Rejuvenation and Sleep

Select from the following Tapas practices:

# Get Enough Sleep

This may seem like an obvious one.

Did you know that sleep before midnight is twice more restful/valuable for brain health, cellular rejuvenation, and muscle recovery than sleep after 12am? (see the side bar)

Determine how you are going to get your 7.5 hours, i.e. when to hit the pillow, and when to rise. 

Stick to your plan for a specific length of time (1 week, etc.).

Good Habits for Better Sleep

# Treat your bedroom as a sanctuary for sleep and love

No reading. No TV. No Internet. No phone. No discussions. Your bedroom is a place for sleep and love. Design it accordingly. Try to address all five senses. Calming colors like beige, light blue, or pastel green. Quiet atmosphere. Pleasant scent. Soft bedding.

# Go to bed early

Early to bed, early to rise. Going to bed around 10pm is the most natural time for our biology. Sleep researchers claim that "one hour before 2am is worth two hours after 2am". This means that sleeping from 10pm to 4am would be equivalent to 8 hours of sleep!

# Get yourself physically tired

We have all day for that. Have you noticed that people who work in physical labor have no problem with good sleep?

Put your energy to use. Take a long walk after dinner. Do fifteen minutes of Sun Salutations, stretches, and or strength exercises. 

# Practice Abdominal Breath to induce Relaxation Response

This can be done while still sitting up or lying down. Details: Abdominal Breath for Restful Sleep and Relaxation.

Mental stress causes insomnia and poor-quality sleep. For insights and healthy habits on how to reduce stress, please visit the Stress Relief page.

# Connect to Nature Every Day

One of my personal favorite ways to rejuvenate is to spend time in Nature.

Hiking, trail running, biking, surfing, rock climbing, beach walking, bird watching, gardening, or hill-top gazing. Feel the earth under your feet, breathe outdoor air, gaze into the distance. 

Mother Nature is the source-ress of all life. This is where we heal, get rejuvenated, and align with our real selves. 

# Get Grounded

Grounding, or Earthing, is connecting to the Earth with our bodies. 

Earthing is one of the simplest and healthiest actions we can take every day to neutralize free radicals, reduce inflammation and fatigue, and rejuvenate.

The Earth is negatively charged with an infinite supply of negative ions, which neutralize harmful effects of EMFs from our constant exposure to electric waves. 

Try to walk barefoot every day. Walking on the beach, or swimming in the ocean, is one of the best ways to anti-oxidize, because salt water is extremely conductive (more negative ions). 

If touching the Earth every single day is a challenge, consider getting an Earthing mat, or sheet, for your bed - you can sleep while being connected to the Earth! My Recommendation Below.

Another option, profoundly healing, albeit more expensive, and rejuvenating for almost every system in the body is to invest in an Amethyst BioMat (I wrote about it here). See Below.

Sleep researchers divide sleep into four distinctive stages, from the most lucid state to the deepest one. Stage 4 is the deepest sleep.

Normally, Stage 4 sleep occurs early in the course of the night. It is much more likely to occur if the individual falls asleep before midnight. 

Stage 4 sleep is very special: 

It's the only sleep in which our bodies produce the growth hormone, and other anti-aging, cell-regenerating natural chemicals.

If one never falls into Stage 4 sleep, their cells don't regenerate as well and the body tissues age faster. Their immune system has to work overtime and eventually weakens on a permanent basis. This allows for an auto-immune disease (like asthma and diabetes) to develop.

Lack of restful sleep and the inability of the body to regenerate is the precursor to many common ailments.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or Fibromyalgia, sufferers often fall into this category. They feel pain, which prevents them from falling asleep deeply. Their lack of restful sleep, in turn, doesn't allow such individuals to rejuvenate and heal the pain. It's a catch-22 that puzzles the medical community.

According to yoga science, the first thing a Fibromyalgia patient should do is get enough restful sleep.