How sleep is important for managing stress.

Now I have my counsellor's hat on here and my naturopath's hat. This topic has a bit of both in it due to the relevance. Sleep is one of the most vital things our body needs besides oxygen and food and water.

We need to get around 8 hours sleep a night and it can be slightly less or slightly more. It varies from person to person. During sleep our body regenerates itself from a cellular level up. It repairs itself. In our dream state we resolve issues we have and helps us to process the days events.

If, for some reason, we aren't sleeping well, then our body cannot rest and regenerate. This is not sustainable for a long time. Our body starts breaking down and we get health issues. One can be cortisol dysregulation. Another can be adrenal insufficiency, otherwise known as adrenal fatigue. If either of these happen we then start feeling exhausted, moody, unable to tolerate stress (stress intolerance), feeling compassion fatigue, wired and tired and many other symptoms.

Wired and tired is where our cortisol is out of whack. Normally cortisol peaks in the morning to get us started into the day and dips at night as the sun goes down in readiness for going to bed and to sleep. Wired and tired is an overcompensation and a sign of dysregulation. It means when you wake up you are reaching for cortisol to get going and it is not there. Your adrenals are too pooped to pop. Then at nighttime you are so tired then your body pumps out cortisol in order to help you make it to the end of the day. So cortisol is not happening at the right time of day.

We need to also look at lifestyle. Adjusting your habits during the day. Try not to bring work home and to keep within work hours if working from home. After hours unwind by doing what you love. Craft, watching TV, reading, playing with the kids or just sitting outside, weather permitting, with a cuppa and enjoy your garden. Then go to bed at a good time. Preferably before 10pm. No blue light at least an hour before bed.

It is a case of stacking problems on top of problems or obligations that lead to being overworked and exhausted. The quality of sleep is affected. Essentially good sleep hygeine is vital for managing stress. If you haven't been sleeping will this will contribute to cortisol dysregulation and eventual break down of the body and mind.

When people are exhausted they start getting resentful, frustrated and overwhelmed. They get compassion fatigue (finding they can't deal with others problems). The only antidote is rest, down time and sleep. Now many would say they don't have time to do this. Well sorry, you have no choice. If you don't your body will go on strike! How do I know this? Besides my training I have also experienced burn out. I still, to this day, have to be vigilant to rest and turn off my computer at finishing time. I am reading more instead of doing doing doing. My housework is not always done but that is OK.

I get to bed early and lights are out around 9pm and I rise between 6.30 and 7.30am. This is my sweet spot. I read at night to help me go into the sleep zone with a warm yellow lamp. Telling the mind what time of day it is.

Sleep, as said earlier, helps the body to regenerate. It rests the body. If you can't sleep then do gentle things that are not overstimulating. We have sleep cycles that happen every 90 minutes so waiting for that sleep wave will come again. You can maybe have a warm drink and read for a bit. If over thinking then write your thoughts down so those thoughts are out of your head. A second brain if you will.

Sleep helps our stress and lets our body repair itself. As you can see sleep is so important. Having a hot shower or bath before bed is also good. When our body is heated up and then cools down that sends a message to the brain to sleep. The temperature drop does that.

Try not to have too little or too many blankents. You don't want to be too cold or too hot. Have as little light as possible.

Most importantly see a counsellor to help you with your worries so you don't feel burdened at night with worries. A trouble shared is a trouble halved as my mother used to say.

See you next time and sweet dreams!!!