Last week’s Monday Wellness Tip showed us why creativity is essential for holistic mental and emotional wellness. Our final tip for this series is about the most important thing you can do for your wellbeing: sleep.
It’s one of our most basic needs, but we frequently don’t give it the attention it deserves. Here are some reasons why you need to prioritise sleep.
Sleep is fundamental to our wellbeing: Sleep is just as important to us as food and water. Short-term, lack of sleep depletes our immune system and energy levels, but long-term, regularly depriving ourselves of good quality sleep can lead to being overweight or obese, which in turn makes you more vulnerable to heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
Sleep is required for cognitive health: Our brains need a break – sometimes it seems like we never stop. Getting a good night’s sleep, with all its cycles of light sleep, deep sleep and REM sleep, is vital for our cognitive health.
Delaying sleep makes you less productive: We’re the only mammals that willingly delay sleep – in our time-poor society we seem to think that getting things done is more important than our health. Delaying sleep actually makes us less productive in the long run: most people can’t perform at their peak when they’re tired. Do something productive and learn to sleep like a pro!
Not getting enough sleep makes you hungry: Lack of sleep leads to a drop in leptin, the appetite-regulating hormone. This leads to cravings – usually for food high in calories: carbs, sugar and bad fats.
Sleep debt is a killer: Serious medical conditions are on the rise, and it might be linked to the decline in sleep that we, as a society, have signed up for. We spend almost a third of our lives asleep, but not sleeping enough shortens our life expectancy.
Sleep is necessary for happiness: If you want to avoid toddler-style meltdowns, don’t skimp on nap time. Getting a good night’s sleep helps us to feel more emotionally stable, control our reactions, be reasonable, focus on the positive and be more social. Lack of sleep makes you five times more likely to develop depression, so get some z’s and get happy!
Remember: early to bed, early to rise – get 7-9 hours each night and you’ll thrive.
We hope you enjoyed our final Monday Wellness Tip!
Be sure to register for The Wellness Show, which will be held 1 – 3 April 2016 at the Hordern Pavilion & Royal Hall of Industries in Sydney. It’s free!
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