The Importance of Sleep for Happiness
Yeah, yeah, we know: sleep is important. We can feel it when, after a night of tossing and turning, we’re forced to wake up, drag ourselves to the shower, and prepare our bodies and minds for another day of slogging through commutes, tasks, and human interactions. Few things are quite as miserable as poor quality sleep.
Yes, sleep’s magical powers are common knowledge, but that doesn’t stop many of us from continuously skimping on quality rest. And according to dozens of sleep studies conducted at various universities throughout the country, we’re paying for it. Sleep allows the body to defend against emotional outbursts, hormone imbalances, psychiatric problems, concentration loss, and even negative thoughts. Not sleeping well lowers the quality of our lives significantly, making proper sleep a highly worthwhile investment.
Catching up on sleep can morph you from a perpetual grouch into a peaceful member of society—able to navigate your day with ease, calm, and (dare we say it?) even a little happy dance. Below, find evidence of the importance of sleep for happiness…and maybe think about hitting the sack early tonight.
Sleep Regulates Emotional Reactions
According to an article on LiveScience, researcher and neuroscientist Matthew Walker conducted experiments on sleep deprivation at UC Berkeley, and his findings were shocking. Walker gathered healthy participants and asked some to sleep regularly, and others to stay awake for 35 hours. Then, he asked them all to view several images—some neutral, some negative—and monitored their brain activity. Walker claims of the sleep-deprived participants:
"They became more than 60 percent more reactive to negative emotional stimuli. That's a whopping increase—the emotional parts of the brain just seem to run amok."
The importance of sleep for emotional balance during the trials and tribulations of everyday life cannot be overrated. Letting your body get the rest it needs will insure you don’t totally lose it when that Mercedes cuts you off in traffic.
Helps with Productivity
Let’s face it: lots of people skimp on sleep because they’re overwhelmed. The chronically busy portion of the population (read: most of us) argue that pushing bedtime back a few hours will increase the amount of work we can get done in a day. It sounds logical enough, but in reality it’s just the opposite. Getting enough sleep increases your ability to concentrate, sharpens your memory, and boosts creativity–all things needed for an effective workday. If it meant you could get more done during the day, would you relinquish an hour or two of nighttime activity to sleep? It’s a leap of faith, but it may prove to be a game-changer.
Affects Hormone Balance
Hormones are the happy pills of the body, so getting yours in ship-shape is advisable if you want to increase your overall sense of wellbeing. Poor or insufficient sleep has been shown to have a negative impact on hormones affecting appetite, blood sugar, mood, and the nervous system—all things directly related to happiness.
Cleans Up Your Thoughts
Science Daily defines negative thinking as, “bothersome pessimistic thoughts that seem to repeat in [peoples’] minds.” It’s that constant negative mind chatter, that nothing’s-ever-quite-good-enough feeling. Who knew that had anything to do with sleep? According to the Science Daily online publication, a study conducted at Binghamton University concluded that, “people who sleep for shorter periods of time and go to bed later often experience more repetitive negative thoughts than others.” Catch some more Z’s and you may find yourself with a whole new outlook on life.
Affects Mental Health
That’s right—according to Harvard Health Publishing, “Sleep problems may increase risk for developing particular mental illnesses.” Wowza. The implications of this are enormous, emphasizing the massive importance of sleep on mental health. If sleep is so necessary that poor quality sleep can increase the risk of mental illness, how much can good quality sleep support our mental health?
Ultimately, even with the abundance of concrete evidence on the importance of sleep, some people still won’t hit the sack early enough. If you have trouble winding down at night and need a push in the right direction, try Liquid I.V. Sleep--a new product from the company that brought you the breakthrough Hydration Multiplier. Liquid I.V. Sleep contains a harmonious blend of the natural sleep aids melatonin, l-theanine and organic Valerian root. Like Hydration Multiplier, LIV Sleep uses Cellular Transport Technology, or CTT—a delivery system that allows for quicker and greater absorption of water and nutrients (and, in this case, those key sleep ingredients). One stick in 8 ounces of water can help ease you into a blissful snooze...if you can manage to clear your schedule. Sleep well, LIV fam!
Written by: Samantha Colicchio, Liquid I.V. Brand Storyteller
