Sleep

Our sleep is a very important fundamental of health. Do you know that during hours of sleep is when your body initiates most of its repair and maintenance?

While most do understand that we need approximately 8 hours of sleep nightly, many do not understand that there is also a best time to accomplish this sleep goal. The best time to get to bed is a few hours after the sun sets and to wake in the morning when the sun rises. With this in mind you will also understand that your actual sleep patterns will vary depending on the seasons. Did you ever wonder why you seem to need much more sleep in the winter months rather than summer? This is actually tied into natural hormone production based on your exposure to natural sunlight. You see…when the sun comes up in the morning even on an overcast day with just a small opening in your drapery, this will still initiate the highest cortisol response of the day. The job of this high cortisol response is to get the body up and going to start your day.

For the select few clients that say to me, “I am a night person, so I go to bed at about 2:00AM but I sleep until 10:00AM, so that is OK…right?” My answer to that is; there is no such thing as a night person and being a night person is simply a learned behavior. For this person that has trained their body to get to bed later and sleep through the high cortisol response, there is one very important aspect to know. The sleep after the cortisol is raised based on natural sunlight is no longer the same level of rest and repair.

Please be sure to get to bed early enough to accomplish your health goals.