The Benefits of a Good Night’s Sleep

On average, we spend a third of our lives sleeping, yet we typically treat sleep as a necessary evil or something to be avoided as much as possible. Many people brag that they can operate well without resting, but is this really true? Do we fool ourselves about how effective we are when we don’t get enough rest? How vital is sleep anyway? According to neurologist, Dr. Shai Marcu, a good night’s sleep is needed in order to operate efficiently the next day. This article will examine the physiological and psychological benefits of getting a good night’s sleep as well as technology that can help to increase the quality.

Health Benefits:

According to author Laura Barns, sleep provides multiple health benefits. She says getting a good night’s sleep is vital to both our physical and mental health as well as being essential to our emotional wellbeing. Her article in Sleep Matters Club lists 10 reasons why sleep is vital to our better all-around health. Here are her 10 top reasons to get a good night’s sleep:

• Reduces stress.
• Improves memory.
• Lowers our blood pressure.
• Aids our body’s immune system.
• Maintains weight.
• Improves our mood.
• Reduces the chance of diabetes.
• Aids in heart health.
• Aids in healing an injury and in reducing pain.
• Increases alertness and promotes brain health.

It is beyond the scope of this article to go into depth with all of these benefits for proper rest and relaxation, however, this list clearly shows how getting a good night’s rest is an integral part of our overall health. Looking at this list also shows what we are up against if we do not get a good night’s sleep. Without appropriate rest, we will more than likely experience more stress, struggle with concentration, have more health issues – including weight gain, and experience longer recovery time from illness and injury. Getting proper sleep, on the other hand, will help us live longer with a healthier heart and brain. Who wouldn’t want that?

Backing up Laura Barns’ list of the 10 top benefits of getting a good night’s sleep, Mark Stibich, PhD provides a similar list of 10 top health benefits of getting a good night’s sleep. Several of his reasons echo Barn’s list, but Dr. Stibich also mentions other important benefits. Stibich’s list includes:

• Prevents cancer.
• Reduces inflammation.
• Helps us be more alert.
• Improves our cognitive function and mood.
• Reduces the risk of depression.

In the same way as Barn’s list, Stibich’s list reminds us that by not getting a good night’s sleep, we are running the risk of increasing the chances of getting cancer, experiencing depression, having trouble with problem-solving, and making avoidable mistakes.

Yet another benefit of getting a good night’s sleep is that it will generally improve our performance. By ensuring sufficient rest, it will help us to have more stamina. It doesn’t matter if we are planning on running a marathon or going about our normal routine, having quality sleep will help us to have more energy to go about our day.

Important physiological benefits are that our muscles repair and strengthen during sleep and our metabolism improves – both of which will help us be more energetic to accomplish the day’s tasks. Speaking of accomplishing daily tasks, getting enough sleep will also aid our creativity. The reason for this is that it is during slumber when the optimum cell regeneration takes place. Quality rest helps to boosts confidence, refresh our bodies, aids in our ability to focus, enhances critical thinking, and increase problem-solving abilities.

Innovative Technology to Help Monitor Sleep:

Muse Meditation:

Muse is a relatively new technology that helps to interpret brain activity. Its main goal is to promote relaxation and ease stress and anxiety in individuals. Muse is an EEG headpiece device that translates brain waves into sounds of weather dependent on the state of mind you’re currently in. For instance, when your mind is calm and at ease, you’ll hear peaceful weather. However, if your mind is busy and racing, you’ll hear storm-like weather. The main goal of this new technology is to help bring your mind back to a state of ease and relaxation. It helps to create cognizance of your current state of mind.

There is a Muse Meditation app where you can find all of the information given off by your device. You can download the app to your smartphone or home device, and the information is relayed over Bluetooth. It even comes with built-in “meditation” sessions to help bring your mind to ease. This is the perfect solution for individuals who find themselves restless at night. The meditation application can help to provide a sense of calmness and relaxation to you to ensure a good night’s rest. For more information on Muse, check out their website here.

Apollo Neuroscience:

Apollo Neuroscience recently created a new wearable technology to help reduce stress and anxiety in its users. This new technology is a wearable band that can be worn on either your wrist or ankle. It sends patterns of vibration to our nerves within our body that help to promote relaxation, or rest and digest effects to the body. Apollo’s new technology has been proven to improve quality of sleep because it helps to put the body into a state of relaxation and reduces stress and anxiety levels for the user.

The technology can be used through an app that can be downloaded to your smartphone or home device. There are several different settings within the app that can also be utilized depending upon the outcome you’re wishing to achieve. For more information on Apollo, check out their website here.

Biostrap:

Biostrap is also a relatively new technology developed to help users get a better night’s sleep. It helps to track snoring, arm, and leg movement throughout sleep, and other biometric scans needed to ensure the health and wellbeing of the end-user.

To monitor snoring, you simply place your phone on your nightstand prior to going to bed and allow Sleep Lab to monitor your snoring levels using your phone’s microphone. They then overlay the information found with your oxygen saturation to reveal its impact on your sleep. Through monitoring of arm and leg movement at night, Biostrap can help to diagnose those with Restless Leg Syndrome, otherwise known as RLS, Sleep Apnea, and other sleep-related disorders. Once diagnosed, you can treat the underlying symptoms to ensure a good night’s sleep.

The last main feature of Biostrap is its ability to scan your body’s biometrics. Frequent scans will occur, approximately once every two minutes to monitor your body’s vitals such as heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation. All these unique features help to ensure that the end-user gets a quality night sleep each and every night. For more information on Biostrap, check out their website here.

What are you facing tomorrow? Whether it be taking a test, competing in sports, tackling a problem, a busy workday, or simply going about life – getting a good night’s sleep will best prepare you for your day ahead.

Meet the Author: Jaclyn King

Jaclyn is a Digital Marketing Specialist on the BTI Team. Her main job responsibilities involve inbound marketing, content creation, and social media management. To get to know more about Jaclyn, check her out on LinkedIn!