Sleeping is one of the habits that we should take care of the most in our day today. Good health lies in proper rest. Stress, energy, and well-being are intimately linked to quality sleep.
However, how do we do it if stress and anxiety lurk around every corner? What's more, poor sleep and rest can increase stress and anxiety. What can we do to break this vicious circle?
How to break stress and anxiety
First of all, experts recommend not turning anxiety into a stigma. Anxiety and stress are two natural psychological manifestations with which one must learn to live together. We can indeed work to reduce the stress that certain habitual situations cause us.
Recommendations are topped by "going to a professional," followed by adopting good healthy habits. Exercising is a natural stress reliever due to the physiological consequences it produces. Also, maintaining a particular routine and a healthy diet will help us both psychologically and physiologically.
Relaxation and breathing techniques can help us at specific times when stress seems to overwhelm us. No less important is the fact that we must stay away from substances and habits that disturb our mood: alcohol, stimulants, tobacco, and drugs. All this also plays a beneficial role in the objective of this text: to help us rest more and better.
How to get a restful sleep
We may be in the process of reducing our stress or simply need to rest better. In any case, if we succeed, it will be an essential step in the search for well-being. And how to do it? We can use some techniques and "tricks" that help us. To do this, we will repeat the last recommendation in the previous section: stay away from alcohol and stimulants. If we can't do it all day, at least let's do it several hours before going to sleep.
It is also advisable to maintain good sleep hygiene. This consists of adopting a series of habits that allow us to achieve a higher quality rest. For this, we can avoid bright lights, reducing the intensity, and opting for warm lights at least 30 minutes before going to bed. This will help us reading or some moderate activity that relaxes us.
What does it mean to sleep well, and how does it help us fight stress?
Sleeping well does not mean sleeping eight hours, as many people believe. In reality, rest is related to its quality. And, each person has different needs for sleep in hours. For example, adults and youth can sleep between 6 and 11 hours, depending on their needs. However, the quality itself is determined by the time we spend in a deep sleep.
A good rest is identified by falling asleep early, in less than 30 minutes, peacefully, waking up only a few times at night, and with less than 20 minutes of wakefulness. Also, sleep must be sincere for at least 45 minutes to be "restful."
When we fall asleep, the dream is divided into "phases" that are repeated throughout the night. In the first minutes, we begin phase one, in which we change from waking state to light sleep. After a short period, which can last between 5 and 20 minutes, we enter phase two, the anteroom to deep sleep. It is at this time that our body temperature drops, and eye movement stops. This phase repeats more than any of the other aspects.
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