Physical Exercise and Getting a Restful Sleep
The amount of physical exercise that you exert during the day is one of the key ingredients to helping you get a good restful sleep at night. The more active your body is during the day, the more likely you are to relax at night and fall asleep faster.
With regular exercise you'll notice that your quality of sleep is improved and the transition between the cycles and phases of sleep will become smoother and more regular. By keeping up your physical activity during the day, you may find it easier to deal with the stress and worries of your life.
Research and studies indicate that there is a direct correlation between how much we exercise and how we feel afterwards.
You should try and increase your physical activity during the day. The goal here is to give your body enough stimulation during the day so that you aren't full of energy at night.
Your body requires a certain amount of physical activity in order to keep functioning in a healthy manner. It is also important to note that you should not be exercising three or four hours before you go to bed.
The ideal exercise time is in the late afternoon or early evening. You want to make sure you expend your physical energy long before it is time for your body to rest and ready itself for sleep.
You should attempt to exercise at least three or four times a week for a period of 30 minutes or so. You can include walking or something simple. If you prefer, you can include strenuous activities such as running as well.
The goal here is to increase your heart rate and strengthen the capacity of your lungs. By adding a regular exercise activity to your daily schedule will help you to improve your overall health and help you emotionally as well.
Along with running and walking there are several other physical activities that you can add to your daily life to increase your level of physical activity. If you are battling not sleeping, you'll find aerobic exercise to be the best.
Your goal with exercise is to increase the amount of oxygen that reaches your blood stream. Overall, there are many types of aerobic exercise for you to choose from.
The activities include running, biking, using a treadmill, dancing, and jumping rope.
There are some non aerobic exercises that you may find beneficial to help you solve your amnesia problem.
Yoga - Yoga is an exercise that has a stimulatory effect on your nervous system, especially the brain. Yoga utilizes breathing techniques and yoga postures to increase the blood circulation to the brain, promoting regular and restful sleeping patterns. The regular practice of yoga will help you to relax as well as relieve tension and stress.
Tai Chi - Tai Chi is an ancient art of breathing and movement that was developed by the Chinese monks. The movements involved are slow and precise, which is ideal if you have joint pains or you are unable to participate in high aerobic exercises. Research has shown that Tai Chi can help with insomnia by promoting relaxation.
If you discover that you don't have any time to exercise on a regular basis, you should try to sneak moments of activity into your schedule. Whenever possible, you should take the stairs instead of the elevator, as little things like that will do wonders for your body.
You should also park your car around the corner and walk that extra block or two to get to your destination. As you may know, there are many small things you can add to increase the activity in your life. Your overall goal here is to have a healthy and well balanced life - with plenty of sleep.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Showing posts with label exercise and sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise and sleep. Show all posts
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Can yoga help you to relax to overcome sleep problems and cure insomnia?
Can yoga help you to relax to overcome sleep problems and cure insomnia?
This isn’t for everyone, but even for someone like me who isn’t exactly subtle or flexible it did seem to help when it came to getting a good nights sleep.
What’s it all about then?
Yoga is a gentle form of exercise that aids relaxation by taking your mind off your
worries. On this basis it is ideal for doing early in the evening to help you wind down before bedtime.
Yoga has also proven benefits in increasing peoples flexibility and strengthening the body.
So where does it all come?
The word yoga stems from the Sanskrit word Yuji which means “Union”. So yoga postures and breathing exercises work to unite the mind, body and soul into a union.
Stick with me – that’s enough of the history!
Research into the benefits of Yoga at The Edinburgh Sleep Centre have shown that Yoga can help alleviate the symptoms of insomnia.
So how does this work?
Yoga can help promote sleep by:
a. Calming the mind
b. Relieving stress and tension
c. Relaxing muscles
d. Easing aches and pains
There are many techniques and types of yoga which I’ll send you more information about in the future, but there are a couple of processes I can share with you now.
1. Corpse Pose – This method involves lying on your back and tensing and relaxing muscles step by step. It is a variation of Muscle Relaxation Therapy which I’ve talked to you about before.
2. Shoulder stand – This method is where you form an upside down pose, then hold this pose for a minute then relax.
As I mentioned, it would take too long to talk to you about all the techniques now. But if you are interested about finding more about the positive effects of yoga further this is a good website to get started on
www.abc-of -yoga.com
The site offers advice on various positions and gives you an animated step by step guide which was great for me when I started trying out things at home.
Give it a try – you never know – it may help you relax and get a good nights sleep. As much as I felt a bit self conscious when I first started – it really did seem to help me wind down and chill out after a hard days work and I did feel real benefits when it came to sleeping.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
This isn’t for everyone, but even for someone like me who isn’t exactly subtle or flexible it did seem to help when it came to getting a good nights sleep.
What’s it all about then?
Yoga is a gentle form of exercise that aids relaxation by taking your mind off your
worries. On this basis it is ideal for doing early in the evening to help you wind down before bedtime.
Yoga has also proven benefits in increasing peoples flexibility and strengthening the body.
So where does it all come?
The word yoga stems from the Sanskrit word Yuji which means “Union”. So yoga postures and breathing exercises work to unite the mind, body and soul into a union.
Stick with me – that’s enough of the history!
Research into the benefits of Yoga at The Edinburgh Sleep Centre have shown that Yoga can help alleviate the symptoms of insomnia.
So how does this work?
Yoga can help promote sleep by:
a. Calming the mind
b. Relieving stress and tension
c. Relaxing muscles
d. Easing aches and pains
There are many techniques and types of yoga which I’ll send you more information about in the future, but there are a couple of processes I can share with you now.
1. Corpse Pose – This method involves lying on your back and tensing and relaxing muscles step by step. It is a variation of Muscle Relaxation Therapy which I’ve talked to you about before.
