Many adults find it challenging to get enough high-quality sleep. Sleep deprivation can impact your ability to perform well, think clearly, and stay healthy. In this article, Inner Matrix Systems clarifies why sleep is essential and how to get the sleep you need.
At some point in your life, you may have been offered the well-meaning advice to “burn the midnight oil” to get ahead in life. If so, hopefully, that suggestion was tempered with some qualifiers such as “on occasion” or “once in a great while.”
The amount and quality of your sleep will directly and immediately affect your physical health and cognitive abilities. Various studies have shown that adequate sleep is essential to healthy weight loss and sleep deprivation increases the risk of adverse health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Sleep is also imperative for creating a vision of health and vitality in the body.
Why you don’t sleep well.
Stress and anxiety are common causes for inadequate or insufficient quality sleep. Factors like what we eat and drink and the medications we take also affect how we sleep. Environmental factors, such as comfort, light, sound, and fresh air, can impact the quality of our rest.
A 2019 study published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s National Library of Medicine found that one-third of adults in the U.S. are getting less than the recommended minimum of seven hours of sleep. Inadequate sleep is linked to adverse health outcomes. The study strongly indicates a relationship between an inadequate intake of micronutrients and sleep conditions.
What you can do to improve your sleep.
Sleep is one of the most important factors in creating excellence and mastery of oneself. Without proper rest, our systems are not able to function properly. Most people point to stress or an inability to stop one’s mind as the most common reasons sleep eludes them. When this happens, instead of getting angry or annoyed at yourself for being unable to fall asleep, try an internal training strategy instead. Simply lay the body down and begin to relax each part of your body from the top of your head to the tips of your toes.
Next, begin to focus on your breath. Breathe into the center of your body, two fingers below your belly button and an inch back from the spine. Breath a 4-5 second breath in, pause and hold your breath, and then breathe a 4-5 second breath out and hold the breath again. When your mind begins to wander, simply bring your attention back to the breath. Do not become annoyed or agitated if your mind continues to wander, simply bring your attention back to the breath. If sleep continues to be challenging, ensure that you aren’t exercising, eating a heavy meal, or eating/drinking caffeine too close to bedtime. It’s also helpful to limit your screen time at least 30-60 minutes before going to bed.
Whatever methods work best to improve your sleep, make them part of your daily routine. Don’t underestimate the importance of a good night’s sleep. Resting is nice, but put down the game controller or turn off Netflix and get more sleep. In the end, you will feel and perform better.
About Inner Matrix Systems
Inner Matrix Systems, based in Denver, is a personal mastery training system for high achievers. For more than twenty years, IMS has delivered a proprietary methodology that rewires, trains, and aligns the nervous system, emotions, and thought strategies to create real-life results. CEO, Joey Klein, and IMS have worked with more than 80,000 individuals from around the world through both live and online training programs, as well as one-on-one coaching. Clients have included: Boeing, IBM, Dell, Google, Panda Express, Coca Cola and The World Health Organization. Joey is the author of The Inner Matrix: Leveraging the Art & Science of Personal Mastery to Create Real-Life Results (June 2021).
