Sleep

Sleep.

What a peaceful word. Even the sound of it is soothing. Say it with me… sleeeeep. Nice, huh?

What’s not so nice is ME when I don’t’ get enough of it! Jeffrey can always tell when I’m fatigued. It’s not so much the dark circles or lack of energy that give it away. It’s more the short, edgy responses I give that let him know I’m in desperate need of rest. I think women today are in desperate need of rest.

I don’t remember a day in my life my mother didn’t get up before everyone and go to bed after everyone.

But in juggling our duties as wife, mother, professional, etc., many of us are doing ourselves – and our families – a disservice by not getting the sleep God designed our bodies to need.

Our beauty-sleep, so to speak.

So, here’s the first “anchor point” we’ll work on. From what I’ve read – and I have read a lot – I’ve learned it’s not only important how much sleep we get, but when we get that sleep.

When I was little, at least once a year we visited my grandparents in Ruston, Louisiana, where my grandpa was a peach farmer. He and my grandma would get up really early, and begin the day’s work. But by late evening, they were ready to wind down for bed-time. As it turns out, my grandparents were pretty wise, whether they knew it or not.

Experts believe that the more hours of sleep you can get before midnight, the better off you’ll be*. In fact, I’ve read in more than one source that one hour of sleep before midnight is equivalent to four hours of sleep afterwards.

So whoever said “Early to bed early to rise…” well they were on to something.

Don’t skip this anchor point. I know we have loads to do (literally, there’s a load of laundry sitting right beside me, waiting to be washed), but look at it this way: if you were chronically ill, you’d take the necessary steps to get well. Place that importance on your sleep routine, and you could help keep your immune system and heart healthy, your hormones in check, and headaches, stomach aches, back aches and cancer risk at bay.

So go to bed early tonight – and sleep tight!


* Information in this post was found in The Maker’s Diet, by Jordan S. Rubin, and in “A Better Bedtime”, an article by Melanie Haiken, Natural Health Magazine, February 2005