Farina Malik

SLEEP MATTERS Sleep is a naturally reoccurring state of mind and body, a change in consciousness, that is needed by our bodies every day. It is crucial to our health and sleep deprivation can lead to low performance as well as serious health proble. During sleep we experience a drop in heart rate and body temperature when we first fall asleep we enter a stage called Non Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) 1.stage two is NREM2 and stage 3 is NREM3. Each stage becomes more deeper than the other. Stages1&2 are light stages of sleep from which we can arouse easily. Stage 3 is a deeper state of sleep which is more difficult to arouse and we feel lost and confused if woken. After going through NREM, we enter stage4 which is known as REM or Rapid Eye Movement. It is similar to drowsiness and it is during this stage that we dream. Each cycle duration is about 1&1/2 hrs and we need to experience all 4 stages in order to wake up feeling fresh and rested. Latest research shows that sleep is controlled by sleep pressure and cacadian rhythm or our body clock which is a twenty four hour cycle that regulates all our biological and physiological processes. It predicts environmental changes around us so that our bodies adapt accordingly. Ideally th cacadian rhythm rises in early morning promoting wakefulness and alertness, reaches a peak in the evening and drops to its lowest levels with the onset of darkness or after 15hrs of waking period, helping to initiate and maintain sleep. In oder to have a good sleep we have to adopt good life style habits and eliminate the factors leading to disturbed sleep. Following are some practical steps to ensure a good nite sleep. Reducing stress and anxiety Through various breathing and meditation techniques echniques When you are anxious or stressed out it becomes difficult to sleep. Following are a few breathing exercises you can practise before going to sleep. 1.sit on one or two folded blankets in simple crosslegs. Cross the shins not only the ankles. Place the hands beside the hips, press the finger tips into the ground and extend the trunk up. Open the chest and take the shoulders back. Align your spinal cord and neck in same direction .Bring the hands on the knees. Close your eyes and mouth. Breathe through your nose. Breathe normally,. Focus you attention on your nostrils as to when you are inhaling and when you ate exaling. Just breathe normally some time we take long breat and some time shorter breaths in our normal breathing. All you have to do is focus on your inhaling and exaling. Note now you are inhaling and now you are exaling.Thatd all you have to do for 20minutes.You can set et an alarm with soft sounds for completing your twenty min. 2.Sit in the previous posture. Relax your body. Yor spinal cord and neck should br in same direction and alignment with each other. Place your wrigh hand thumb on your right nostril and third finger on your left nostril. Now close your right nostril with your right thumb and breath through your left nosyril. Inhale while counting 1to8in your mind. When the counting reaches 8,close your left nostril with the third finger, start counting from 1to 32 in ur mind. Your mind should be closed. As your counting reach 32,open your right nostril and exale through it while counting 1to16in your mind..when you reach 16 start inhaling from your right nostril till 8.close both nostris for 32.and exale from left nostril till 16.This is your one cycle. Complete 5such cycles. Rember, inhale for 8seconds,hold breath for 32seconds and exale for 16seconds.Gives more results when done outdoors in fresh air. Similarly there is deep muscle relaxation teqnique. Relaxation And meditatative music. Zikr. There are various relaxation and meditative sounds and zikr(remembrance of divine) available. Following are just two links we can find on YouTube easily. You can convert these videos in to audio format through clip converter for your mobile and laptop and listen to them at bed times as your sleep lullaby. For some people it really works. https://youtu.be/xQ6xgDI7Whc https://youtu.be/xQ6xgDI7Whc https://youtu.be/nM3-JY2MnN4 EXERCISE physical exertion works wonders for getting a good nite sleep. You can walk or jog daily. Join a gym or use treadmill or exercise bicycle at home. Women who do theit house hold chores such as cleaning, mopling floorslaundry, dishwashing etc get exercise and feel tired and ready to sleep at night. They seldom face sleeping problems. Physical exertion is good for your health and sleep. Diet The following three substances promote good sleep Tryptophan Serotonin Melatoninc Now what is Tryptophan. All protein foods are made of amino acids and tryptophan is one of them. Its found in Turkey steak, chiw, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, beand and milk. Tryptophan when reaches the brain converts in to an important chemical called serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical that carries messages brain cells (neurons) to other