By Dr. Jhon Whitaker, CHt, DCH
Seventeen million Americans today suffer from sleep deprivation. We have all been there at least once. But when it becomes chronic ,we endure restless, sleepless nights, with tossing and turning. Those nights are difficult, but the days are even worse; long and taxing.
The body and mind both need sleep. The body requires six-eight hours every night as an adult. When you are younger and still in the growth stage, you need eight-ten hours of sleep.
In America today, many adults and children who suffer from insomnia turn to over-the-counter remedies until finally, and out of fatigue, go to their doctor for a prescription sleep aid.
There are three main side effects to these prescriptive drugs. 1) Dependence on these drugs leading to increased drug usage to achieve the same effect. 2) Mental fog; forgetfulness and even confusion due to long term use, and 3)A slowing down of metabolism leading to weight gain.
Prescription drugs are not the answer.
But why do so many people suffer from not enough sleep?
1) Environmental—Maybe you have a snoring spouse that interrupts your sleep cycle, and leaves you awake at night. Perhaps you wake up from a sound sleep to go the bathroom and then cannot fall back asleep. Or you live in a noisy area when you are trying to fall asleep.
2) Stress—Your mind is racing and worrying about things you cannot control or you’re afraid of something or someone.
3) Lack of Exercise—Your body needs exercise to avoid muscle shrinking. As muscles shrink, your metabolism slows down and then fat cells grow faster. You might also notice you are frequently cold; meaning poor circulation.
4) Food/Dietary Intake—You’re eating too late at night or eating too heavily. With eating too much protein late at night, animal fat draws all the blood to your digestive track and causes energy; so you can’t slow down and sleep. If you’re not drinking enough water, you’re causing your entire system to run slow. This may easily lead to weight gain.
Let’s examine these more closely.
1) Environmental—You cannot divorce your spouse or move because your neighbor keeps different hours than you do. But you can sound proof your room, use a white noise machine and earplugs, or use hypnosis to quickly get to a deeper level of sleep. When we sleep, it takes about one and a half to two hours for Rapid Eye Movement (REM). REM is sleep that allows the mind and body to rest and regenerates (it recharges your battery, so to speak.)
2) Stress—Again, you can’t quit our job or divorce your children, grandchildren, and spouse, but you can change how you react to stress. Learn to meditate in the evening or read comforting books. Use the cold laser to raise your endorphin level so you are easily at ease and better at problem solving; get a hoola hoop for exercise.
3) Lack of Exercise—All you need to do is make time to exercise or move with purpose; we all do laundry and fill the dishwasher-just squat and stretch to reach things or let hypnosis create the habit of 15-30 minutes of daily exercise. (You burn some calories, relieve some stress and reset the sleep cycle). You also need to add a listening ritual; like going to bed at the same time and listening to your hypnosis CD as you drift to sleep. You have more energy, so exercising is easier . The more you exercise, the more fit you become. Your brain benefits as well. As your endorphins increase, your creativity expands, your problem solving skills sharpen, and this leads to lessening of stress and regeneration of your metabolism.
4) Food/Dietary Intake—If you eat something and you bloat or have an upset stomach, or you have achiness and swelling in your hands and feet, your might need a lifestyle change to eliminate these foods from your diet. While milk, nuts, wheat, and sugar are the most common reactions, they not only contribute to sleepless nights, but to obesity and high blood pressure, and even cancer. Many times just eating less at each meal or eating earlier, or combining things differently can help settle your system down. So you can drifty naturally into REM. With the cold laser, we can help you eat less and crave the good foods. Also, with hypnosis, we can get you to sleep quickly and soundly so you can rest fully and awake reenergized.
At Metroplex Hypnosis and Cold Laser, we have worked with people of all ages and found results for their sleeplessness, fatigue, and slow metabolism.