Here is why sleep is so important and how we can improve our sleep habits

“Your future depends on your dreams, so go to sleep.” well joking apart but Sleep is the best meditation and an important part of our daily routine reportedly, we spend almost one-third of our lives sleeping. A night of quality sleep is getting enough of it at the right times because sleep is as essential to survival as food and water.

Global studies have shown that sleep helps in improving our learning and problem solving skills.

thus on this world sleep awareness month, let's take a pledge to relook at our sleep schedules, maintain a healthy circadian rhythm and also increase conversations around the need for a healthy sleep hygiene as we cannot achieve optimal health without taking care of our sleep.

here are some questions that can help us to get a good sleep

1. Why are we sleep-deprived?

well a hectic lifestyle, long erratic working hours, and sleep disorders can be the answers and our habits such as too much screen time, lack of physical activity, consumption of caffeine before bedtime and low exposure to sunlight can also play a major role in disrupting our sleep cycle. Statistics have shown that around 28 million people suffer from sleep apnea in India and 80 per cent of whom are undiagnosed.

2. What are the consequences of a disordered sleep cycle?

a long period of sleep loss and sleep disorders have been linked to deleterious health consequences, including an impact on our cognitive functions, cardio-metabolic diseases, obesity, impaired immunity, etc. Few studies have also linked impaired sleep with the risk of cancer. apart from this sleep disorders have also been linked road traffic accidents and major industrial accidents globally.

3. How can we sleep better?

It is important to be in sync with our body's natural sleep & wake cycle and to maintain it we must set aside 8 hours for regular sleep and try to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Exercise, exposure to sunlight are also important to get good sleep. Pre-sleep activities such as taking a warm bath and meditation also help us sleep well.

In case of symptoms like morning headaches, excessive daytime sleepiness, snoring, breathing pauses during sleep, unexplained fatigue, it is important to seek the help of a sleep specialist.

Battling sleep issues with easy remedies and treatments is the first step we can take to manage the global problem of sleep deficiency and if needed sleep therapies can help in bringing us closer to living life to the fullest.