What is your sleep GPA? Yes, I mean grade point average. We do this kind of measuring for most things that matter to us, but for some reason when it comes to sleep, we generally only report on how many hours we got the night before. Sleep is much more complex and nuanced than this, and it’s about time we took a closer look.
There are many buzz-words these days in the health and fitness field. Mindfulness is definitely one of those words, which is used so often it has become a cliché of its own. It is used so much, and in so many circumstances, that it can be difficult to parse out exactly what the word mindfulness means.
Sleep deprivation is exactly what it sound like: you are deprived of sleep. If you have experienced sleep deprivation, you know how brutal it can be. Chronic sleep deprivation is when you are deprived for long periods of time – at least a month or more. This differs from acute sleep deprivation, that is short lived and often has a very specific cause. Chronic sleep deprivation will most certainly make life miserable for you, and can negatively impact those around you as well.
Pain is all too common in our world today, and it greatly impacts our quality and quantity of sleep. Chronic pain can really hinder your ability to get a good night’s sleep, which makes it harder to heal, and creates all sorts of complications. Here is a quick overview of how muscles and pain interact with sleep, and some tips for how to improve your sleep, even in the presence of pain.
If you’ve had insomnia or are dealing with it right now, then you know how frustrating it is and how challenging it can make living a normal, happy life. In short, it can make life extremely miserable. It can make you feel and act like a different version of yourself. It can make you less productive in all areas of life. It shortens your life span and lowers quality of life. So yes, taking steps to avoid it is well worth the effort.
Sleep quality is impacted by many contributing factors. Sleep position, cortisol levels, dietary considerations, light exposure, and many more factors all play a role in sleeping. Many of us are looking for ways to improve our sleep quality, because of the myriad of benefits that high-quality sleep provides:
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleeping disorder and medical condition that causes you to repeatedly stop breathing and then rouse yourself throughout the night. OSA happens when the throat muscles in the back of your throat relax, causing the airway to narrow and your tongue to cleave to the back of your mouth, instigating snoring and a closed airway. Because you have rouse each time this happens, OSA prevents you from getting restful sleep, resulting in chronic (and potentially severe) sleep deprivation.
What are Parasomnias? Parasomnias are not a single sleep disorder, but refer to a collection of sleep disorders that disrupt your circadian rhythm and impact sleep quality. You may or may not be aware that you have a parasomnia sleep disorder, such as those listed below.
Insomnia is being unable to fall asleep, stay asleep for any restful of time, or sleep in until the morning (i.e., waking up wide awake at 3am). Insomnia is frustrating, because you want to sleep, you just can’t. As you get more sleep deprived over time from insomnia, this disconnect between wanting to sleep and actually sleeping can become extremely pronounced. Unfortunately, insomnia can have consequences far more severe than just frustration.
Sleep paralysis is an episode where you can’t move your body or speak directly after or directly before sleep, and while you are conscious. It is part of a collection of sleep disorders called parasomnias, which simply indicates that your sleep has some kind of general disruption. In the case of sleep paralysis, your body has trouble transitioning to and from sleep.