Imagine a day without having a bedtime? Of course, it will be very tiring and exhaustive.
However, People more often take pride in sleeping fewer hours and working late at night. To understand why proper sleep is so important, the article looks deep into the vital role of deep sleep in your well being, how much deep sleep is normal and tips to increase slow-wave slumber.
How much deep sleep should I have? This is the question that has captivated us all for the past many years. Scientists agree that a good slumber that lets you feel rested is as important as food and water for your healthy living. However, the Modern-day lifestyle demands a longer hour of work and high productivity, and people need to pay the price for it - affecting the natural circadian rhythm and the quality of good night sleep. This may result in frequent health issues.
Most of us already know that poor sleep at night is linked to diseases like Alzheimer's, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes. And if you go untreated with your sleep disorders, you are probably the victim of serious sleep disorders.
So naturally, Deep Sleep is very important for all of us. For a healthy adult, about 13 to 23 % of sleep is deep sleep. So if you are someone taking 8 hours of sleep. Your deep sleep is roughly around 60 to 110 minutes.
Meanwhile, The amount of deep sleep one needs decreases with ageing. This is why older people require lesser deeper sleep whereas children require deeper slumber for optimal growth and development.
Though there are researches already going on deep sleep, it is an incredibly important part of your bedtime that regenerates your body and mind. Besides it significantly benefits the brain by cleaning the accumulation of toxic proteins and plaques.
But unfortunately, research shows that 45% of the world's populations struggle to get the sweet tight slumber that keeps them groggy and unrefreshed for the rest of the day.
How to increase deep sleep?
If you are one among them who suffers sleepiness or trouble getting up from sleep, then you must be curious to know how to get more deeper sleep?
Just stop tossing and turning around all night to fall asleep, we are here with the compiled list of strategies to get good night sleep.
Get Rid of Tension
Tension is the early stage for depression. It is very harmful not only for our mental health but physical growth too. It consumes our mind and body like a termite. A major impact of being upset, depressed, and taking tension is the shortening of sleep length. If you are a person who easily gets tense even in small matters, you should attend some good motivational ted talks, and see a counsellor.
Take A Good Nap In The Day
By getting enough sleep, the mind gets relaxed and healthy. If you are not able to sleep properly at night, then get at least 10 to 20 minutes of sleep during the day. This will freshen up your mood and you will also be able to concentrate properly at work.
Sleep Alone
The temperature, light, and sound changes are also known to affect your sleep cycle. For this, you must try to sleep alone as the body-temperature of other people is different from yours and affects your sleep. Try to minimize as much distraction as you can to get a good quality nap.
Do Not Exercise Before Sleeping
Though exercise benefits good sleep bringing us peace of mind. Frequent high-intensity exercises and work out immediately before going to bed can hamper HGH production during deep sleep.
So, for a good sleeping time, you must exercise at least 1 to 3 hours before your bedtime. Never try to sleep immediately after exercising.
Say no to the big meal
Take your meals about 3-4 hours before your bedtime. Sleeping just after eating may cause a burning sensation in the chest and hinder your sleep cycle. Also, avoid taking a heavy diet at night as they are hard to digest and impact the restorative function of the body when all the energy gets utilised in digestive function.
A Simple Secret to Deep Sleep - 'Meditation'
They lie on the bed and keep turning to wait for sleep. This will never help, try a simple secret to peaceful sleep - 'meditation'. Bringing the practice of meditation to life, you can witness the important changes. There can be many reasons for poor sleep such as overwork stress, disease, anorexia, bad sleeping habits, emotional problems or hypersensitivity to noise.
If stress or tiredness is the reason for not sleeping, then 'meditation' calms your body and mind, reduces the effects of stress, and gives deep relaxation to the mind and body.
Distance From Alcohol And Caffeine
Sleep disturbances are caused by the effects of alcohol and caffeine. Remember that alcohol is not sedative. The drunken sleep is always shallow and the depth of relaxation decreases.
We often heard people suggesting drinking coffee after dinner does not interfere with sleep. But studies show that caffeine intake can disrupt the sleep cycle. Hence, this sleep will never refresh you for the next morning.
Minimize exposure to blue light
Some researches suggest light receptors in our skin affect the circadian rhythm of the body- responsible for quality sleep.
In the morning, the receptor helps the body recognize the blue light coming from the sun and decreases our metabolism. However, when our body and eye get exposed to the artificial blue light coming from screens and LEDs at night, it may confuse those receptors. Thus affects the optimal function of the circadian rhythm. Here, receptors consider LED and screen light as daylight and decrease the metabolism scheduled for the night time.
However, to ensure the rapid exposure of blue light may not trouble your sleep, consider using blue light blocking glasses while using electronic devices.
