Rest and recovery. Night and day. Hot and cold. Our universe operates by law, and one these laws is the Law of Duality. This law states that you can not have one without the other; being born into this world means one day you will have to die. But to prevent getting too philosophical, this article will be focused on the aspect of rest, how you can benefit from getting more of it, and what you can do to optimize it. To make things clear rest is not just limited to sleep, but relaxation as well. So now, let’s go over what will be discussed today:
- Implications of Not Getting Enough Rest
- How Fall Asleep Quickly.
Implications of Not Getting Enough Rest
In our today, we are dominated by masculine energy. In the Yin and Yang symbol, masculine energy is Yang. This is a GO-GO-GO and DO-DO-DO attitude. When we’re constantly exerting force and not given enough time to counterbalance it by rejuvenating, our system begins to burn out and we never recover from all of the damage.
A great example of this going to the gym to build muscle. The act of breaking down our muscles is the catabolic phase of muscle growth. In order for our bodies to grow, we need to first break down the muscle tissue so that it can then be repaired to be made stronger/larger. A lot of people have the misconception that they’re getting stronger at the gym; this is not the case. You may be able to lift more weights one day, but that’s because your body recovered and became stronger from the previous workout. If however, you lifted very heavy but did not sleep and tried going to the gym the next day to lift the same amount of weight… it’s highly unlikely.
When we go to sleep, we begin the restorative process–the anabolic phase of muscle growth. This is when our body produces growth hormones (like HGH) to help rebuild the damage that’s been done. However, this only occurs we get into the deeper stages of sleep (stage 3), so when we aren’t getting quality sleep, we are unable to fully maximize this process resulting in subpar recovery.
Physical recovery isn’t the only thing that happens during sleep though, there’s an important mental component to it too. After stage 3 sleep is stage 4, also known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. “In REM sleep — stage 4 in the sleep cycle — the brain processes and synthesizes memories and emotions, activity that is crucial for learning and higher-level thought. A lack of REM sleep results in slower cognitive and social processing, problems with memory, and difficulty concentrating.” Knowing this, one should really think twice before sacrificing sleep to cram an assignment or chase entertainment. It builds up overtime as sleep deprivation which eventually leads to burning out your system.
How to Fall Asleep Quickly
I know of many people who suffer from the inability to fall asleep. I, myself have fell victim to this. Sometimes, our mental activity is just too much to calm down to get some deep restful sleep. If you can relate to this at all, I’ll be sharing with you some tips that I’ve implemented that has allowed me to fall asleep (face up) quickly and consistently. I don’t know about you, but for some reason I’ve always had trouble falling asleep facing up. The only way I was able to fall asleep was if I slept on my sides otherwise, I would be thinking non-stop for an hour or two. When I followed these techniques (mainly sleeping early and waking early).
- MOVE! – In other words, exercise or physical activity. If you exerted a good amount of physical force during the day, your body will be tired and you will naturally be exhausted and primed for sleep.
- DO NOT Engage in Mentally Stimulating Activities Before Sleep –
When I made it a habit to read a physical book before sleeping, I found my that my ability to fall asleep improved. Just recently, I broke this habit and stayed up to finish up a task on my computer, and I found that it was much much harder to fall asleep. Despite having f.lux, a program that dims the blue light on your computer*, it still took me about 15 minutes to fall asleep. My mind was just too active.
*If you didn’t know blue light is detrimental to your efforts of falling asleep - Get to Sleep Early – Our bodies follow a circadian rhythm. Basically, this is a system that regulates biological systems: “Circadian rhythms can influence sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, eating habits and digestion, body temperature, and other important bodily functions.” which is basically a system that regulates our sleep-wake cycles. For example, when our CR is working well, our body produces melatonin at night (hormone that makes you feel tired and ready for sleep). Sunlight and night have a direct influence on our rhythm, so when we are going against it and sleeping in late, we are cutting into our restorative sleep. It is highly, highly recommended to sleep by 10:30 PM. ref: https://www.nigms.nih.gov/education/pages/Factsheet_CircadianRhythms.aspx
- Wake Up Early – When you wake up early, you’re more likely to be sleepy by 10PM. And if you sleep on time, you will be following your body’s circadian rhythm. Wow…
- Sunlight – When your skin is exposed to sunlight for enough time, your body begins to make Vitamin D. The benefits and importance of vitamin D can be an article of its own, but a key function here is that it helps regulate the production of melatonin, which is a key player in our sleep/wake cycles
- Nutrition – What you put into your body has numerous of effects, but the ones that have the most impact on our sleep quality is sugar, caffeine, and alcohol. Avoid these later in the day.
- Binaural Beats – Binaural beats is a form of brainwave entrainment. This influences your brainwaves to help put you into a desired state. You can use it for focus, relaxation, or sleep induction.
- Pitch Dark Room – Having light in your room interferes with melatonin production so make sure your room is PITCH DARK.
- Let Go/Relax – If you’ve done everything up until this point, you can simply let go and relax. You will be asleep very shortly.
- Take Naps: If you don’t get enough sleep… naps are a MUST!