Sleep Your Stress Away!

Stressed? Anxious? Nerves in a bundle? Getting quality sleep is one sure-fire way to ease your mind, reduce the tension and make each day far more productive and satisfying.

We grow and heal in our sleep as our body regenerates and assimilates minerals crucial to cellular repair and growth. Stress results in the release of a myriad of hormones and chemicals in your body that affect your mental state, nervous and immune systems as well as causes cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, renal, and endocrine imbalances.

Here are some tips on how to achieve higher quality zzz’s

• Beware of electromagnetic fields in your sleep space. Keep alarm clocks, cell phones, PDAs and other electrical devices at least 3 feet away from your body while you sleep. These devices can interfere with melatonin secretion and achieving deep sleep cycles.

• Don’t work before bed, watch TV before bed, play computer games, take pharmaceutical sleeping pills, drink yourself to sleep, eat sugar before bed, watch the clock, frequently change your sleep cycle.

• Sleep in the dark to stimulate the pineal gland to secrete melatonin, an important hormone in the regulation of our circadian rhythm which dictates our wake-sleep cycles. Recent studies demonstrate melatonin’s powerful anti-oxidant properties as well as its critical role in cancer prevention and treatment.

• Avoid late night snacking on grains or sugar, these food will raise your blood sugar before bed and possibly inhibit your ability to sleep well. When you blood sugar drops in the middle of the night you could wake up and have trouble falling back to sleep.

• Take a hot shower or bath 30-60 minutes before sleep. The cooling down of the body will trigger the hypothalamus to aid in the body in falling asleep and the hot water wi11 relax your muscles. Drink chamomile tea, listen to relaxing music or white noise, write in your journal, practice deep breathing, stretch, take a hot bath, use aromatherapy, go to the bathroom right before sleep, and go to sleep by 10pm    
   
   
    
   
   
   
   

   

   
   
   
   
   

   

• Drinking alcohol helps some of us fall asleep easily but can keep us from falling into the restorative, deeper stages of sleep. You surely notice the most lasting impact from a drink-filled night is next day tiredness, even when you get a decent amount of rest. This is because alcohol shortens or hastens our REM sleep. Studies show REM sleep is important to maintaining a positive mental outlook and that people who suffer from depression also experience short or rapid onset REM sleep. Bottom line is our sleep quality is greatly compromised when we drink alcohol. So, if you are having sleep troubles skip the booze or accept the reality of next day fatigue.
  

Sleep and stress reduction are intermingled, critical components for our overall health and well being, and is why we introduced these all natural, non-addictive nutritional supplement formulations each available at www.GoodElements.com:

Dream Supply^™ – A safe, gentle and effective sleep formula that promotes a restful and restorative deep sleep without next day drowsiness.

Chill^™ – An all-natural, non-addictive stress and anxiety relief supplement that reduces feelings of anxiety, and supports emotional well being by moderating the body’s physical and emotional response to daily stress.

Dr. Britta Zimmer, N.D., is the Co-Founder and Chief Health Officer at GoodElements.com – a purveyor of best-of-breed physician-formulated, all-natural vegan health supplements for everyday healthy living. She may be reached through the company’s Web site at www.GoodElements.com.