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8 Hours sleep??
Where did the idea that we need 8 hours of sleep come from? Anthropologists
believe that the eight hours of nightly sleep required by most people
today were genetically programmed when the first humans walked the earth
along the equator - where it is dark for just over eight hours per day.
I believe that we are all different and even for oursleves it is constantly
changing.
When we are very young we need a lot of sleep between 10-12 hrs to handle
what is happening in our body while it is developing.
The older we get the less we need.
Although you would not think that true of teenagers as they seem to be
able to sleep for incredible hours usually into the day.
Then when we are fully matured we can survive and often do survive on
a lot less for some people as little as 4 hours.
How ever this is not a good practice over an extended time as your body
is much better equipt to go for longer periods without food than it is
sleep.
Extended periods of sleeplessness causes our nervious system to start
breaking down which will result in us breaking down.
Good Sleep Tips
Practice the following tips for a good nights sleep.
Sleep as much as you need but
not more... too much sleep is not good for you either. Sleep enough to
feel refreshed.
Make sure the bedroom is quiet
and dark. Occasional loud noises, like aircraft fly-overs, disturb sleep
even in people who are not awakened by noises and cannot remember them
in the morning.
Exercise in the late afternoon
but not too late at night as too much activity late can make it difficult
to get to sleep because you are too stimulated.
Don´t worry about problems
when you go to bed. Just tell yourself you will be better equipped to
solve provblems when you have had a good nights sleep.
If you can´t sleep get up
and go and do something like reading or have a light snack until you feel
tired.
Try to get up at about the same
time every day no matter what time you went to bed the night before. This
helps establish a sleep/wake cycle and will eventually help you feel sleepy
at the same time each night.
Keep the room temperature comfortable.
Not too cold or too hot. 65 degrees farenheit is recommended.
Don´t go to bed until you
feel tired. If it´s your bedtime but you´re not tired, do
something (like reading) until you feel tired.
Avoid having a nap in the day
as you will be less sleepy when it time to go to bed.
On an odd occasion sleeping pill
may help, but continual use is ineffective.
Caffeine is a stimulate and even if you think it doesn't effect you it
will cause a disturbance in the sleep patern.
Alcohol may help you to fall asleep
but it is not a quality sleep.
Smoking affects your sleep as
it uses up oxygen in the blood and affects the quality of sleep. Your
body needs enough oxygen to get a good sound sleep.
A light snack can help sleep but
a heavy meal will not.
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