Do you have a brain that never shuts off before bed? Do you find yourself often tossing and turning trying to figure out how you can sleep because your mind just never stops with its endless lists of ideas? If so, then this episode is perfect for you. Host, Carrie Miller, continues with the series on brain health by shedding light on how important sleep is to your brain. She shares some of its great health benefits and lays down the six things that can help you achieve a good night’s sleep. Dive deep into the great information that Carrie is going to share, keeping with you the fact that getting adequate sleep will revolutionize your life.
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Brain Health: Six Things You Can Do To Get A Good Night’s Sleep
I am excited you’re here. We’re going to continue our series on what exactly is healthy for our brain. Let’s throw ourselves right into our topic. That would be something that’s vital to our brain health. I’m talking about your shut-eye. In other words, your sleep. Let me ask you, do you have that brain that never shuts off before bed? Maybe you’re creative or an entrepreneur, you’ve got an endless list of ideas swirling around your head. You’re trying to figure out every little detail and you’re not falling asleep. Perhaps you’re having to work late every night of the week, and it’s hard to wind down and go to bed at a decent time. Maybe you’ve got a loved one or little ones you’re caring for through the night and after you attend to everybody’s needs, then you’re finding difficulty getting back to sleep.
I hear some of you say, “My daddy always said, ‘You can sleep when you’re dead.’” I hear that. I tend to be a workaholic too. I might get five hours of sleep a night and that’s enough for me. I don’t need that anymore. When I was a single mom out running a ceramic business out of my street garage, there were many years that I would work seven days a week, sometimes 12, 14-hour days, maybe getting 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night. There were times where I pulled all-nighters because I was prepared for maybe a 3, 4 days show out of town. I had to make sure there was plenty of merchandise to sell. There’s nothing worse than not being prepared for a big crowd. You know you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
Years later, I’m fully aware that I paid one hefty price when I worked my body to the ground and overloaded my brain. Not getting the rest I needed was detrimental to my health. Adrenals were shot and serotonin is nowhere to be found. Arianna Huffington in her book, The Sleep Revolution, states that sleep is profoundly intertwined with virtually every aspect to bring help. Prioritizing 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night is shown to improve cognitive function, decreasing your chances for brain disorders such as depression and Alzheimer’s. When I first heard that, I thought it was another one of those myths out there. I didn’t want to listen because I had my routine down. I’d been living with little sleep for many years, and change? Who, me? My mama then got dementia. When you’ve got a loved one that’s losing their memory, you tend to wake up from that slumber, no pun intended. You start to think on your own and you do some research. You’re pretty amazed at what you find when you read.
The studies and research have been out there for years. It’s all public knowledge. I would highly recommend and encourage you to explore the facts because adequate sleep will revolutionize your life. Did you know that 40% of Americans are deficient in sleep? More than likely because you are burning the candle at both ends at work. You’re maybe raising kids and helping aging parents and so much more.