Living From The Heart

Are you getting enough sleep? One of the factors of heart disease is not receiving and getting enough sleep.  One of the poll of the sleep foundations found that 52% of all American women do not receive enough sleep which can lead to heart disease, chronic sleep deprivation and lack of focus.

• It can be tempting to trade sleep for a few precious hours of wakefulness, but it is important to consider the hidden costs. Sleep is precious, too.
• Numerous studies have found that insufficient sleep increases a person’s risk of developing serious medical conditions, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
• Lack of adequate sleep over time has been associated with a shortened lifespan.

I began to look at how this sleep patterns can affect our lives and the quality of our lives.  Many car accidents and working on shifts can compound the effects of sleep deprivation.  We trade high pressure jobs for the less sleep. We take work home and spend less time to the most important gift of sleep.

According to Sleep Specialist, Dr. Ann E. Rogers one night loss of sleep can increase our chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Not getting enough sleep alters insulin resistance, which is associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and that can be very quickly induced by a single night’s total sleep loss.

The sleep research of Harvard Foundation has developed several ways to access your sleep:

1. keep a sleep diary
2. read about ways to improve your quality of sleep
3. set up a routine
4. drink something warm before going to bed
5. take a sleep vacation

Why Keep a Sleep Diary?

This will log when do you sleep.  What are the best times that you receive the best sleep

Read books on sleep

How to create a sleep routine

• It’s possible to eliminate many minor sleep problems by creating a comfortable sleep environment, maintaining a healthful balance of nutrition and exercise, and engaging in relaxing activities near bedtime.
• Keeping a regular sleep schedule—even on weekends—maintains the timing of the body’s internal clock and can help you fall asleep and wake up more easily.
• Even if real life stands in the way of achieving the perfect sleep routine, making just a few small changes can improve your sleep dramatically.

Set up a Routine

I often use my blue electric blanket was a way to wind down and drink some milk or tea before retiring.   Turn off all my electronic gadgets an hour before sleeping.  Choose not to sleep with the television blaring and turn off my phone.

Drink Something warm before retiring, Try serentity herbal tea for sleep. Sleep researchers recommend to avoid caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and other chemicals that interfere with sleep within 6 hours of retiring.

Serentity Herbal Tea is a blend of 6 flowers, that does not contain caffeine and allows the body to naturally fall asleep. Ingredients: Chamomile, peppermint, hops,catnip, yarrow and skullcap.
A pleasant tasting herb tea. May be used on a continual basis. Does not
contain caffeine. Can be used for stress relief during the day. There are studies that used this tea for treating sleep disorders as in drug and alcohol detox programs,
and helpling those with chronic anxiety and chronic pain suffers
packaged 20 teabags per polybag with label.

Samples can be ordered from http://tcgo.info/5elg.

Take a sleep Vacation.

When you are off for a few days, try to wake up without an alarm clock.  Find the best time you wake up and you will find that you may sleep longer than you usually do.  During the Time change both in the Fall and the Spring, this is when we can really notice that sleep patterns are important.

To recap the healthy choice for sleep, keep a sleep diary, check out the sleep foundation and articles about ways others have done to  improve their sleep habits and drink a warm cup of serentity herbal tea as a bedtime sleep routine

Serentiy herbal tea for sleep: http://tcgo.info/5elg.

To your health, wealth and happiness

Chari Farmer Ogogo