The overarching principles around sleep are quality and quantity. In Part 1 we talked about the benefits of sleep and the dangers of not getting enough of it. Sleep quality has a lot to do with getting enough uninterrupted deep sleep. It’s got to be enough. It’s got to be uninterrupted. And it’s got to be deep. This kind of sleep is not accidental; it’s got to be calculated, orchestrated and then executed. You have to determine how much sleep you need, organize your life to get that much sleep and then actually do it. It doesn’t happen just from wishing it but by getting very intentional about sleep and why it’s necessary for your life.
An uncomfortable mattress that has you twisting and turning all night is not going to cut it. That too-soft pillow is not doing your spine any favors and your neighbor’s head lamp porch light that beams into your bedroom robs you of those precious melatonin benefits. Needless to say staying up worrying about money or your boss or that bad boyfriend doesn’t assist your body’s parasympathetic nervous system in the rest and digest stage. The good thing about all of this is that you can take some control over a lot of the elements that impede good sleep and although it may take some time to get all the ducks seamlessly in a row — it is possible.
What is quality sleep?
The two factors that determine the quality of sleep you get are:
- your stress level
- your environment
Stress Levels
If you’re stressed out and are having trouble shutting down a steady stream of dark, negative, worrying, anxious thoughts chances are you’re probably going to have trouble sleeping well. Even when you do fall asleep any worrisome, anxious thoughts can trigger your sympathetic nervous system and wake you up. It is imperative that you keep your stress levels under control by perhaps praying, journaling, talk therapy and taking massive action to remove the stressor.
Environment
Your environment aka sleep hygiene practices are another large contributing factor to sleep quality. Your environment consists of all the elements that activate your senses that help you function when you’re in a state of wake. Elements like: mattress quality, thread count on sheets, pillow firmness, room temperature, light, smells and sounds. Additional things like your nutrition, eating patterns and lifestyle habits play an important role in determining whether your sleep is good or bad. In the third and final series of Girl Get Some Sleep we’ll get into detail on how to optimize your environment to make it conducive the best night’s sleep.
Quantity
How much sleep is enough sleep?
So exactly how much sleep does a girl need? Well, it depends. It depends on age, the time of her cycle, stress levels and lifestyle. According to The National Sleep Foundation {NSF} the average adult needs between 7-9 hours for a full cycle of rejuvenated sleep to allow for all restorative processes in the body to take place. We tend to think that when we close our eyes, drift off and then wake up the next morning… like nothing happened. But there’s a lot of activity happening for you while you sleep like Rapid Eye Movement (REM) activity, cell rejuvenation, brain cleanup, hormone release, muscle repair and a host of other functions that are a proper reset for the body.
Part of that sleep environment requirement is a quiet place to sleep so this would mean getting to bed early enough to get 7-9 hours of sleep or 7-9 hours of peace and quiet. This also means that technology and televisions need to be shut off. Close any windows that allow noise to enter your room, and basically try to create as quiet an environment as possible. Quieting your environment will give your mind and your body a chance to begin to switch to the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for putting you in a state of resting and digesting. Your heart rate will begin to slow down as your digestive system begins to rev up. Digestion is a long process that happens quite actively at night and when you consider the length of the intestines {small intestine is roughly 20ft long and the large intestine is 5ft.} it puts into perspective the importance of getting sleep as early as possible so these natural functions of the body can take place.
Become decisive with your sleep time!
The amount of sleep you get is calculated by the time you decide to go to sleep and the time you wake up. Let’s consider what an average day looks like for the “average person” and the number of hours allocated to various activities including sleep if the average adult needs approximately 7 – 9 hours to function optimally. Typically we allot 8 hours for work or school, that leaves 16. Subtract another 8 hours for doing things like cooking eating out, traveling to and from work or school, spending time with friends and family, extra curricular activities, watching tv youtube videos. With only 24 hours in a day that leaves us with a final 8 hours, which should typically be allotted to restoring and resting the body through sleep. The problem is that this is not always the case as we may spend a lot more time in the activities category or in the work category than we do in the rest and restorative category. And if we are being completely honest we also spend loads a considerable amount of time on Instagram comparing our lives browsing the internet.
To achieve optimized sleep i.e. uninterrupted deep sleep you need more than a rest and relaxation category. You need to become decisive with your sleep time. You need a strong WHY.
Continued in Part 3