You won’t want to sleep on this. Or perhaps you do.
2021 saw a record of adults worldwide experiencing HIGH amounts of stress and it is estimated that 20% of the worlds population is sleep deprived. Unequivocally we know that lack of sleep wreaks havoc on every bodily system and impacts everything from your health to your relationships, to your concentration and cognitive ability. We also know that people who sleep less weigh more.
When it comes to our view of health, sleep, stress and recovery are the areas that, while overlooked, contribute greatly to our clients success or failure in areas like nutrition, weight loss and fitness.
If you are serious about your health and longevity you will want to take the quality of your sleep, the level of your consistent stress and the amount of recovery you give yourself into account.
Think about it. What would happen if you hoisted heavy dumbbells’ over your head…forever. You wouldn’t get stronger, you’d get weaker and chances are you’d get injured.
That’s what happens when you are under unrelenting stress. Chronic stress, without rest and recovery feels terrible, from head to toe, as the infographic below shows.
The more stress you deal with, and the more symptoms you suffer from (that are not a diagnosed medical condition!), the more you need to prioritize rest and recovery.
It might help to think of your “mojo reserve” as a jug, stress drains it, and recovery fills it back up. Try to fill your jug at least as much as you drain it.
Recovery comes in many forms but the habits that are essential and fill your jug back up, and make it harder to drain, are consistent and appropriate MOVEMENT, healthy and balanced MEALS and getting into the goldilocks zone of quality SLEEP.
Other elements of recovery that are incredibly healing are spending time in nature, and taking time away from your screens (ie. news, emails, social media etc)
If you feel like stress might be taking it’s toll on you, and the cause of the stress is not changeable, what habit can you start to add that will allow your body the chance to recover from that stress?
I would love to hear if this resonates with you and what steps you are going to take, starting today, to add recovery into your health plan!
Sleep tight everyone! Christine
Related post: Check out our blog 10 Reasons Good Sleep is Essential which contains a printable Health Sleep Checklist.
*infographics and post inspired by www.precisionnutrition.com
