Subject: ~~Sleeping Habits~~ Mon May 31, 2010 6:37 am
Most of us fail to get good nights sleep. As a result we run the risk of greatly increasing our susceptibility to disease and accidents. Getting a good night sleep is a minimum for a healthy life. For most people this amount needs to be around 6 to 8 hours each night. Anything less than that and you are sleeping too little and anything more than that and you are probably sleeping too much.
What is it that sleep does for us? The best way to think of sleep is as the body’s form of “downtime”. Just like our computers need to go offline in order to be repaired so must our bodies. During this “downtime” the body actually rebuilds tissue, grows bone and muscle and strengthens the immune system.
The truth is we really don’t know everything that does happen in sleep just yet. However, we know enough to realize that without it the body deteriorates along with the mind.
Each night we cycle through three stages of sleep including light sleep, deep sleep and Rapid Eye Movement Sleep (REM). Each of these stages are vital but the last stage is especially vital. Deprivation of this final stage of sleep can seriously decrease our health and productivity and make us increasingly prone to accidents and systematic disorders.
During deep sleep brain activity that controls emotions, decision-making processes and social interaction shuts down. Though these areas become inactive other areas of our brain that are usually dormant come to life. It is also at this stage that cell growth and cell repair takes place. There is in fact some truth to the phrase “beauty sleep”. Missing these vital areas of sleep deprives our body of the chance to revitalize our skin and organs.
Thu Feb 19, 2015 11:16 pm by tjp
Subject: ~~Sleeping Habits~~ 
