THE HARDEST STEP TO GET ENOUGH SLEEP

For most of us it’s buying into why you need to prioritise sleep so we can get deep restorative sleep. In this post I’ll take you through WHY and HOW to prioritise sleep.

Now you might think; WHY is it so important? I function just fine on four hours sleep. There are a very very small percentage of people who only needs little sleep compared to rest of us so don’t assume that you are one of them J I would also like you to honestly look at how well you’re functioning. How often do you pop a pill (over the counter or prescription medication)? Do you’ve aches and pains? Do you suffer from frequent migraines and headaches? How is your mood during the day? Do you easily explode or feel sad? How is your brain function through out the day? Do you need coffee, black teas or other stimulants to get through the day?

Experts still don’t know why we sleep including animals but they’ve shown again and again how important sleep is.

If you want to make an animal (including humans) insulin resistant, all you’ve to do is to sleep deprive it and a study has shown that 4 hours a night for 14 days was enough to deteriorate the subjects’ insulin resistance with 50%. Another study has shown that just one night of poor sleep can set off insulin resistance. Scary right!!!

And further more, sleep deprivation has clinically and statically proven links to

• obesity
• cancer
• heart decease
• depression
• memory loss (brain function)
• alzheimers
• diabetes
• a study has shown that it makes it harder to loose weight

Most of us know that sleep is important so why is it so hard to prioritise sleep and HOW do we start prioritising sleep?

If you want to live a long life with little aches and pains and a hight level of energy and vitality, you need to sit down and find a way to prioritise sleep! Could you cut down your screen time or you can’t put down your book at night? Or do you keep working all night? It’s hard to give up something that we love or something we with our intellect know that would be better for you.

So how can you make sleep more joyful? I suggest that you try to prioritise sleep and that you make the last minutes of your day, time to “check in” and give your soul or core desires some love and attention.

My four steps to enjoy bedtime:

1. You prioritise sleep for a week or even better for a month. Do you feel any changes during the day? More energy? Better mood? Less aches and pains?
2. Visualisation. Give yourself extra attention at least 5 minutes when in bed by closing your eyes and quiet your busy mind. How does your “inner-body” feel? Any areas of your body that feels heavy? Keep focusing on the area until it feels lighter. Another option is to visualise your happiest life or a perfect day. 
3. Gratitude. You can also think about all the things you are grateful for – that day or in general. You can even try to ask the universe or Good for help with certain things or situations.
4. Inner wisdom. Another reason why we stay up late is for many of us because we look for knowledge and answers externally. Giving yourself time to slow down and rest, will allow time and space for inner wisdom to rise. The online knowledge bank can easily become a trap for me keeping up late at night.

Stop using time as an excuse. We all have the same amount of time. It’s all about what we do with the time we have. It might not be time that keeps you from doing the things you really care about and what gives you joy but could it your low vitality that keeps you from doing the things that you love and care about?

If you like this post, I would be so grateful if you would share it with your friends and family.