How and Why to Get More Sleep! (Consider This Your Wake Up Call!)

Here’s how and why to get more sleep! For example, not sleeping enough can cause weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s. Read on…

There’s an old Irish expression… “A good laugh and a good long sleep are the 2 best cures for anything.”

Guess what? There’s a lot of truth to this proverb.

Did you know that lack of enough sleep can cause weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s…?

If you want to be your healthiest, you need sleep

“We are in the midst of a sleep deprivation crisis,” warns Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor in chief of The Huffington Post – and author of The Sleep Revolution.

Whether we like it or not, sleeplessness influences a varied range of things like job performance, creativity, mood, love life, sex life, mental clarity and overall health.

Arianna first became aware of the dangers of sleep deprivation back in 2007 – when one day she suddenly collapsed at her desk – and awoke in a pool of blood, with a broken cheekbone.

The cause of her sleep deprivation?

Total burnout.

Back then Arianna was regularly only sleeping about three to four hours a night, then drinking lots of coffee – to fuel her ability to lead her media empire, fly around the world for various events, and to parent her two daughters.

Shortly after the broken cheekbone incident, Arianna met with doctors who made it clear that she needed to create a healthier sleep routine.

She needed to do more sleeping!

• A minimum seven hours of shut-eye a night.

Arianna began with small steps:

• adding 30 minutes more sleep nightly
• taking her phone and computer out of her bedroom.

Soon she found herself to be more productive, more creative, more happy – and less cranky, less irritable, less reactive.

Arianna explains how there’s a “collective delusion that overwork and burnout are the price we must pay in order to succeed.”

Arianna believes the time has come to call for a sleep revolution – where our world fully celebrates the many positive powers of sleep.

“More and more human functions are being taken over by machines,” Arianna says, “so human beings will be increasingly valued for their creativity, for deeper contributions that are going to be much harder – if we’re not connected to a deeper part of ourselves.”

How to get more sleep:

• try with small steps – like getting 30 minutes more a night
• if you snore, use a mouthpiece like the anti snoring device by Vital Sleep
• remove your cellphone from your bedroom
• halt all technology at least 1 hour before bedtime – and/or wear “blue light blocking” glasses when on the computer
• halt all liquids about 2-3 hours before sleep – so you don’t have to wake to hit the restroom
• try chewable melatonin right before bedtime
• try a special side-sleeper pillow
• make your bed a sanctuary- with a great mattress
• Meditate before bedtime

If you’re new to meditation – or even an advanced meditator – you can try “sensory meditations” – where you do a one-pointed focus on one of your five senses – and include a particular mantra or relaxing phrase.

The Role Of Pillows And Mattress On Getting More Sleep

As mentioned, a proper pillow and the right size and type of mattress can affect a person’s sleep. While a pillow does not directly impact a person’s sleep, it determines how much rest, sleep, and recharging your bodies can receive. Furthermore, a bad pillow can enhance the underlying issues that cause headache, migraine, neck pain, shoulder pain, or arm pain.

On the other hand, a bad mattress can ruin your sleep as it can cause discomfort, sweating, and even postural problems. A good mattress promises to provide a restful night sleep, allowing you to wake up the next morning more energized. That’s why you have to make sure to replace your mattress when it is sagging and look worn out or you feel uncomfortable sleeping for a couple of nights with unknown reason.

So, what are the qualities of good-quality pillows and mattress? Take a look at the following features and benefits of the best pillows and mattresses today:

• Movement Isolation: A good quality mattress has a movement isolation feature, wherein it reduces movements from sleepers to avoid disturbing their partners in bed when they move.
• Comfort: Each sleeper has his own comfort level. But the firmness level of a mattress (1 to 10) can help you determine the best mattress that you will be most comfortable sleeping, depending on your needs. For instance, back sleepers, heavy sleepers, combination sleepers, couples, and people with back pain do well sleeping in a medium firm mattress (5 to 7 in a mattress firmness scale).
• Size: Pillows and mattresses come in different sizes. Bigger ones may provide more comfort to some people, while smaller ones are enough for others. For proper body alignment, the height or thickness of your pillow should match your shoulder length to your neck. Thinner pillows are recommended for back sleepers to keep their neck aligned with their spine while they sleep. 
• Stuffing: the type of stuffing you choose for your pillows and mattress will also help if you’ve got allergies, a favorite sleeping position, preferred type of support and level of comfort, and personal preferences when it comes to maintenance. Mattress stuffing is usually made of cotton, wool, silk, mohair, synthetic foam, polyurethane, latex, and polyester. Pillows are almost the same as they’re commonly stuffed with cotton, down, feather, memory foam, polyester, buckwheat, microbeads, latex, wool, and kapok. However, the density and quality usually vary, even with the same materials, so checking on these small details will make a difference.

I myself suffered from sleeping issues – until I started to meditate.

It’s one of the big reasons why I began researching the neuroscience behind sensory meditations.

I then wrote a book – Instant Calm – all about how to do fun and simple sensory meditations.

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