A Deep Satisfying Sleep
My poor partner is really unwell and after nearly a full week of meeting all my 4 month olds needs day and night, working, studying, doing a driving test, keeping on top of the house, expressing milk, walking 7km a day, doing my positive practices and sharing them, I can safely say I feel absolutely exhausted!
So today’s practice is to get as good a night’s sleep as you can. It’s so simple, but we often overlook sleep and the positive (and negative) impact it can emotions.
Read the article below extracted from Very Well Mind to understand why getting a good night’s sleep is a powerful positive psychology practice.
It's time to set that early bedtime you've been putting off: A new study found that when people sleep longer than usual, they enjoy positive experiences more.
The research, published in the American Psychological Association's Health Psychology, builds on previous research about how sleep impacts both our physical health and our emotional well-being. Much of sleep research has focused on the negative impacts of not getting enough sleep. But the new study adds to the growing body of research about the positive impacts of getting more sleep.
"After a person has had more sleep than usual, then they're much more likely to perhaps create opportunities where they might experience something positive," Nancy Sin, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia who led the study, tells Verywell. Getting more sleep—and having more positive experiences as a result—could have health benefits.
How Sleep Impacts Our Emotions
A good night's sleep can do wonders for how we feel the next day. Similarly, a bad night's sleep can negatively impact how our brain functions and how we process emotions. Previous research has found that sleep debt, or not getting adequate sleep for multiple days in a row, is associated with irritability and aggression. Sleep deprivation has also been linked to anxiety, depression, and mood swings.
““We found that when people slept longer than their usual amount, then the next day they tended to derive more joy from positive experiences.””
Experts at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommend that adults get an average of seven or more hours of sleep on a regular basis to avoid health problems. But hours slept isn't the only factor that affects sleep quality.
Sleep researchers use an acronym, "SATED," to characterize five aspects of good sleep,
Satisfaction: How satisfied are you with your sleep?
Alertness: How refreshed or alert do you feel during the day?
Timing: Do you have a consistent bedtime and wake time?
Efficiency: How much time in bed is spent sleeping?
Duration: Did you get enough sleep?
Today’s Practice
See if you can treat yourself to an early night, and maybe you could play this lovely yoga nidra to help you drift off into a lovely, deep, restorative sleep.
