Photo: Vogue France

Today is World Sleep Day and it’s the moment to slow down and pause and remind ourselves the importance of sleep for achieving your optimal health and good quality of life.  

“Studies have demonstrated that stable bedtimes and rise times are associated with better sleep quality in young, middle-aged adults, and seniors.  Regular sleepers have better mood, psychomotor performance, and academic achievement. “ Source: worldsleepday.org

• Research shows that we spend up to one-third of our lives sleeping. Sleep is a basic human need, much like eating and drinking, and is crucial to our overall health and well-being.
• Lack of sleep is related to many psychological conditions such as depression, anxiety and psychosis.
• Quality sleep is crucial to ensure good health and quality of life.
• For every needed hour of sleep you don’t get, you accrue an hour of “sleep debt”, and it will need to be paid back.
• Sleep problems constitute a global epidemic that threatens health and quality of life for up to 45% of the world’s population.
• 70% increase in risk of injury with young athletes gets less than 8 hours of sleep
• It can take days it can take to recover from 1 hour of sleep lost

Source: worldsleepday.org

The power of sleep

We know you know it’s important, but did you know the positive effects quality sleep can be felt like a ripple effect through all aspects of our lives? 

• Quality sleep is responsible for alertness
• Improved functioning the following day better quality of life
• Physical performance
• Creativity
• Productivity
• Emotional well-being
• Resilience to stress
• Overall better quality of life

World Sleep Society recommends the following 10 habits for healthy sleep:

• Fix a bedtime and an awakening time.
• Create a sleep routine and use natural sleep aids.
• If you are in the habit of taking a nap, do not exceed 45 minutes of daytime sleep.
• Avoid excessive alcohol ingestion 4 hours before bedtime and do not smoke.
• Avoid caffeine 6 hours before bedtime. This includes coffee, tea and many sodas, as well as chocolate.
• Avoid heavy, spicy, or sugary foods 4 hours before bedtime. A light snack before bed is acceptable.
• Exercise regularly, but not right before bed.
• Use comfortable bedding.
• Find a comfortable temperature setting for sleeping and keep the room well ventilated.
• Block out all distracting noise and eliminate as much light as possible.
• Reserve the bed for sleep and sex. Don’t use the bed as an office, workroom or recreation room.

Source: worldsleepday.org

Don’t feel like you need to do this all alone!  RE.VITYL can help.  We share a lot of information on how to optimize your sleep schedule and our All Natural Sleeping Aids can help in setting the stage for a perfect sleep routine to get you living your best life.