Getting the right amount of sleep is very important for staying young and healthy looking. Skincare specialists the world over will tell you that getting the right amount of sleep is one of the best things you can do for your complexion. Your skin renews itself and grows more while you sleep and without the right amount of sleep your skin can look tired and dry.
Sleep is very important, without it we would not survive and a lack of sleep puts the body under strain. Lack of sleep causes irregular production of hormones and without the right amount of these hormones appetite can increase and in particular a desire for carbohydrates.
Sleeping in the dark is important because the presence of light in the bedroom can have a number of adverse affects. Your pineal gland produces melatonin and if light is present the production of this important hormone is affected. Melatonin is important for several biological functions including the regulation of you circadian rhythm (a natural daily cycle based on 24 hour periods).
Even getting up in the night to go to the bathroom can affect your production of melatonin. If you switch a light on your melatonin production may even completely stop for the rest of the night due to the addition of light during this part of your circadian rhythm. The pineal gland is also secreting serotonin an essential Nero-transmitter and the production of this is also affected if light is present is also.
Sleeping is similar to standing up, in that we learned to do it so long ago we don't remember learning to do it. In fact we learn to sleep before we are even born, so because we have already learned to sleep it seems a little redundant being taught how to sleep, unless we are suffering with a problem like insomnia. However, don't most things that you learned at such a young age benefit from additional learning as you grow?
Relaxation and sleep are not the same thing and if you go to sleep with your muscles tensed, the quality of sleep you experience will not be as good as it could be. Taking just a few moments to relax your body before going to sleep will benefit you enormously. Likewise if you are worrying about something before you go to sleep your sleep patterns will be affected, in this case, there are different and equally simple techniques that can be used to help you relax.
The idea of counting sheep to go to sleep has been around for years but does it really work? Well, recently scientists from Oxford University put the theory to the test. What the researches found was that thinking about a beach or waterfall was much more likely to work rather than the repetitive counting of sheep.
Give it a try and engage all of your senses in the activity. Imagine you are on a beach and feel the warmth of the sun on your face, imagine the feeling of your toes in the sand or a breeze on your skin, hear the sounds of the waves gently lapping on the shore and you are much more likely to fall asleep with this age-old visualisation technique.
For a truly youthful, radiant and properly relaxed body, take time to put into practice some new sleeping skills to ensure you get not just the right amount of sleep but also the best quality of sleep and always sleep in the dark.
