for overall health. quality sleep enhances insulin sensitivity, aiding in effective glucose metabolism. This in turn lowers the risk of type two diabetes and promotes better metabolic health and one of the biggest problems in our world today is poor metabolic health. And you can improve that simply by starting to prioritize and focus on your sleep. Sleep also helps with cellular repair and regeneration. Sleep is a period of cellular repair and regeneration. This is what is happening while we are in the stage of deep sleep. The body releases growth hormones, facilitating the repair of tissues, muscles and bones. This nightly restoration process is essential for longevity. So that whole thing about I'll sleep when I'm dead, you will be dead sooner. If you're not sleeping now and I know that sounds harsh, but that is the reality. If you are not getting good sleep you are shortening your life. Longevity Here we go. The chameleon ative impact of consistent quality sleep contributes to longevity. A well rested body and mind are better equipped to handle the challenges of aging, promoting a healthier, longer life. So now that you have all these powerful reasons to start prioritizing your sleep instead of taking it for granted and falling into bed exhausted expecting to sleep on demand, what can you do? So here are some steps to improve your sleep there are by no means all the options available for you. If you are someone that struggles with sleep, please reach out because it is an area in which I do like to specialize and help people get sleep because it is so critical in our health journey. So every single client I work with, we as part of our work together we address sleep.

Melissa Deally: 00:09:29

So the first thing is to create a sleep hygiene routine. Now I did cover this way back when I first started this podcast in Episode Five. So I'm not going to go into the same amount of detail but if you want to go back and listen to that episode episode, you will capture all of that information. What I do want to add here is that as part of your bedtime routine which not only should children have but adults should as well because we do have to let our brain know When to start producing melatonin, and it's this sleep bedtime routine, the habit that we create that does trigger our brain to be aware of the fact that, oh, she's doing this, and then this and then this, and then this, I know this routine, that means she's getting ready for bed, I'm going to start producing melatonin. Now back in our hunter gatherer days, the brain would have known to start producing melatonin when it was dusk. But because we have electricity, now we've got the lights on in our house, the brain doesn't know when it's time to start producing melatonin. So we have to teach the brain that by creating a bedtime routine, and that bedtime routine should take you anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. And to create it, you want to do the same four to six activities in the same order every night for 30 days. We all do this with our kids, right? We'll have them have dinner, and then get in the bath, and then put on their jammies and brush their teeth and get into bed and have storytime. And we do it in the same order every night. So the kids know what's going on. And I used to think when I did this for my own kids, that that was the purpose of it. And since getting into health and wellness, I realized it wasn't just that wasn't the only purpose, the other purpose was helping their little brains know to start producing melatonin so they could have a better night's sleep. Therefore, we adults have to do this as well. And each person's hygiene routine is going to be different to the next. So it's whatever works for you. You know, for some people that could be wash the dishes, take the dog out for a walk, have a shower, get into bed and read. For someone else it might be have a sauna, do some yoga, stretching, have a shower, and then get into bed and journal right. So it's whatever works for you that you will do in the same order every night for a minimum of 30 nights so that your brain knows that when you start doing the first thing in your routine, that's when it's going to start producing the melatonin because it knows what's coming. So the other thing that you want to factor in is that three hours before bed is when you want to stop eating food. So there should be no food after three hours before bed. So if you go to bed at 10pm, you don't eat after 7pm. Two hours before bed, you want to stop all drinks. And one hour before bed, you want to completely get off your screens. Now let's just talk about screens, because screens emit blue light. And I want you to come back in a couple of weeks and listen to episode 156 with Rudy native, where we talk about blue light blocking glasses. And we're going to dive into that in much greater detail in that episode. But the reason that we have to be aware of blue light, and also using blue light blocking glasses, is the fact that blue light from our screens or devices or TVs, et cetera, et cetera, is the light that is emitted by the Sun at high noon. So it tells the brain that It's high noon, which means it's time to be active and outside doing things right. It's not telling the brain that it's time to start getting ready for bed and to start producing melatonin. And for what's also important to know is that for every hour that we are on screens getting blue light into our eyes, we are then blocking the brain's ability to produce melatonin for another 30 minutes. So if you're on screens for three hours in the evening, you your brain can't start producing melatonin for another 90 minutes after that. And when you wear blue light blocking glasses and good quality blue light blocking glasses that are blocking all of the blue light, then your brain isn't impacted and it can be producing the melatonin as per the bedtime hygiene routine that you have created. So definitely come back and check out that episode with Rudy naisip. You'll also want to find what works for you when it comes to calming the body and getting to sleep. And so I invite you to come back and listen to the next episode 157 with Jennifer Hasson Yaga we all hear about meditation and meditation is great and it's great for many people and it does calm the monkey mind if you have a monkey mind that needs calming, but you also might be somebody who feels like that's not working for me. Don't beat yourself up, find something that does work for you. We are all individuals. And so we are much better off finding what works for us. That does allow our brain to calm and us to get into A little bit of restorative time, then for us to try something that doesn't work, and then get all stressed out about the fact that it doesn't work that isn't helping you at. All right. So come back and listen to that episode. The other thing that you want to consider is tracking your sleep, especially as you're starting a new bedtime hygiene routine, and starting to focus on your sleep because of course, what we track we focus on right. So I'm wearing an aura ring here, I love my aura ring. And it is my favorite device for tracking sleep. It shows me how much deep sleep I get every night, how much REM sleep I get every night, my total sleep, my heart rate, my heart rate variability, it tracks by steps through the day, it does a lot of great tracking, so that I have information about how I'm doing. In fact, sometimes I've woken up and looked at my stats, and it says it appears you might be you know, coming down with something. And I haven't even noticed that yet. However, I see that and I'm like, Okay, I'm just gonna take it easy today. And then sure enough, the next day, I might feel like I have a sore throat coming on or something. So it kind of gives me a head up, which is great, because then I can start taking countermeasures and increasing my vitamin C and my immune protocol, in order to minimize any sickness or cold virus that I might be getting. So I find this to be very helpful. Now, when you track your sleep, you might be wondering, well, what do I aim for? First of all, all adults need seven to nine hours of sleep per night, if you're feeling like you're getting sick, it's going to be closer to the nine range. Or if you're just overworked and tired, exhausted, listen to your body, it will guide you. If you're feeling great, you have good energy, maybe you only need seven hours of sleep per night. But ideally, what we want to have within that time that we're sleeping is 120 minutes of REM sleep, which is supporting our mental health. And then 90 minutes of deep sleep, which is supporting our physical health. And that's something else that we're seeing an awful lot of and huge surges in anxiety and depression with people. And for those people, if you're listening, and that's something that you struggle with, stop and ask yourself, are you getting good enough sleep? Are you getting 120 minutes of REM sleep each night? And if you're not what steps can you take in order to improve that because that is going to support your mental health. And again, reach out if you need help with that. Something else that I would love to share is an S D are non sleep deep rest for daytime rest. And this is to calm our nervous system during the day. For example, yoga nidra, stretching after a workout enjoying time in a sauna, or meditating or progressive muscle relaxation, or taking a nap on a PEM format, which is pulsed electronic magnetic magnetic fields. This is a great way of just calming your nervous system through the day and breaking up your day. And this can be done in very short stints of time. And the best times are mid morning, right after lunch, mid afternoon, or post workout. And I know that we're all busy and so sometimes will or very often will push through and just keep going because we all have so much to do. But you will find that if you give yourself this non sleep deep rest during the day, that you're more productive, overall, more focused and less stressed. So it is indeed powerful. Many, many people are struggling with sleep. And when you struggle with sleep, you're not functioning at your best cognitively, you're not functioning at your best physically. And your body isn't able to heal and thrive. And then life feels hard. When we get good sleep life feels much easier.

