Sleep is a rather important aspect of our beings. Often times we tend to ignore it to quite an extent. Many of us feel 1 or 2 hours of sleep would probably be enough to get us through the day. But the thing is it cannot. Nor can inconsistent sleep patterns. If you have an inconsistent sleeping pattern such that while on some days you go to sleep at 10 pm, there are days when you would lay awake till 4 am and then go to sleep, that could also prove very unhealthy to your system.
If you are worried that you too probably are getting pulled into this kind of unhealthy sleeping schedule, then we have something that could help you out. Here are some basic questions that would help you get a grip on your sleeping schedule and also take a look at the benefits that you could experience from it.
How does sleeping help your health?
Sleeping plays a very important role in both your mental and physical well-being. Even though you could be confident enough that you could easily get through your day without having a good night’s sleep, or maybe even laying awake the entire night;- it would! You would understand only when you are faced with such a situation, and you read through these lines could even imply that you have probably already gone through such a horrible experience. Sleeping improves your mental and physical health to great extents and here is how.
- Improved physical health
The proper amount of sleep helps you to better your health. Your body gets enough time to rest and then act better the next day. If your body is sleep-deprived for long you could experience cramps or other more dominant and serious health hazards. Those would be your body’s ways of telling you to rest and that it was slowly failing.
- Improved mental health
No matter how great the human brain is, it would also start to malfunction if and when it does not receive proper rest. Lack of sleep would cause the brain’s significant regions to function poorly thus leading to poor mental health. You could easily turn cranky. But with enough amount of sleep your hormones would all be running smoothly and your brain as well!
- Improved productivity
Good health would automatically make you more productive. You would feel the enthusiasm and energy that you would lack in a sleep-deprived condition. Not only would be able to get through your day’s work but might also find and dig up a time to devote to yourself, such as indulging in some co-curricular activities or maybe hit the gym!
- Improved intimacy and involvement
No amount of coffee in the morning could make you feel people-friendly if you have not had proper sleep the night before! Good sleep makes you feel fresh and ready for a new start. It makes you ready for dealing with others, even when there are differences in opinions. The proper amount of sleep makes an individual balanced overall and helps him or her to regulate their thoughts and emotions properly.
- Reduced stress
As stated just a few lines back, an appropriate amount of sleep helps you to regulate your emotions and thoughts properly. This is also because a good amount of sleep makes you feel stress-free. It freshens you up for a new start, detoxifying your body and mind.
How many hours of sleep do you need?
From the very start, we have been discussing how a good amount of sleep can benefit you in several ways. We have also used phrases such as an appropriate amount of sleep or a proper amount of sleep. But what exactly do all these phrases mean? How long should a person be sleeping?
When we say that our bodies need the proper amount of sleep, we do not mean that we keep lying on our beds all day long. But at the same time, a few hours of sleep might not be enough for your body to attend to the amount of rest that it seeks.
On average, your body requires 6 to 8 hours of sleep consistently every day. You could also fuel the resting period of your body by taking power naps. When your body feels the need for rest it would automatically send you signals whereby you would feel tired and drowsy. Instead of waiting for your specific sleeping hours, you could also take a nap then and there. This could also enhance your health. But apart from these occasional naps, a minimum of about 6 to 8 hours of sleep is a necessity for your body to function and keep functioning properly.
Is pulling all-nighters bad?
Pulling all-nighters seems like a fascinating idea. If you are a student, there might have been days when you might have several consecutive all-nighters. But you must understand that they are not at all healthy for your body or mind. You need to provide the rest that your body deserves and asks for.
Even if you are not pulling an exact all-nighter, sleeping for one or two hours around 4:00 AM would not do your body much good either. So if we were to answer you in one sentence, then- yes, pulling all-nighters can be extremely harmful to your body.
What happens if you do not sleep for days?
You would not know the difference by not sleeping for one or two consecutive days. You would just feel a bit drowsy and week. However, five or six consecutive days without sleep or even a proper amount of sleep could render your body so weak that you could barely find the energy to move or even sit up.
However, after one or two, or even three consecutive days without sleep, your body would automatically urge you to fall asleep. Our bodies are designed in such a way, that it would take the rest that it deserves from you even if you do not let it have the same.
If you do not give the amount of sleep that your body and mind ask for, not only would your health deteriorate over time, you would also feel nauseated much often. Something that you need to understand is that lack of sleep not only disrupts your daily cycle off all biological systems but also ruins your body on a long-term basis. So the faster you catch the problem and set out to better the situation, the better it is.
The fact that the winds of the Internet brought you here, implies that you probably are thinking about putting more focus on the amount of sleep that you get. That is a good thing. It is never too late to start afresh. To start, you could make yourself a routine and follow it. You could also include power naps in the routine. If you are not so systematic person, you could also just let your body take its course. You just need to let go and succumb to what your body asks of you – be it a regular 8 hours of sleep, or afternoon power naps.
