Need an excuse to sleep in on Monday morning? January 3rd is Festival of Sleep Day, a day set aside to celebrate blissful, sound sleep. No activities, commemorations, or special events are planned; instead, organizers encourage celebrants to spend as much of the day as possible sleeping.
Even if you can’t spend the day snoozing, Festival of Sleep Day helps us all recognize that sleep is absolutely crucial to our health, emotional well-being, and longevity. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says that normal adults require between 7 and 9 hours of sleep every day (by contrast, children require between 10 and 11 hours). The daily obligations on caregivers generally mean we are receiving far less than 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. Consequently, we are depriving ourselves of these important health benefits:
- Sleep repairs and replenishes our bodies
- Sleep helps keep our blood pressure and cholesterol in check
- Sleep reduces stress and inflammation in our bodies
- Sleep helps our memory by allowing our brain “downtime” to organize and correlate memories
- Sleep helps regulate the hormones that control our appetites. That’s why those who don’t sleep well seem to crave more fatty foods and carry extra weight
- Sleep reduces our chances of type 2 diabetes
- Sleep reduces our chances of mood disorders.
Resolve this year to get better sleep!
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