Are you sleeping enough?
Jo Taylor, Marketing Assistant for the Group, contributed this article to demonstrate the importance that sleep plays upon your physical and mental health. For me, sleep is very important, so I thought I would research the importance of sleep a little more and share my findings with you all.
We spend a third of our lives doing it, yet Napoleon, Florence Nightingale and Margaret Thatcher got by on only four hours a night and Thomas Edison claimed it was waste of time!
However, without appropriate sleep you will soon find that the ability to maintain normal levels of skills, such as speech and memory, rapidly reduces. In other words, sleep plays a significant role in brain development and your ability to function on a daily basis.
I also discovered that 25% of the UK population suffer some form of sleep disorder that results in excessive daytime sleepiness, with one third of the population having suffered from insomnia at some stage of their life.
On a positive note, I have found several suggestions as to how to improve how quickly you can get to sleep and remain asleep. Firstly, eat well – junk food, especially close to bedtime will keep you awake. Also, regular routine will promote sleep – if you have the same routine as your prepare for sleep (eg. reading a book), your body will relax. Calming surroundings – a bedroom should promote relaxation, so try to avoid turning it into an entertainment centre or painting it in bright colours. If you’ve found something that helps you, please let us know – there’s a good chance it will help someone else!
Finally - weird facts about sleep:
Dolphins actually sleep, but only with one half of their brain at a time. They are conscious breathers, meaning they need to keep breathing while they sleep.
Also, cows can sleep standing up, but can only dream lying down and pythons sleep for 18 hours of the day!
On that final note, I’m worn out and off for a nap myself, sweet dreams! Oh, if you’d like some more info on sleep and a place to try a couple of online tests to see how alert you are feeling today, just go to www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/