Sleep During Quarantine
Sleep During The Quarantine
The stresses of being at home for extended periods can manifest itself in poor sleep. The question is what can we do to make sure we are getting as healthy of sleep as possible so our bodies and brain remain strong.
And we know that healthy sleep can help boost your immune system.
So has your sleep declined or gotten worse during this Coronvirus Quarantine?
Here are some items you can consider that may help you improve your sleep during these times.
FOOD:
Are you eating and snacking more?
Food plays a large role in our lives and most of us are likely to reach for snacks when stressed. The problem is that this not only puts more load on our bodies to deal with the inflammation of nutrient-poor foods, it gets even worse when we eat late at night.
Eating near bedtime will generally cause an insulin spike and insulin is what is released by our bodies to reduce the blood sugar that was just introduced.
The problem is that insulin blocks the release of melatonin via receptors and pathways located in the pancreas.
This means that late-night snack just pushed back your sleep time even more!
ROUTINE:
The importance of having a consistent sleep routine cannot be understated. When you change the times you go to sleep and wake up the body gets confused and it shows up as grogginess, and inability to sleep efficiently.
Keeping a routine when it comes to sleep means going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time.
Before the lockdown many of us would “live it up” on the weekend with late-night dinners and drinking. I call this “social jet-lag” and although we want to enjoy life, we need to be aware that doing this all the time will have long term consequences.
Moral of the story…focus on staying consistent with your sleep times.
ACTIVITY:
Sitting at home has caused many of us to reduce our activity significantly. This means we are not using our body’s resources efficiently and that means we have not effectively “drained our batteries” to allow for a deeper sleep.
Have you ever noticed that you often sleep better after an intense workout or even a yoga practice?
Often times, people ask me how to get more deep sleep and I tell them they need to move more about through the day.
It doesn’t have to be heavy-duty. Even a nice walk in the sun for 20-30 minutes can do wonders.
The Takeaway
The list can go on and on but let’s focus on those for now and let me know how your sleep is going in the comments below and what you are doing to make sure you get the best sleep!