Importance of Sleep

Is this you?

Two nights ago I decided I was going to follow feng shui advice and close my bathroom door while I sleep. It's supposed to keep the bad energy of the bathroom out of my sleeping quarters. I follow my normal routine of getting a glass of water, taking my daily probiotics and moisturizing and then I get comfy in my bed. And I sleep. As normal I wake up once during the night and you guessed it, I headed for the bathroom. Only this time, I'm half asleep and my nose collides with the very sturdy wooden door. "Ouch!" I open the door and do my business, but now my nose is throbbing and I'm wondering why I did such a dumb thing like close my bathroom door. I get back into bed and wonder if my nose is bleeding. Needless to say, after an event like that I didn't get the quality of sleep I should have. So what! Right?

It is a big deal, though.  Or is it? The next day I was not up to my normal anything. This situation made me take some time to research the importance of quality sleep.

Quality sleep lasts from 6-10 hours.

Ever have a big decision to make and say, "I'll sleep on it"? If so, it's probably one of the smartest decisions you've ever made. Good sleep promotes good mental health.  It improves memory because during sleep the brain is forming new pathways. It's also the reason you can wake up with a great idea. Sleep can actually improve your creativity. Need help solving a problem? How about getting six to eight hours of sleep. Deficiency of sleep has been linked to depression and even suicide. Yikes!

Quality sleep also plays a big role in physical health. During sleep our body is taking time to repair and eliminate wastes. Which is probably why I get up once a night to use the restroom. During sleep your body is balancing hormones, building up your immune system and repairing your heart and blood vessels.We all know that stress is harmful to our body, but good sleep has been proven to reduce stress. Increased inflammation is also associated with less than six hours of sleep.  If that's not reasons for getting your zzzz's, then you must be Superman!

One of the most amazing things I discovered in my sleep research is that dieters who got more sleep lost more fat. And 56% more fat than their counterparts with less sleep. Basically those dieters lost more muscle.

I haven't always been a good sleeper. In fact I used to go to bed at 9:00 to get a good night's sleep. But not anymore. I go to bed later, but sleep better. Maybe it's because I lost some weight, but more than likely it's the healthy supplements and food I've been putting into my body. Several months ago I started drinking Plexus Slim and didn't need to drink coffee anymore. I started taking ProBio5 and I sleep like I've never slept before; deep and satisfying. What have I learned from all this? I'm going to keep up with my Plexus products and keep my bathroom door open. My health is more important than feng shui any day!