Festival Of Sleep
I must have been sleeping. I missed the Festival of Sleep this morning. The celebration is an opportunity to sleep in, snooze, doze, nap, and catch 40 winks. However, I did sleep in. I did doze off and I did go to bed early last night, so I guess that I unknowingly celebrated it anyway.
In fact, I think that we should celebrate this for two solid weeks – The week between Christmas and New Years and then the week after New Years. What a great way to end an old year and start a new year.
Everyone Needs More Sleep
The Festival of Sleep reminds us that we all could use a little more sleep. Before the light bulb was invented we use to get on average 10 hours of sleep. Now many of us are lucky to get 6.5 hours of sleep per night. Yet, we know that we need 7-9 hours per night just to stay healthy.
Beverly’s Hot Tips For Celebrating The National Festival Of Sleep:
- Obvious tip alert – Go to sleep.
- Watch for those things that interfere or prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep. If you are like the majority (65%) of the population who do not get the right kind or length of sleep, you need to find the right strategies to get a good night sleep. Go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time. Keep your room cool. Block outside noises. Watch the kinds of foods that you eat prior to bedtime. Don’t exercise right before bed.
- Don’t let reading before bed negatively impact your sleep. Poor sleep habits such as reading late at night or in bed can leave you sleep deprived.
- Allow for some time to switch your mind off before you go to bed. Keep a pencil handy to jot down ideas that are cluttering your mind.
- Learn more about the benefits of deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation in the promotion of sleep.
If you have some strategies to share – comment on this posting!
Additional Resources:
Workplace Wellness – Sleep Issues
Workplace Wellness – Napping Benefits and Policies
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