Sleep, how much do we need?

We often worry about everything we should be doing during the day and fail to acknowledge just how vital good sleep is to our health. For many of us busy work schedules, family demands and endless to-do lists can keep us from getting the rest we need. Even if we get to bed at a decent hour, we can toss and turn all night for some reason or another.

It’s time to pay attention to your sleep as it’s imperative for better health, maintaining healthy weight, regulating emotions and behaviours, learning and motivation, rejuvenation and detoxification. You name it your quality of sleep has a direct effect on everything including your IMMUNE SYSTEM.

Sleep has a strong regulatory influence on our immune functions. Research suggests that our t-cells go down if we are sleep deprived and our cytokines go up (inflammatory proteins). This can potentially lead to a cold or flu as it suppresses our immune system, which also influences how we fight illnesses when we come down with them.

When you sleep well your body is in a parasympathetic state and your body can rest, repair, detox and restore. So it’s important your body can do this on the regular, like every night:)

So how much sleep do you need? ADULTS need on average 7-9 hrs per night. It’s ideal if this happens at the same time every night or within 30min. Therefore you are then waking at the same time everyday. This will lower your cortisol and increase melatonin at the same times of the day as well and keeping these 2 hormones in balance is key for all sorts of health issues.

Have you ever heard “getting a good nights sleep starts first thing in the morning”. It’s true everything you do in your day can help set you up for a good nights sleep.

here are just a few tips:

1.Stop eating 3 hour before bed - This allows the body to stop working on digestion and start focusing on other tasks, like producing the sleep hormone and getting in to a relaxed state. 2.Wind down - to do list/ journal/ brain dump about 30 min before bed. - This clears the mind and can reduce anxiety about what you have to do the next day. 3. No Electronics - sleep in the pitch black 4. Proper nutrition, exercise and fresh air throughout the day. 5. Avoiding caffeine past noon. 6. Relax the body, perhaps through meditation. 7. Proper bedding 8. Your Essential Oils- I use a few different combinations and blends to sleep at night, depending on the day / mood. You can diffuse, or add to a bath or shower. Apply them to pillows and bedding, drink in a warm tea or apply topically to bottoms of feet.

Essential Oils that can help with sleep Marjoram Melissa Petitgrain Roman Chamomile Sandalwood Thyme Vetiver Ylang Ylang Peace Blend Bergamot Cedarwood Frankincense Cilantro Clary Sage Lavender Serenity Blend Adaptive Blend

.... and surely I am missing a few.

Who gets their 8hrs? I want to know, what do you do to get a restful nights sleep? Have you found the oil or oil combo that really works for you?