Sleep Hygiene/Mental Health

 The book "Are You Really Okay?" helped me realize how important it is to get a good night's sleep.  A lack of sleep can affect our mental, physical, and emotional well-being.    It is important to get at least seven to eight hours of sleep every night.  Good sleep hygiene affects our whole well-being from our mood,  our judgement,  to our ability to learn and retain information.   A lack of sleep impacts our physical health from which can lead to disease, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and mortality.  

The author also emphasized that sleep hygiene affects the quality of sleep that we get every night.   The concept of sleep hygiene is a combination to sleep practices that help us have a good night's rest.   These include: avoiding caffeine close to bedtime,  sleeping and waking at the same time,  keeping your room cool and dark, limiting screen time before bed, limiting day time naps to 30 minutes or less,  and following a similar bedtime routine every night.   The last two that tie together are: increasing the amount of sunshine during the day and exercising regularly during the day.  Practicing a nightly routine can will help our mind and body focus as we go about our day.     When we do not practice these steps, we can become vulnerable emotionally or anxious during the day.   

The author mentioned in the sleep hygiene chapter to keep a sleep hygiene diary.   She emphasized the importance of tracing the amount of sleep that we get every night.   When we track our nightly sleep,  we must write down our sleep and wake times to see what is working for us and what is not.   The author explained that if we are going through a season of sleeplessness,  it could mean we are dealing with anxiety.     We can counter this type of anxiety by praying though the night when we are having these type of sleep problems.   

This chapter in the book "Are you Really Okay"? opened up my eyes to the importance of sleep hygiene.   Debra Fileta explains the necessary importance getting good sleep can have in all areas of our life.   Sleep hygiene can affect the physical, emotional, and mental aspects of our life.   We need to practice sleep practices to help our mind and body get the necessary sleep every night.   Lastly, we need to examine weekly if the amount of sleep we are getting so we can access how our body is re-charging every day.