Today we are adding the Nutrition domain as the focus of the Sensable Health program. Let's start the domain by setting some early goals for this week. Learn about the relationship between nutrition, activity, stress, and sleep! Learn about macronutrients and become mindful about when and how much you eat!
Sleep impacts our hormones, which can change our appetite - usually the more tired we are, the more we crave sweets.
Blue light from screens can lower our production of melatonin which is a chemical we rely on for a normal sleep cycle. Blue light glasses block the blue light emitting from our screens and may help some people sleep better.
Light will keep us both up and alert, which is great during the day, but not at night. Create a list of the light sources you have exposure to before you go to bed. Think about each room, each activity, and your phones! Tomorrow we will provide another simple solution that can help your sleep!
These last 2 weeks have been focused on sleep quality. Hopefully, you’ve taken some tips and applied them to your own life. Still need more ways to improve your sleep? Take a look through some of our articles and videos within the All Resources tab at the bottom of your dashboard.
Why is it important to get more hours of Deep Sleep? During this stage of sleep, your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate are at their lowest. This slow wave period promotes long term memory storage and provides your body with the chance to rest and restore itself. Increased blood flow and the release of growth hormones supports growth, helps repair muscles and other tissues, and strengthens the immune system.
By now you have probably tried a lot of different techniques to help you go to sleep: addressing stress, improving your sleep environment, creating a bedtime, and making a morning routine. These changes will benefit your sleep, in both duration and quality.
Some things NOT to do in the three hours before going to sleep: drink caffeine, drink alcohol, and be physically active (except for meditative yoga).
Your best sleep environment: keep electronics out of the bedroom, make your bed as comfortable as possible, and keep your room quiet, dark, and cool.
Some people like to have quiet music when trying to fall asleep.