2. Shoulder stand – This method is where you form an upside down pose, then hold this pose for a minute then relax.
As I mentioned, it would take too long to talk to you about all the techniques now. But if you are interested about finding more about the positive effects of yoga further this is a good website to get started on
www.abc-of -yoga.com
The site offers advice on various positions and gives you an animated step by step guide which was great for me when I started trying out things at home.
Give it a try – you never know – it may help you relax and get a good nights sleep. As much as I felt a bit self conscious when I first started – it really did seem to help me wind down and chill out after a hard days work and I did feel real benefits when it came to sleeping.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
6 Ways That Exercise Can Help You Get a Good Nights Sleep
We all know the benefits of exercise include lower risk for heart disease, lower weight, better bone mass, better sleep quality, and higher metabolism. And experts agree that the best prescription for preventing many problems, including insomnia, is exercise.
But just as with sleep, improper exercise can lead to failure. Everyone knows that exercise is good for the body, but not many people want to do it because it doesn’t seem like fun; to the contrary, “exercise,” to many, seems or feels like “work,” and when that occurs, you’ll never get the most of out of exercising, and you won’t reap its benefits to sleep, either.
Have you ever bought a gym membership with the intention of exercising on a regular basis, only to fall back into your regular routine after a few months? More than forty percent of the population drop out of their gym contracts each year, prompting gyms to spend millions to create and advertise new reasons to get you back in. The problem with this is due to a misunderstanding of why we start exercising in the first place.
It takes more than an understanding of the benefits or exercise; you must be passionate about it. Let’s face it – we make time for things we want to do. So without an emotional reason, exercise simply becomes a boring routine. The desire to change is what originally prompts us to commit to exercise, but the lack of interest leaves us viewing the treadmill as nothing more than a menacing, sweat-inducing enemy on which we must perform a monotonous task!
We enter today’s gym with the same conditioned mindset that we experienced in childhood P.E. class. To overcome this, it often helps to change your view of exercise to one of play, such as when we were children. What if you could participate in a fun activity – one that you enjoyed as a child, let’s say. Would that entice you to get moving a little more, with the added result that after “playtime,” you’ll be able to fall into that restful, carefree childhood sleep?
Remember, you can rewire and reset your brain-to-body mechanisms; just train them to work a certain way by how you perceive them and how you think. It’s all connected – and it’s all possible.
To compare gym exercises with energy-equivalent activities, I have listed a typical gym exercise on the left column, and a similar activity that rouses the heart rate to the same degree on the right column. These exercises are all based on thirty minutes of activity, and each one will lead you to a more peaceful, deep slumber:
Pilates - Horseback riding
Stair-Stepper - Casual soccer
Stationary Bike - Backpacking
Calisthenics - Repelling
Basketball - Rock climbing
Elliptical machine - Cross-country skiing
Martial arts is another positive stress workout that is growing in popularity. Even during a recession, it amazes me that I continue to see martial arts businesses continue to open and thrive. Or how about dancing, yoga classes, swimming, tennis, or table tennis?
Just walking for thirty minutes a day, four times a week, reduces the stress that enables you to experience quality sleep. Regular aerobic activity reduces anxiety whilst increasing dopamine and serotonin levels, making you feel happier, more confident, and more relaxed. That means you’ll feel “naturally tired” at bedtime.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
But just as with sleep, improper exercise can lead to failure. Everyone knows that exercise is good for the body, but not many people want to do it because it doesn’t seem like fun; to the contrary, “exercise,” to many, seems or feels like “work,” and when that occurs, you’ll never get the most of out of exercising, and you won’t reap its benefits to sleep, either.
Have you ever bought a gym membership with the intention of exercising on a regular basis, only to fall back into your regular routine after a few months? More than forty percent of the population drop out of their gym contracts each year, prompting gyms to spend millions to create and advertise new reasons to get you back in. The problem with this is due to a misunderstanding of why we start exercising in the first place.
It takes more than an understanding of the benefits or exercise; you must be passionate about it. Let’s face it – we make time for things we want to do. So without an emotional reason, exercise simply becomes a boring routine. The desire to change is what originally prompts us to commit to exercise, but the lack of interest leaves us viewing the treadmill as nothing more than a menacing, sweat-inducing enemy on which we must perform a monotonous task!
We enter today’s gym with the same conditioned mindset that we experienced in childhood P.E. class. To overcome this, it often helps to change your view of exercise to one of play, such as when we were children. What if you could participate in a fun activity – one that you enjoyed as a child, let’s say. Would that entice you to get moving a little more, with the added result that after “playtime,” you’ll be able to fall into that restful, carefree childhood sleep?
Remember, you can rewire and reset your brain-to-body mechanisms; just train them to work a certain way by how you perceive them and how you think. It’s all connected – and it’s all possible.
To compare gym exercises with energy-equivalent activities, I have listed a typical gym exercise on the left column, and a similar activity that rouses the heart rate to the same degree on the right column. These exercises are all based on thirty minutes of activity, and each one will lead you to a more peaceful, deep slumber:
Pilates - Horseback riding
Stair-Stepper - Casual soccer
Stationary Bike - Backpacking
Calisthenics - Repelling
Basketball - Rock climbing
Elliptical machine - Cross-country skiing
Martial arts is another positive stress workout that is growing in popularity. Even during a recession, it amazes me that I continue to see martial arts businesses continue to open and thrive. Or how about dancing, yoga classes, swimming, tennis, or table tennis?
Just walking for thirty minutes a day, four times a week, reduces the stress that enables you to experience quality sleep. Regular aerobic activity reduces anxiety whilst increasing dopamine and serotonin levels, making you feel happier, more confident, and more relaxed. That means you’ll feel “naturally tired” at bedtime.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
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