From the moment I heard Matthew Walker, PhD speak about sleep I was completed hooked and mesmerized but the power sleep has to impact our lives.
I listened to over 15 hours of his interviews, read his book, and started tracking my own sleep habits and recovery.
The more I learned, the more convinced I was that there are very few things in life as important as sleep.
What Happens When You Don’t Sleep?
For those of you that say “I don’t have time to sleep. I’ll have time to sleep when I am dead,” well that time will come much sooner than you planned on if you do not make sleep a priority now.
Lack of sleep is shown to be a major contributor to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disease.
It isn’t just the amount of sleep that is important. It is also the quality of the sleep that is important.
The Stages of Sleep
There are 4 stages of sleep: awake, light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep.
You cycle through these 4 stages throughout the night, but the ones that are most important to consolidation of neural activity, activation of the glymphatic system, growth hormone production, and cognitive development are the deep sleep and REM.
There are many strategies you can implement to improve your sleep, but if you are taking sleep medication there is something really important to understand: there is a big difference between being unconscious and sleeping.
What Makes You Tired?
What makes you tired as the day goes on is something known as sleep pressure. Sleep pressure comes from the natural Circadian Rhythm, a build up of adenosine, and a decrease in cortisol.
When you throw off your Circadian Rhythm by going to bed and waking up at different times; when drink coffee or caffeine late in the day and throw off your adenosine receptors; or when you are chronically stressed with high levels of cortisol, it has a major effect on our sleep quality.
Why Choose Precision Chiropractic?
NeuroStructural Chiropractic can be a powerful strategy for improving your quality of sleep because it helps to reduce the stress response by optimizing the nerve system. When there is a structural shift in the spine that interferes with the nerve system, the body going into stress mode. This shift into stress mode does not allow the brain to regulate the body the way it is supposed to.
Expertly delivered chiropractic adjustments may dramatically improve your sleep as we see that occur time and time again in our office.
If you are struggling with sleep, please reach out to us and we would be happy to help you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Matt Westheimer
