The Importance Of Quality Sleep
Quality sleep is one of the most important ways to improve your brain function, longevity, and overall performance. If you can sleep better, you’ll see huge gains in almost every area of your life.
Poor sleep, on the other hand, is one of the fastest ways to sabotage your biology. One night of low-quality sleep impairs your brain function as if you had a few drinks –– and if you go a full night without sleep, your mental performance drops as if you had a blood alcohol content which is well over the legal limit for driving. Poor sleep comes with major costs.
Stress is one of the most common causes of low-quality sleep. It can create a frustrating feedback loop where the more stressed you are, the worse you sleep –– which then adds to your stress, continuing the cycle.
How Stress Affects Your Sleep
When you’re sleeping, you enter a deep recovery state. Your brain and body largely shut off so that they can repair and replenish themselves for the coming day.
Sleep is also when you’re least aware of your environment and most vulnerable to threats. In order to relax into deep sleep, your sympathetic nervous system – the “fight or flight” part of your brain that influences cortisol – has to turn off.
The problem is that when you’re chronically stressed, your sympathetic nervous system goes into overdrive. It’s on almost all the time, pumping out cortisol to keep you alert and ready to deal with potential threats.
Not surprisingly, chronic stress is one of the best predictors of insomnia and other sleep issues, as well as overall poor sleep quality.
The good news is that you can break that cycle, get rid of stress, and improve your sleep with hypnotherapy.
