I caught a slight cold last week, which I attribute mostly to a lack of sleep over the past few weeks. These bouts of non-restful sleep came rather suddenly, and as much as I lay in bed night after night begging myself to sleep, it just wasn't happening. Well, not to the full 6-7 hours my body is accustomed to. Then I was scheduled to go on a short trip to the Midwest and noticed the usual precursor to a cold: a sore throat, followed by a fever... you know the drill.
At this point, I started to notice my attitude spiraling downward in conjunction with my health. I was more emotional, more sensitive, more of any yuckiness that seemed to take on a life of its own without my consent! (Wink, wink.) Luckily, I came back home to a weekend with nothing on my schedule but SLEEP! Deep, restful, and plentiful sleep. Ahhhh, music to my ailing body and a boost to a healthier outlook on life. I may have possibly slept for 15 hours straight, and that was undoubtedly the best medicine I could have taken. Hallelujah!
Once again, I was gently being reminded how sleep is so imperative, not only to our physical body, but to our mental state as well. Getting sufficient and restful sleep is almost like a magical wand of well being-ness vanishing away all the yuckies and replacing it with a fresh new energy on life as a whole: A healing energy for mind, body, and soul.
Food for thought:
Can you even imagine the level of intelligence that is required to allow us to function each and every moment?
What you can do now to choose love now:
Be mindful of getting sufficient sleep at night. Take a nap if you can; even 10-15 minutes of shut-eye can help you feel refreshed. Make sleep a priority, over checking another email, or surfing the web, or anything at all that begs the question, "What do I have if I don't have my health?"
Why this helps:
In this often hectic and endless world of to-dos, many of us will compromise sleep and instead chug some coffee or a Red Bull to plow through our day. These choices may prove effective in the short run; however, over time, it can wreak havoc on our bodies and some conditions even remain hidden until it is too late. Therefore, it is not simply an option, but an absolute necessity, to get ample sleep. Here are some of sleep's benefits. Sleep keeps our heart healthy, reduces stress, makes us more active and alert, boosts memory, restores and repairs cellular functioning, helps to regulate hormones/appetite/mood and much more. There are so many levels and layers of coordination and communication that are being performed beyond our seeing eyes and feeling sensations that take place on a regular basis. All we need to do is to learn to listen and step out of the way so that we can heal. Let the sleeping begin....