Did you know that hitting the snooze button actually makes it harder to get out of bed in the morning?  

Studies have shown that we get most of our REM sleep (or dream sleep) in the latter part of our sleep cycles (these cycles happen multiple times throughout the night).  We also get more REM sleep overall in the early morning hours.  REM sleep is the most restorative part of the sleep cycle.  When your alarm goes off in the morning, you’re most likely disrupting REM sleep; especially if you wake up from a dream.  By choosing to hit your snooze button instead of getting up, you are starting another sleep cycle and may be reentering another REM cycle within that sleep cycle.  

Ever wonder why you have a great sleep one night and then a less than stellar sleep another night?

Do you struggle to get even a decent night’s sleep? Have you got your bedroom optimized and your bedtime routine down and you’re still struggling?

What you do during the day has a profound effect on how well you sleep each night!

Sleep is not self-indulgence or self-care. Sleep is a basic human need that’s critical to our health, well-being and self-preservation!

While I know I started the last sleep article with this same quote, it really is that important that we make sleep a priority.

It’s not accidental that we will spend approximately ⅓ of our lives sleeping.

Our bodies are really very busy when we sleep! Our bodies need this time to be able to heal, integrate everything that happened during the day, create new memories, reset our digestive system and so much more.

Sleep is not self-indulgence or self-care. Sleep is a basic human need that’s critical to our health, well-being and self-preservation!

I'm choosing to start with this bold statement for a reason: from a young age, we're taught that 'sleep is for the weak’, that we can 'sleep when we're dead' and other detrimental beliefs about sleep. This is reinforced in our 20's and the belief that we can "do it all". North American culture has become one where sleep is thought of as a luxury we can't afford if we want to get everything done.

I used to wonder why this happened to me. I’d even try staying up super late hoping exhaustion would help me avoid it. Going to bed early (especially if I wasn’t tired) only made it worse. Thankfully, I’ve found a few tips and tricks over the years which have helped me stop overthinking or quiet my mind when it does happen.

When I hear 'should' coming out of my mouth, I think I've got a ball and chain attached to my ankle. 'Should' is so heavy. It's so full of obligation. It's so judgmental. I allow myself to make a change and reframe how I'm thinking about that 'should.'