Thursday, January 20, 2011

How to Get a Good Night's Sleep

Guideline for me and you on how to get a good night sleep. This article is from the O, The Oprah Magazine  |by Laura Beil  December 20, 2010



By staying up too late, we throw our bodies off schedule. The trick to restoring natural rhythm? Keep your days from bleeding into your nights.








Illustration: Holly Wales

EVENING

If you work late, turn off any fluorescent lights, which are high in blue hues—the wavelength to which our time-of-day sensors are most sensitive—and use an incandescent lamp (higher in reds). If you're at a computer, lower its brightness setting.

BEDTIME

Banish the TV from the bedroom (you can always DVR The Daily Show). Reading in dim but comfortable light before sleep is less disruptive to your system than the light from the tube.

OVERNIGHT

If you need to get up in the middle of the night, try not to flip any switches. (One burst of brightness can temporarily suppress your body's production of melatonin.) Instead, keep a small flashlight by your bed or a night-light in your bathroom.

Note:

Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain. It helps regulate other hormones and maintains the body's circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is an internal 24-hour “clock” that plays a critical role in when we fall asleep and when we wake up. 

Melatonin also helps control the timing and release of female reproductive hormones. It helps determine when a woman starts to menstruate, the frequency and duration of menstrual cycles, and when a woman stops menstruating (menopause). - you can read the details from University of Maryland

MORNING

Make sure you eat breakfast: It helps signal your body that a new day is beginning. And catch some natural rays from the sun—perhaps by walking part of the way to work.

DAYTIME

If you're indoors most of the time, try boosting your sunlight exposure by sitting near a window or eating lunch outdoor.

Hope the article  brings you some knowledge as it does to me.

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