We spend about a third of our lives sleeping and yet sleep is often mistreated these days. This beautiful mechanism undergoes the evolution of our modes and our rhythms of life, at a time when the principle of immediacy and acceleration always propels us further and faster.
However, the body has its limits and chronic stress is one of the manifestations of this pressure that commonly seeps into our daily lives. It acts directly on our sleep with difficulty falling asleep and/or nocturnal and especially early awakenings.
In addition, lack of sleep is a stress activator:I sleep badly, I am more easily stressed, I tolerate annoyances, constraints less well, my stress increases... and if I am stressed, I have sleep disorders. , even insomnia. It's a real vicious circle!
It is also known that stress is one of the first causes of occasional insomnia, also called reactive or psychogenic.
But beware, stress is not negative in itself:it is a reaction according to the adaptation syndrome. Faced with a situation perceived as threatening, a whole physiological reaction will prepare the body to respond to it. Certain functions, such as heart rate, will increase, as well as the secretion of certain hormones (adrenaline, cortisol).
Repetitive or persistent stress can cause a kind of runaway that will put a lot of strain on the body:it then risks drawing on its reserves. Over time, the body becomes exhausted, the immune system weakens and a whole cohort of disorders can appear, reinforced by lack of sleep.
In the professional context, we speak of stress at work when a person feels an imbalance between what they are asked to do and the resources they have to respond to them.
Anyway, if the origins of chronic stress are multifactorial, it frequently impacts sleep and therefore health and often has repercussions on work with:
It is therefore important to relieve stress to preserve his sleep.
Sleep and Diet
Our biological clock orchestrates many rhythms, including the production of the satiety hormone, leptin, in greater quantities at night, and the hunger hormone, ghrelin, during the day. We are simply genetically programmed to eat during the day and “fast” at night!
Meals are time givers that will induce rhythmicity and help body memory to identify these key moments. Dinner, the 3rd meal of the day, will thus announce the approach of the period of falling asleep. And of course the content of the plate influences the quality of sleep.
There, more than ever, it is a question of balance, in the composition, the quantity and the few obstacles to the good rules...
In general, here are the recommended recommendations:
Namely:not sleeping stimulates the appetite, increases snacking and promotes weight gain!
*Tryptophan is an amino acid present in almost all food proteins and allows the brain to produce serotonin, essential for the secretion of melatonin, the sleep hormone. It is found in pulses, bananas, dark chocolate, cashew nuts...
**Valerian, passion flower, verbena or hawthorn flower have relaxing properties, especially if they come from an herbalist!
Sleep and screens
We would have lost more than an hour of sleep a day for the past 50 years! Our lifestyles are a major contributor to this development, starting with the arrival of electricity in 1879. Since then, our modern world has upset the day/night balance.
The simple fact of being able to light a lamp thanks to electricity encourages people to continue their personal and professional activities, including night work, which today concerns 1 out of 4 employees. This phenomenon has been amplified with the arrival of television in the 1960s, all the more strongly as the programs were subsequently broadcast later and later at night. And then new technologies, like DVDs, live recording, made viewers delay bedtime even further.
But the second revolution, after electricity, is undoubtedly the arrival of the Internet in our homes around 1994. Not only does television no longer have the monopoly of night owls, but access to all kinds of information encourages us to watch while forgetting the needs of the body. And, the evolution of new technologies only confirms an observation:we neglect our sleep.
And what about the latest revolution, around 2007, with the arrival of the smartphone:the technological “cuddly toy” that accompanies you everywhere, in any situation and of course in bed…
In summary, televisions, phones, laptops, tablets, e-readers, etc. lead to a hyperconnection and hyperstimulation of our brain, thus having a direct impact on our sleep.
Several reasons for this:
Anyway, new technologies impact our lifestyles and affect all generations, so that we can speak of a real “social jetlag”.
* Note that a late awakening will be less recuperative:noisier environment, increase in temperature, more clarity...
Sleep and lifestyle:a see good sleep hygiene
During the day:
– Ease of falling asleep
– Less frequent nocturnal awakenings
– More regular sleep rhythms
– Increased sleep duration
– Better daytime alertness
In the evening:
– Remove screens from the bedroom (computer, television, smartphone, etc.); bring complete darkness when sleeping
– Have a well-ventilated room, with a temperature around 18/20° if possible
– Avoid sources of noise:sleeping in a noisy environment is less restorative
– The quality of bedding is an important factor for good sleep:remember to change it every 10 years or so
– The bedroom is a place to sleep. It is therefore strongly advised not to eat in bed, to work there or to chat there...
Naps
Aside from the weekend, naps have no place in our culture. However, it is institutionalized in China and some Japanese companies do not hesitate to encourage their employees to practice it in the workplace. It might come as a surprise unless you take into account the needs of the body.
Indeed, we are all subject to a curve of vigilance, that is to say that we experience peaks of vigilance, where we feel a renewed energy, in particular around 10 a.m. and then around 5 p.m. On the other hand, our body requires a rest especially at two key moments:
These manifestations are more or less sensitive depending on the activity of the day. Anyway, the body always seeks to return to balance through internal regulation processes, it is homeostasis:if I have been very active, if physical and/or intellectual/emotional fatigue is important, then the need for sleep will be more pressing.
In fact, more often than not we don't give ourselves this break and we struggle to stay awake, when it would be wiser to take a little nap to save money and "live better" the rest of the day.
There are several types of naps:
The benefits of a nap
A few minutes are enough for some people to recover. It is up to everyone to know their sleep pattern to know how long a nap will be beneficial for them.
Anyway, the nap promotes muscle recovery, a drop in dopamine and cortisol (the stress hormone). It will have the effect of increasing alertness, memorization and concentration. It also allows you to recover from a sleep debt. It is important to position it preferably in the middle of the day.
Note:a one-hour nap may cause an unpleasant awakening:this is normal. A good awakening occurs at the end of a complete cycle.
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