Sleeping For Physical And Mental Fitness

When it comes to holistic fitness, it is important to take a look at our health and well-being from an overall perspective. This means how we exercise, how we eat, how we think, and even how we sleep plays a vital role in ensuring that our mind and body is in good shape.

While it is an everyday activity for us, many people take sleeping for granted. In fact, according to research, a large population of the world is considered sleep deprived. This means that they are not getting the daily recommended hours of sleep each night. This can lead to detrimental impacts on our health, as well as our general quality of life.

So, it is important to make sure that we get plenty of restful sleep each night. Here are just some health benefits of getting a good night’s rest:

Facilitates Memory Consolidation

During bedtime, our body gets rest but our mind stays at work, reviewing the events of the entire day, processing information and converting it into long-term memories. This process is known as memory consolidation. In other words, sleep is necessary in order for your brain to store memories which will be retrieved later.

Produces Growth Hormones

While we sleep, our bodies produce essential growth hormones. As children and youngsters, these growth hormones are used to make our bones develop and grow overall. However, as adults these growth hormones are equally as important, as they help build muscles and tone our bodies after a long work out at the gym. So, in order to make the most of your gym routine, it is vital that you get plenty if sleep.

Muscle Repair

Sleeping also aids in muscle and tissue repair in our bodies. This is because when we sleep, new molecules are constructed which facilitates the growth and restoration of tissues. It also aids in repairing sore and tired muscles after a long work out.

Improves Skin

Our skin greatly benefits from ample sleep. This is because our bodies work on collagen production while we sleep, which is essential for skin health. New skin cell and collagen production helps balance our skins elasticity, leaving it plumper, smoother, and wrinkle-free. On the other hand, a lack of sleep leads to dull, sagging skin, and can even cause premature signs of aging.

Mental Well-Being

You must have heard the saying “you’ll feel better in the morning”. This is because often times, a good night’s sleep can help in reducing stress and is imperative for our overall mental wellbeing.. Sleep deprivation leads to feelings of sluggishness, blurred memory, and a lack of concentration. It can also leave us feeling irritable, frustrated and stressed out. Proper sleeping patterns can help reduce symptoms of mental illnesses such as depression. Thus, making sure you get the right amount of sleep each night is essential for mental health.

Brain Health

Sleep is necessary for brain cell production. Grey matter in our brains is proven to be of a greater volume in those who are consistently well-rested. Furthermore, well-rested individuals have stronger cognitive abilities and more active brain performance. On the other hand, sleep deprived individuals tend to have slower cognitive functions and poor coordination. This is due to the fact that brain cells are restored, repaired and develop during periods of sleep.

So, sleeping is necessary for both physical and mental health. It is important to make sure you get proper and adequate sleep each night. If you feel like you have trouble sleeping, or feel restless and uncomfortable even after sleeping, then it is important to speak to your physician. At the same time, there are several steps you can take to ensure you get proper sleep, such as:

- Get rid of all distractions (e.g. turn of the television, mobile phone, etc.…)

- Turn off all the lights

- Have a comfortable sleeping environment, etc..

Do you get enough sleep each night? How do you feel on nights where you are not well-rested? Comment below!