Melissa Deally: 00:19:13

So what I really want you to know is that just embracing the transformative power of sleep is a holistic approach to overall wellbeing. By recognizing and prioritizing the numerous health benefits of restful rejuvenation. You empower yourself to lead a healthier and more fulfilling life. So tonight, give yourself the gift of rest. Your body and mind will thank you for it. Sweet dreams. And one last tip is plan your sleep around the time you need to get up the following day. Don't fall in bed once you've got everything on your To Do Lists lon and you're absolutely exhausted. If you know you have to get up at 7am The next day work backwards that you want seven hours of sleep and I don't mean be I'm in bed for seven hours because it takes time to fall asleep so you want to be in bed by 1130 at the latest lights out 1130 to get those seven hours of sleep if you're waking up at seven which means you start your bedtime routine 30 minutes to 45 minutes prior to that put that in your calendar plan your day around that the work will always be there tomorrow or your To Do lists will always be there tomorrow prioritize your sleep because when you do that you're prioritizing you and as I said a moment ago sweet Dreams?

Melissa Deally: 00:24:53

Thank you for investing this time with me on the don't wait for your wake up call Podcast. I'm so glad you joined in If you can take two minutes to share this episode with someone you think can benefit and have a positive impact on their life, that would be wonderful. Please leave a review by going to your favorite podcast listening app, and let me know what you enjoy or would like to hear more of. It will support me in my effort to bring the possibility of natural healing to a wider audience and help disrupt the sick care system we have today and make human health a global priority. Health is your true wealth.