A large part of most our lives is sleeping.

If you sleep eight hours a day and live to sixty, you would have slept 20 years of your life away. Wow, it’s quite sobering when you view it this way, isn’t it? I’ve always believed that each of us should sleep the right amount – adequate: nothing more, nothing less. Just adequate amounts of sleep. But how do you know what is ‘adequate’? What is ‘right’ for you? How many hours do you sleep every day – this does not include the hours you lay in bed playing with your phone or reading or ..?

It is a personal thing, a personal habit after-all.

In this era of ever-increasing distractions through the advancing technologies, people are finding it increasingly difficult to ‘switch-off’ and enjoy a restful, uninterrupted sleep. We all do it every day but a vast number of people have forgotten how to ‘have a good night’s sleep’.

People are really struggling to adopt and implement good sleeping habits and most are not sure of how to get them too. Very sad and very dangerous, indeed. When you lose control of one of our most basic needs – sleep, you increase your overall ‘life risk’.

But why? Why are more people having poorer sleeping habits?

There are many contributing factors, yes. There is no escaping it: sleeping is a ‘mini-death sentence’ we all have to regularly serve. Ideally, every single day. If this true then I would have thought that more people would be learning and investigating the best ways to get good sleeping habits. I mean, the average person would sleep 1/3 of their day away, it makes good sense to learn and implementing good habits, wouldn’t it?

The good news is it’s never too late to learn or re-learn.

You would probably have your own unique way of ‘falling asleep’. Well and good. Some of you (like me), could just transport your mind back to your early child-hood and imagine the way you fell asleep most nights. For me, I re-live the lovely, caressing hands of my grandmother massaging my body all over whilst humming a traditional song. It has NEVER FAILED ME. I fall asleep ALL THE TIME!

Don’t underestimate the importance of adequate levels of sleep in your daily life. The body, mind, heart and spirit all need ‘time-out’ and recovery time (for those of you who use weights to train, sleep/rest is vital to maximising muscle recovery and growth) to function optimally. Time-out to encourage longevity. Time-out to enhance your vitality. Time-out to allow you to be AT YOUR BEST. Time-out to evolve, to grow to adapt. Time-out to love – you, your loved ones and life. Time-out to generate zest in your life!

We all need time-out. We all need sleep and good rest.

It seems that there is an inverse relationship with increasing technology people’s abilities to sleep. Yes, to simply sleep! It’s not that simple anymore for a lot of people. Maybe, you? Whilst a lot of modernites are moving in to a ‘minimalist’ age, there still seems to be a struggle with this one habit: learning HOW TO SLEEP WELL. What used to be simple has been made complex!

And whose fault is it? Partly yours, partly mine, partly everybody’s. We all consume these products and we need to embrace it – yes. However, it seems that the more accessible people are to advancing and new technologies, the less able they are in managing their habits of good sleeping. Matter of fact, many people are applying bad habits of sleeping. Most are struggling to just sleep!

“What is the answer here?” you may be thinking. Well, I think, just like any other source of energy, you must become a better manager of the energy, the tool. You are in control, don’t let it control you. This can be more difficult than it sounds for a lot of people though as advancing technology also means that ‘personal/family time’ is now being invaded by employers. You’re working even when you’re ‘not at work (physically).

That is the life now. That’s just how it is. If that is the path you choose, then that is one of the drawbacks to the increasing use of advancing technologies: an uninvited, invasion of personal time/life (which may include ‘sleeping time’ too). Remember, I did say that it’s a choice: It’s YOUR CHOICE. It’s YOUR LIFE, after-all.

So, if you’re not getting adequate sleep or ‘time-out’, please do yourself (and your family) a favour and seek help. Seek help from the relevant professionals and services available today that may help you with the various sleeping dis-orders that millions of people suffer from every single day. Not seeking help before it is too late could be very costly to you and everyone that depends on you being alive.

The killer is: the compounding effect of continuous less than adequate sleep over weeks, months, years.

Life is not just about living longer, it is also about pumping life (vitality) in to the years you have left. One very important habit that ADDS VALUE to your life is sleep, adequate sleep. You can ‘pump life back in to you’ by getting consistent adequate levels of sleep. It’s not the quantity of hours that matter, it is the quality of your sleep.

So, if you have increased disruptions in your sleep due to say, insomnia – seek help. Not next year, today. The disastrous result of the compound effect of continuously being sleep deprived can strike at any time. Without warning. Boom!

All the very best in your decision regarding the adoption of good sleeping habits, in the time you have left on this planet.

Choose well.

Until next time,