Wellness Coaching - The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Health
If you're not consistently getting adequate sleep then it's probably taking a toll on your over all health and sense of well-being.
It may surprise you to learn that chronic sleep deprivation significantly affects your immune system, alertness at work, memory, safety, and pocketbook.
The following are some of the consequences of sleep deprivation: Reduced Energy, Performance, and Alertness on the Job: Reducing your rejuvenating sleep by as little as one and a half hours for just one night could result in a decrease of daytime alertness by as much as 32%.
Memory and Cognitive Impairment: Decreased alertness and excessive daytime sleepiness negatively affects your memory and your ability to efficiently think and process information.
Stress in Relationships: Disruption of a bed partner's sleep due to a sleep disorder may cause problems in relationships (sleeping separate bedrooms, conflicts, moodiness, etc.
).
Poor Quality of Life: You may be unable to participate in certain activities that require sustained attention, like going to the movies, seeing your child in a school play, or watching a favorite TV show.
Occupational Hazard: Sleep deprivation also contributes to a greater than twofold higher risk of sustaining an occupational injury.
Automobile Injury: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates conservatively that each year drowsy driving is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,550 fatalities.
The human body's sleep cycles are intricately connected to the earth in what is known as circadian rhythms.
Yawning is due to lack of oxygen.
This is why we get tired.
Exhaustion and fatigue is due to lack of oxygen in the body.
Lack of oxygen over time results in the body being more acidic.
The body rejuvenates itself more speedily during nighttime sleep so the more restful your sleep, the better chance you have of achieving perfect wellness.
REM (rapid eye movement) sleep in adult humans typically occupies 20-25% of total sleep, about 90-120 minutes of a night's sleep.
During an average night of sleep, you should experience about four or five periods of REM sleep; they are quite brief at the beginning of the night and longer toward the end.
The need for REM sleep decreases with age.
A typical newborn will spend about 80% of sleep time in REM sleep.
Dream-deprived sleep after three nights means you'll soon be in a psychiatric ward.
It has a seriously adverse effects on the brain's normal function.
Drug addicts and alcoholics don't dream very much because the excessive "brain-altering" substance prevents the brain from experiencing these natural phases.
The REM phases are necessary for your brain function.
If you overload your short-term memory, you will "get crazy.
" The short-term memory goes through a filtering process during the REM cycle and as a result, memories which are relevant are further strengthened, while weaker, transient, "noise" memories will get dumped.
This is your Intelligent Body at work.
Eight hours of sleep is ideal but most people can get by on six or seven.
Any less than five and you may be interfering with the REM phases.
To be more in tune with the earth and its circadian rhythms, I suggest going to bed as early as possible after sundown.
The more sleep you get closer to dusk, the better chance you'll have of completing your REM periods and getting a deep, replenishing, and restful sleep.
It may surprise you to learn that chronic sleep deprivation significantly affects your immune system, alertness at work, memory, safety, and pocketbook.
The following are some of the consequences of sleep deprivation: Reduced Energy, Performance, and Alertness on the Job: Reducing your rejuvenating sleep by as little as one and a half hours for just one night could result in a decrease of daytime alertness by as much as 32%.
Memory and Cognitive Impairment: Decreased alertness and excessive daytime sleepiness negatively affects your memory and your ability to efficiently think and process information.
Stress in Relationships: Disruption of a bed partner's sleep due to a sleep disorder may cause problems in relationships (sleeping separate bedrooms, conflicts, moodiness, etc.
).
Poor Quality of Life: You may be unable to participate in certain activities that require sustained attention, like going to the movies, seeing your child in a school play, or watching a favorite TV show.
Occupational Hazard: Sleep deprivation also contributes to a greater than twofold higher risk of sustaining an occupational injury.
Automobile Injury: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates conservatively that each year drowsy driving is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,550 fatalities.
The human body's sleep cycles are intricately connected to the earth in what is known as circadian rhythms.
Yawning is due to lack of oxygen.
This is why we get tired.
Exhaustion and fatigue is due to lack of oxygen in the body.
Lack of oxygen over time results in the body being more acidic.
The body rejuvenates itself more speedily during nighttime sleep so the more restful your sleep, the better chance you have of achieving perfect wellness.
REM (rapid eye movement) sleep in adult humans typically occupies 20-25% of total sleep, about 90-120 minutes of a night's sleep.
During an average night of sleep, you should experience about four or five periods of REM sleep; they are quite brief at the beginning of the night and longer toward the end.
The need for REM sleep decreases with age.
A typical newborn will spend about 80% of sleep time in REM sleep.
Dream-deprived sleep after three nights means you'll soon be in a psychiatric ward.
It has a seriously adverse effects on the brain's normal function.
Drug addicts and alcoholics don't dream very much because the excessive "brain-altering" substance prevents the brain from experiencing these natural phases.
The REM phases are necessary for your brain function.
If you overload your short-term memory, you will "get crazy.
" The short-term memory goes through a filtering process during the REM cycle and as a result, memories which are relevant are further strengthened, while weaker, transient, "noise" memories will get dumped.
This is your Intelligent Body at work.
Eight hours of sleep is ideal but most people can get by on six or seven.
Any less than five and you may be interfering with the REM phases.
To be more in tune with the earth and its circadian rhythms, I suggest going to bed as early as possible after sundown.
The more sleep you get closer to dusk, the better chance you'll have of completing your REM periods and getting a deep, replenishing, and restful sleep.
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